Sheeping Trip #1

It was definitely tough going getting back into sheep country on this trip, and Jer sure hated everything about it. I kept telling him, you’re going to look back and love this story! At one point I was in the middle of a little meadow, waiting for him to come through the alders so he could see where I went into the next batch. I could hear him coming through, mumbling and grumbling like Yosemite Sam. I could hear him complaining, “more alders, here we go again, more alders.” I had to turn away to hide my laughing from him…it was hilarious. (we joked about it later) He was super frustrated with all that nasty sidehilling. Before we got through and into sheep country goodness, we stopped for a snack before tackling more alders and I spotted a black bear come out on a hill about 150yrds from us. We’d seen lots of bear sign, but mostly grizzly up to that point. It was then I spotted a game trail down below us (which was awesome coming out on.) Anyways, lots of ice chutes and glaciers to hike across. Made for quick going in some parts. At one point, Jer slipped and slid about 50yrds back down. He left most of his confidence in his butt marks in the snow. There were a couple snow fields I went across without crampons and I had to kick foot holds for him even with his crampons on…another testimony to having awesome boots.

Finally we made it into sheep country and at the base of the glaciers, Jer was totally wore out and didn’t want to go any further. He’d been pointing out various nice looking camp spots for the past hour or so. So I left him there (kinda planning to stay out by myself further up a side valley, but he didn’t like that idea) and planned to be back by 10pm…it was now 3pm in the afternoon. I left him the Jet Boil and my pistol and took off, still with all my gear in the pack (just in case) and enjoyed hiking by myself up the drainage till I found the sheep. Pretty low numbers, 3 rams and 5 ewes…no lambs. Two rams were ¾ curl while the big one off by himself was 7/8 curl. He might make it for 8 yrs old but hard to tell. I could pretty easily count 7yrs, but just couldn’t get that 8th ring. All the sheep liked hanging out on some islands of rock in the middle of these huge snow fields. The big ram was up on the side of the mountain, but everything else was bedded out in the middle with their tracks going from one place to the next. I hiked clear up to the middle of this big glacier field till I could see the ends of the glacier on all sides, confirming no more sheep. Kinda wild being all alone on a big glacier field on a super hot day. When some rocks slid off a side slope 100yrds away, I jumped, and realized I was pretty wound up being there. Part of me wanted to make it all the way across and climb up the opposite ridge to look out into the expanse, but I didn’t feel comfortable going any further…being by myself. At least with someone else there, they’d see the crevasse I fell in…if that happened. It was probably safe, but there were no more sheep tracks in the snow up where I was and further back…so I figured I had them all pegged. I sat down to glass a side drainage and rest my tired legs on the way out. It felt so good sitting there in the evening sun soaking up the heat after washing my head in the coldest water you’ve ever felt…a little waterfall coming right out from under a giant snow field. It was a good God moment, of just loving being up there with Him. Kinda like he created that place, all the massive peaks around me, the hot sunshine, that flat rock, all for me in that moment, to sit, enjoy, and be awed by Him. I was able to glass a lot of country from up there and the only thing else I found was one billy goat off by himself…that was it for wildlife back in there. I’m guessing that place get’s hunted, because we found a few items folks had left behind in various places (tarp, snickers wrapper, and one pair of socks.) I kinda figured it was going to be a honey hole because of the tough access, but it wasn’t that bad if you had crampons and knew of the trail that we took on the way out. I made it back to Jer’s camp at 9pm (having hiked 6 miles that day compared to his 2 and two or three thousand more feet of climbing). I was pretty done in and had passed up many great spots to spend the night up by the sheep. But it worked out…it was less hiking to do in the rain on Sunday. Fog socked us in by the time we went to bed and early morning it started to rain. It never rained really hard, but enough to wet things plenty slick and load the branches with water that we had to push through. Sure enough, it took less than half the time to get out as it did going in. Mostly due to the fact that we were going downhill, but also, that game trail on the way out made the alder fields much better. Jer didn’t have rain pants and was completely soaked and sloshing in his boots almost from the beginning of the hike out. I had my cheap rain pants (Columbia Shell – Cabelas Bargin Bin for $10), they shedded most of the water, but the last mile to the truck I could feel my sock getting wet inside my right boot from things finally soaking through the pants and down my leg. If I had my Marmot Precip pants like I did my coat…I’d have been dry. The only wetness I had on top was from sweat! That’s great rain gear.

It was a totally successful scouting trip. Maybe there was a legal ram tucked in some crags or over on the back side of what I could see, but I pretty much covered the majority of the area. Seemed like all the sheep were concentrated in a particular area too, and with nobody pressuring them, I don’t see why all the sheep wouldn’t be hanging out together. So, we won’t be hunting that spot, or even wondering what’s up in there when we’re elsewhere in August. I’d never been into this place so it was fun seeing new country and way fun obstacles to overcome. It was a good “man” trip. Totally a doable “weekend” hunting trip to keep in the back pocket for the future though. Maybe this guy will survive the winter and predators and be legal next year…