THE QUEST CONTINUES

So I am fairly sure I posted my last entry, probably without pictures but I have no way of finding that out at this moment since I am about 4000 feet up in the Kootenays near the town of Fort Steele.  There is no Internet here, and that is not a bad thing of course.  But it has been a wee bit damp today and after the morning hunt we decided to do some interior economy (aka catch up on some chores).  Two of the fellows went to Fort Steele for provisions and a hot shower; Glenn and I stayed at the camp and had sponge baths.  In case inquiring minds want to know, we both had our bathing rituals in private.  And now I am whaling away at my laptop until the battery dies or my fingers get worn out, whichever comes first.

So I had left my comfy motel room with the luxurious hot bath and reliable Internet, and headed to Logan Lake to the home of friends Gwen and Glenn.  He and I served together a number of times and we have some fabulous shared memories, none of which I am going to post here.  The three of us had a nice lunch at a local restaurant, and a lazy afternoon (with some laundry, thanks Gwen!!!), and Glenn and I got our kit ready for elk camp.  That evening we enjoyed a delicious roast beef supper and it was soon time for bedtime for Bonzo.  And before I forget, that left-over roast beef came with us on this trip, was the basis  for two lunches for four hungry men, and the rest went into a beef stew, YUM YUM!!!!!  Thanks again, Gwen!!!

The next morning we left Logan Lake for an RV in Kamloops with Don, who is Glenn’s first cousin (not nephew, as I may have reported) and his buddy Dan, who is a healthy, strong young man, just the kind of person every  Grumpy Old Men’s Hunt Club needs.  Not that Don is an old fart like Glenn and I – he is 41, Glenn is 70, I am 61, and Dan is 29 if memory serves me.  A fair range of ages there for a hunt camp, but it has been all good so far.  We drove from Kamloops to the town of Fort Steele, which was a very long day in the saddle, and we still had to set up camp..............

Camp in this case is at 3942 feet ASL, according to my GPS, just over 4000 according to another GPS, and regardless of elevation is surrounded by mountain peaks that are certainly higher than us, and BEAUTIFUL!!!  They are especially beautiful when you can see them, which is not currently the case of course.

 

 




I am hopeful that my pictures of the camp, which I have taken when it was sunny, will show off this rustic retreat.  So there is the tent which could sleep about eight, a twenty-foot trailer with a refrigeration unit built into the front part for hanging game meat, a full field kitchen, and of course my camper.  We are very comfortable indeed.

We got here on Wednesday if memory serves me, in order to stake our claim to this bit of paradise, and spent a couple days getting the camp ready, cutting firewood, building a fireplace, building an outdoor privy, etc.  We also did a bit of scouting, although most of the scouting was done by Don and Dan, with Glenn and I kicking around camp doing a lot of nothing.  That is just fine by me, since doing nothing is what I do professionally these days.  I am not sure if it was the first or maybe the second night in camp, the temperature overnight plummeted and we had a very heavy frost.  The ice on the bottom of my truck windshield was about a quarter of an inch thick from condensation falling off the camper and such, and it was pretty frosty inside the camper!  Luckily, it warmed up during the day and I was able to air out all of the stuff that had gotten pretty damp the night before.

We hit the hay Friday night before the Saturday opening day, with visions of elk dancing in our heads.  It is a certainty that elk are and have been in this area, and we were and are hopeful that we can connect with one.  In this area, a legal elk needs to have at least six points on one side, so that is a trophy elk by anybody’s book.  If we find a hunting spot below 1000 metres, we could also take a bull that has a single antler, ie a spike bull.  But we are above that elevation most of the time here............and so far have seen no bulls.  The other guys have seen elk cows and calves, but all I have seen to date is mule deer does, a whitetail doe and fawn (right in camp!), a sow black bear probably two years old, and some willow grouse.  Other places and other times, I might have shot any and all of them!!!!!!  NOT here, no tickee, no laundry.

I have no idea when I will get this posted, but anyways it is now Sunday, day two of the hunt, and we still have the better part of a week to find that elusive bull elk, please wish me luck!

Doug