Full Curl Paisley

Someone likes Hiking

Not sure how many young couples out there load up the packs and head out into the mountains to scout around for sheep; with a 7 month old baby, or even advise it.  But we do.  There's definitely been changes to our lives since Paisley came along but getting out adventuring as a family is still high on the priority list.

Liz had Paisley in the kid carrier with a few odds and ends of her camp gear - I loaded up my pack with everything else to make the weekend work for us in relative comfort.

We camped Friday night short of where I wanted to get, but it was getting late.  Paisley had taken a good whack to the face by an alder branch on the hike in but she's a trooper.  It didn't even faze her and she loved the yellow tent. 

Fun in the Tent

Paisley must have been excited about the family adventure - or she really likes sheep like her dad.  Either way, sleep wasn't a high priority on this trip.

Bedtime

15 minutes later

In the morning Paisley discovered the Tundra while I packed up.

Full Curl Baby

Packed up and ready to go again

By noon on Saturday I had the tent set up in the mountain pass and the gals ready for a day in the sun.  Now I could make a run back to where I believed the rams would be.  Tucker (our 100lb black lab) would go with me.

Heading off to find rams.

My Hiking Partner

15 minutes after I went over the mountain, a group of rams came around the side and put on a show for Liz and Paisley.  They butted heads, jumped, and ran around the snowfields.  Liz got some great pictures and enjoyed having the "company."



Rams haning out with Liz & Paisley

 I found the rams after the up and over a couple peaks.  They were down low but I could determine that at least two were legal rams.  One was a "Wow ram".  Meaning, when I saw him, I said, "Wow."  He was not the sort of ram I expected to find in here.  We'd figured our Kenai rams would be 11" -12" on the bases and 33" - 34" on the length of horn.  This guy was definitely a good ram and better than that.

Two good rams

I spent several hours watching these guys and enjoying the day.  I didn't have time to make it all the way to the end of valley and climb up the last peak for a grand observation, but I had enough intel - we had at least two legal rams to hunt and a third was going to be close.

Fresh Sheep Beds

The Liz

I made it back to camp and got some good camping time in with the gals.  I think I came away from this trip with more pictures of Paisley in the sheep mountains than I did of the rams in the sheep mountains.  That's right, my priorities aren't out of whack.

Sleeping bad double duty

I see eyeballs

I didn't get to see the group of rams Liz had seen, fog had rolled in when I came down the mountain side and covered them up.  I climbed back up and scouted around briefly in the morning but to no avail.

On the way out, I caught the second group of rams coming out of a side drainage and heading up to join the other rams.  Soon all the rams were visible in one spot and I confirmed again, three legal rams.  I was so excited.  After heading home empty handed from this place on last year's hunt, we had without a doubt some legal rams to pursue.

One worth going back for.

I stood up there that day and prayed that God would hold this place and two of those rams for us...and that the big rams would stick together for our hunt.

No sippy cups

The weather got worse and worse on our hike out.  It was some long hours for Paisley in the backpack but she never complained or fussed.  Even when it started raining, through soaked brush, and a bumpy cold ATV ride out of there.

Luber's in Lupine





Tucked in out of the miserableness



One thing about the kid carrier pack we used.  They must not cater to the slender folks.  Not sure if backpacking product companies think larger built folks spend more time outdoors; more so than skinny folks, but I'm finding it's easier to find fat person gear rather than skinny person gear.   The waist belt on this pack wouldn't cinch down near far enough for either Liz or I.  Liz toughed it out though, carrying everything on her shoulders for all those miles.  What a gal, not so much on the pack; we took it back.

Back home at 10pm that night Paisley had to spend an hour in the bouncy chair to "unwind" from the trip.  It was an awesome adventure and the first Luber Family Trip into Sheep Country.