A Kechika River Adventure

[Bcxbow]

I am equally in awe and jealous as hell at the same time.

[mr meat]

Wow! Great moose Congrats to the shooter

[GrassyKnoll]

What an awesome adventure for everyone.... Congrats all around.

[gerald strine]

Nog
Thank you for the awesome write up and photographs of your hunting trip the care you take in presenting your trip is greatly appreciated .
It is one of the high points on the forum for me every year !
It is wonderful that the Moose harvested was the one that you had been following up on all your efforts were rewarded in the end.
Thank you for the post.

[papa bear1]

NOG, thanks for sharing your hunt with us , absolutely loved the story and pics, I am truly left amazed at your journey,
I really loved the pics of the dog, he looks like my (Willy Jo) who is a 1 yr. old rottadore, very smart and protective,
Thanks Nog you are truly a hunter and aportsman.

Envious Dave

[IronNoggin]

Thanks for the kind works Folks & Happy Canuck Thanksgiving to all!
I kind of thought a few might enjoy this one...

Over the next couple of days, the weather finally broke.
Sunshine returned for the days, and well frozen ground greeted us each morning.
The snow that had adorned pretty much all of the high country was reluctantly retreating a little, and we took that as a sign.
If we actually are going to climb a mountain or two, we best get on it before the snows set in for good!



I was hesitant and somewhat concerned over this idea.
After all, I am a fat and lazy 59 years old now, and it has been a hell of a long time since I contemplated what was before us now.
But, I somehow managed to shrug that off, and begin to render my pack down to an un-manageable 70 pounds or so.
Two of the others were doing the same as the last contemplated a solo stay on top of the meat for a few days.
He was concerned about the grizzly and black bear tracks in the vicinity, but with the amount of sign we and the dog had left in the area, we didn't figure he would have much in the way of grief...

We once again packed the smaller rig, and reviewed our choice of hills to attempt.
There is one in particular we have returned to many times over the years.
In that period, it has produced several good rams (one well into the book) and numerous goats.
The area below it had also given up moose and elk on occasion, and although the latter wasn't open, just seeing them is often a special moment...
So, we decided to go with what we knew, and return to the area that has been so generous to us over the years...

That required a run well into the upper Kechika, and once again the ride through the skinny water was extremely entertaining!
I have a few videos we shot of running those areas. Bear with me as I try to figure out how to edit them before uploading to youtube. I'll get there eventually, and they are something I am certain most will appreciate...

We again saw the huge Lynx just before the turnoff to the Frog that had welcomed us so nonchalantly the previous run up that way. Once again, he simply watched as we raced by. Another black bear, and a smaller moose wandered across our paths, only to be given a smile and salute as we cruised towards our destination.

There is a rather interesting rock formation not too far from where we leave the boat:



Shortly after passing this, we pulled the jet rig up into a secure area, and I wandered over to check on last year's campsite. To my amazement, nothing, no bears, porcupines or two legs had bother the stashed propane tank (full), shovel or 5 gallon pail of spam supplies we had swung well aloft into the trees. Guess no one else visited our spot this year then...

The hike that followed is grueling. It is largely undertaken on loose cobble and gravel when you can't get into the edge of the bush, and is tough going even for those in shape. As the lads readied their gear, I bravely strapped on my pack, picked up my 10 pound plus rifle, and suggested I would head out certain they would catch me. And off I went...

The view back down the hill several miles up:



And what lay ahead from the same spot:



Just around that next corner, I encountered a nice 6 point bull elk, 3 cows and a single calf. At 80 yards, they had no idea I was there, so I simply sat and watched them feed for about a half hour. Eventually, undisturbed, they wandered off into the timber. Great to see, but I have to admit I was pretty damn happy I had not seen that bugger when the season was open! Would have been a NIGHTMARE of an extraction!!

Getting closer...



There is a second fork to the left, behind the shoulder of the slope on the right side of that picture. We had arranged to meet there if we hadn't hooked up yet, and it was towards that goal I struggled on. I had to admit, although I was drenched in sweat, my breathing was coming MUCH easier than expected, and I had settled into a ground eating pace that was not overly uncomfortable for my old body. After I arrived, it very much surprised me that my Buddies (one in early 50's and the other late 30's) took almost an hour and a half to catch up. Guess there's a few miles left in those old legs after all was the remark from the elder of the two. Good Job OLD MAN joked the second. It may have been a joking matter to them, but I was both amazed, and damn happy I could still pull this off! My fears dissipated, and I was actually looking forward to attaining the top!

That was to be for the next day.
With but an hour of daylight remaining, we set the first spike camp of this foray, and settled into enjoy a hot meal:

[IronNoggin]

Up To The Snow!

The next am came early, and I awoke to the loud complaints of my overworked legs screaming blue murder for the torture they had endured thus far. You ain't seen nothing yet I growled through gritted teeth, and rose to stretch in the frozen air to work the kinks out.

A quick coffee & breakfast, and we packed up to set off uphill once again.

This time the Ladz stayed within sight, and we struggled as we slowly gained ground up the creek which was rapidly getting skinnier and trickier to navigate with each step:



Three hours in, and before we would break the timber, I called a break for more fuel. By now my belly was growling non-stop, and I felt it would be better to continue without that distraction. He's a shot of my pack & rifle, looking down towards our back-trail:



Carrying on, we again stopped briefly to water up before heading up higher. By now, we were into the alpine, and any stops were necessarily short due to the sweat literally freezing on you if you tarried:



Working ever higher took serious effort, and for me, the elevation began to introduce another problem. Living on the coast at sea level, one tends to forget just how skinny the air gets as you climb. By now, my lungs were burning (damn happy I quit smoking when I did!!) and I simply felt as though I couldn't get enough oxygen in all of the time. My little rests became more frequent, and I could see the quick look of concern my long-term Friend tried to conceal from me...

How about an early night He asked. I'm getting worn down, and we should probably camp within the last of the trees before attacking the big hills tomorrow. A wave of relief washed over me, and I was quite thankful to this rough & tumble fellow for the suggestion. Surprised a little, but more than happy to comply.

We discovered a couple of little "nests" where the slope wasn't too great, and could offer perches for our tent & tarp. And yes, that is snow in the background. We had been dealing with that for over an hour by now...





I have never been so happy for a GOOD Quality down sleeping bag!
That night it dropped well below zero, and in the morning all the water we had packed up the hill was frozen right solid!!
Instead of thawing them, we simply melted snow for the morning's coffee and quick breakfast, then it onward & upwards!!

As soon as we broke out on top, the big spotting scope & binoc's came into play:





It didn't take long at all to spot several groups of goats, and as I was packing a tag, we carefully investigated each. I've seen literally hundreds upon hundreds of goats in my forays through the hills. They had never struck me as anything I was interested in, and I certainly was not at all enthused by the meat proffered by buddies who did shoot them. But prior to this hunt, I decided that perhaps the time had come for me to take one. Who knows, this may be the last time I am capable of even getting there. Thus the reason for the tag in my pocket...

We did locate a rather fine Billy, but he was situated in an area we have called Unobtainable Rock for many years. It name is well deserved.
But as this was the best of the goats we saw, he became a frequent check target for me over the next few days:



You can't see the terrain from that picture, but the hill is surrounded by sheer cliffs of substantial size.
So my hope was that this fellow would eventually wander over to an adjacent area I could perhaps struggle over too...

Over the next few days, goat sightings were relatively common, but thus far none were comparable to the Billy above.

This was the ONLY female to be packing a baby with her, and it was two years old. More on that in a moment...





Solo BIG Female. I actually thought about taking her - but only for a few seconds. Her horns were well over 10 inches, and heavy / curved.
But then again, she was a she after all...



Skylined Goats

[Boo]

Thank you for the story Matt! You never fail me. Your stories are always articulate, romantic and just plain interesting! You do indeed take the reader back through your adventure!

[Doe Master]

I am actually reading this whole post with interest . Thank you so far for taking on this adventure .

[IronNoggin]

The snow began on and off the second day we were up top.
A bit of a nuisance when trying to stay glued to the mountainside alright!







This day we located two separate herds of Stone Sheep ewe's. 32 in total. Again - no lambs. Not a one.
A few smaller rams were mixed in with them, but we simply could not find the Big Boy I drug myself up this hill to find... Yet...

Day three on top, rations left for one more, maybe two if really pushed.

Late afternoon we finally found a great ram, and he was acting rather bizarre for this time of year. He had crested a ridge about 3/4 mile distant, boogied right up to the herd of ladies, and began to sniff each one checking their status. This is November behavior, and we thought his clock was little off.
To our amazement, one of the ewes actually let him mount, and they went at it for several minutes.
The things you get to see!! Bizarre!!

The ram was well over full curl, and the lamb tips rose well above the bridge of his nose.
Game ON!!

As we discussed the best line of approach to get this old butt within shooting distance, the herd, and the great ram, suddenly SPOOKED!
And spooked BAD!
WTH??

As they raced towards the distant skyline, a much larger and darker figure came roaring up out of the adjacent canyon, and was matching the sheep initially stride for stride!
The spotting scope revealed this intruder to be a large mature Grizzly, in obviously excellent shape.
The sheep topped out and disappeared at full tilt boogie.
As did the bear in hot pursuit.



We shook our heads, and meandered over to the last point we could see them.
Much easier said than done, the task took several hours.

To our dismay, the tracks told the whole story.
The herd, with ram in tow and Grizzly hot on their tails, had left our mountain.
The spotter picked up tracks topping the ridge of the next mountain over.
To get there would take 2 days plus.
The opportunity up in smoke as quickly as it presented itself.
I could not help but wonder if that represented the last time I would ever see such a potential on a great ram, and will freely admit, that left a little mist in the aging eyes at that moment...

[IronNoggin]

Thanks Fella's.
I do this simply because I hope one or two feels like Don does, and enjoys my small efforts to entertain.
Good to know that works from time to time!!

Cheers!

[Boo]

Thanks Fella's.
I do this simply because I hope one or two feels like Don does, and enjoys my small efforts to entertain.
Good to know that works from time to time!!

Cheers!

It's a great amount of effort on your part and it thoroughly appreciate it and I know everyone feels the same.
I was thinking about calling you so you can tell me some hunting stories when I can't sleep!

[IronNoggin]

I am going to take a small break here from the tale itself, as I want to point out something that has been troubling me since we got home.

As I noted, among 28 female goats, there was but a single two year old offspring.
Of the 32 ewes we encountered, not a single one had a lamb.
Yet the rams were there, and obviously performing their duty...

Although we heard wolves howling damn near every night, there was a noticeable absence of that on top of the hills.
Nor were there any wolf tracks in the snow.

There WERE a very large number of Grizzly Bear tracks up there, and after watching one of them attempt directed attacks on two different herds, I have come to believe they (the grizzlies) are the most likely culprit regarding the absence of the lambs.
It is my (and my Partners') belief that these bears have become efficient predators on high.
If I had had a tag, that bear would have died regardless of how long it took to accomplish.
In fact I thought briefly of ol' Ralph Klein's suggestions and that bear...

Those who appose the grizzly hunts have no damn clue of what they have done.
Everything out there has consequences.
In this particular case, those consequences may well mean the end of the sheep and goats on the particular hills we visited.
And I cannot think that to be a singular situation.

I am not willing to sit idly by why these great resources suffer so much because of the interference of misguided fools.
As such, I will be doing every singly thing within my power to remove the government (small g intended) that imposed this BS in our Province.
I truly hope that many others feel as I do and are willing to aid in that cause...

In the lower areas, we did not see any moose calves either.
And the elk calves were scant, about one for every 4 or 5 cows.
That I attribute to the wolves.

Here's HOPING the local trappers can get a handle on their numbers before we lose them too...

Minor Apologies for my little rant.
But this is something near & dear to my heart, and I simply had to get it off my chest...

Now back to your regular scheduled programming...

[IronNoggin]

Day Four on top.
Thawed frozen water with snow for a coffee.
Staring to feel bushed a little.

Selfie (the first I have EVER taken!) on the day we arrived up top:



And on Day Four:





Starting to look almost as demented as I feel...

We checked for the sheep in case they had returned.
Unfortunately not.

So I wandered over to scan Unobtainable Rock to see if the big Billy might move out.
Took a few minutes to find him...
I no sooner did, than he perked right up, jumped to his feet, and stared HARD at the wall above himself.
I swung the binoc's up to determine why, and there stood THE LARGEST BILLY I have EVER seen!
And he was focused HARD on the fellow downhill from him.

I had thought the first one was pretty good, and he indeed was.
But this new guy absolutely dwarfed him in body & horn size!
Hmmm...

Suddenly the Big Boy began a mad dash down towards the initial Billy.
That one turned in obvious panic, and the race was on!
The larger Billy was closing fairly quickly, and I thought there might be some potential he would run the other right over to the adjacent range.
A range I could get to...

Alas, such was not to be the case. When he got to the sheer walls, the Big Boy put on the brakes, and watched his rival boogie down that, and across to the next hill.
Hmmm...

I spent a couple hours admiring that Monster Goat with my Buddies.
I have a LOT of mountain experience, including work in National Parks.
My Partners both have exceptional experience in the hills as well, and both have taken book billys in years past.
We all agreed, this was the largest any of us had seen.
But no way without a helicopter to get anywhere near...

Sigh...

After a spell we wandered over to try and locate the first goat.
When we did, I managed to get within range without spooking him.
And I did hold the crosshairs on him for quite the spell.
In the end, the vision of the Monster simply would not let me touch the trigger.
So that there was likely the luckiest goat on the planet...

The next day I was out of coffee, and damn near out of everything else.
There were more rations - MRE's and stashed food back at the boat & campsite...

As I paid homage to these hills I love so much, I promised myself (and those with) that I WILL get into better shape, and I WILL be back to look for both that Monster Goat, and the Great Ram we had encountered...

The hike out was basically uneventful. A blur in my tired mind.
Pushing limits of endurance I did not know I had, this time I beat the younger crowd down and all the way out by a matter of hours.
By the time they showed up, well after dark, I had shelter set up, a good fire going, and munchies ready to chow down on.

Another feeling of accomplishment in doing so...

[IronNoggin]

It rained a fair bit over the course of that night, but even so, the upper Kechika had dropped.
Significantly.
Like better than a foot.

But with extra fuel onboard we decided to make a play at getting a fair ways upstream to look at a different view of "our" mountains.
And away we went.

The skinny water was even skinnier, and I was right happy the Man behind the wheel was one of the best in the country!!
We arrived at our chosen destination with only hitting bottom a couple of times. Quite the accomplishment itself!

There we set up the spotters, and had a good look at the hills we wished to pick apart:





In short order we discovered numerous goats, but none that came anywhere close to The Monster.

There were a handful of ewes' again, no lambs, and a few short rams. The Big Boy had vanished...

I wandered the sand bar a bit with one of the Ladz, where we saw tracks of wolf, wolverine, grizzly, elk, moose and caribou.
Quite the place this Serengeti of The North!!

Knowing our Buddy in camp might be getting twitchy, we set off downriver at a blistering rate.
At one corner, the water was too skinny to allow passage any more.
But our Jet Jock rammed it over the gravel as best he could, and tried to get it to bite back into the current.
Unfortunately that trick did not work, and we ended up slamming into the massive rock wall at better than 30 miles per. (Actually have this on video once I get to them. It's Painful!) The two up front collided hard with the windshield, and I was rag doll tossed into the back of one of their seats, splitting the inside of my bottom lip from side to side. Ouch!

Ah Man, You totaled my boat were the first words i heard.

Spitting blood, I immediately looked to ensure the stern was still above water. Yep. OK then.
Damage assessment time. The bow took a good one. Decent dent. More alarming, the blow split the upper bow deck open along the center seam, and cracked the leading bow edge right down to the Teflon plate!! Gently pushing her back into the water, we determined that she wasn't taking enough of that on to be a show-stopper, so we set off for base camp once again.

This time no stopping us, and we rolled in fine.

The Damage Pix:





Our Buddy was damn happy to see us! He was just starting to worry about us, and had made arrangements for another rig to come look for us if we didn't show by the next day...

He astounded us by tales of bugling elk (apparently they heavy into it the eve we left) moose calling, and wolves at the doorstep in the dark every night.
Firm character that lad, he was ready to take them all on if required.
No bears showed, and the feed of moose we had that night would make a Roman blush!!

The next day we decided to break camp and start our wander out.
No-one knew how long this would take, and we've never floated / idled out of there before...
So, we loaded all up, swept the camp clean, and set out on the next chapter of this foray...

And there it ends for today folks.

I collected a few more pictures on the way out, and there is an interesting encounter or two to relay as well.
But for now, the coho in my smoker require attention, and after this much scripting, I find myself awful thirsty for a good rum...

Catch Y'all Tomorrow...
Nog