Moose Adventures, Part 2: Camping Out

Before I jump directly to tales of adventure on the high plains (mountains?  river beds?), I want to pause and provide a few visuals.  Once we navigated the route to the location described below in Part 1 of "moose adventures," we settled into the campsite that would serve as our base for the duration of the trip.  With a party of 10, it was a much more established camp than a typical moose hunt. 

Below is my first view of the campsite, taken when approaching from the south, clinging to the ATV, and wondering what on earth I had agreed to do.  The decision to camp in the open was a deliberate one.  While the grove of trees would provide some break from winds (and a private place for ladies to use the wooded "facilities"), the 360 degree space made us a bit less attractive to predators, and increased the odds of us seeing or hearing a bear before it reached us.  Although we did not take a moose until the last day, had we been forced to store meat from an animal taken early at the site, the open location would have been doubly welcome.

We headed north every day to hunt, up the river bed.  Here is the view looking back toward our campsite (if the sight of that small blue tarp dwarfed by a single grove of trees is not enough to make you feel humble, well, then, I don't know what will... perhaps you should move to Southern California, bleach your hair, and start carrying around a small dog with its own set of oversized sunglasses):

The camp itself was fully stocked to accomodate a large party who had no idea how long they would be out.  Large piles of driftwood were dragged by teams next to the fire (a welcome stockpile once the snow started); lengths of rope were used to erect a frame, over which a tarp was stretched; tents rose up in friendly domes; and the ATV's were parked close by for easy loading (later, I will talk a bit about what on earth to pack for a moose hunt).

Thinking that you would never in a million years venture out to such a desolate location?  Below is the view from the campsite on a clear day.  How far would you venture to lay eyes on mountains like these?

Moose Adventures, Part 1: Where in the World

It's time... to talk about our recent trip to Alaska until I am blue in the face, and not from the winter cold!

Two weeks ago we headed north for a fall hunt in the Delta area of Alaska.  For five days we tried to keep gear and people out of serious harm's way, while finding moose, of course.  I had the adventure of a lifetime (or at least, the most grand of adventures until the next one) in the general area highlighted here by a yellow square, just south of Fairbanks:

To reach the hunting area, we flew into Anchorage and drove 8 hours up the Richardson Highway, through Delta Junction.  We parked the car at an abandoned gold dredging site near mile marker 308, loaded up the gear (over 100 pounds for Jason, about 70 pounds for me), and hiked 1 1/2 miles through soft forest to the Tanana River. 

Why hike gear in, you ask?  We asked ourselves the same thing as we slogged on, trying not to get lost in the criss-crossing ATV trails that transversed the terrain.  Ultimately, however, the load was one of necessity - we were joining a group that had already established a camp, and it was deemed easier for us to hike in than shuttle 4-wheelers across the river.  That decision was made before the boat used more gasoline than anticipated, the cook stove exploded, and the group discovered that the moose had not come down from the hills for the snow, so we would have to go in further them, requiring... you guessed it, more gas!  We loaded 20 extra gallons on top of foodstuffs (because the hunt was extended due to lack of animals), extra boots and gloves (because the weather forecast, which predicted temperatures above 35 degrees, did not warn us about nights of snow and hard freezing to come) and camera gear (because we are powerlifters, which means we can carry a lot of stuff, like pack mules, so why let that training go to waste?). 

Combining our gear with the items               I lasted only several hundred yards walking like this before 

requested by those already at base camp     Jason helped me lash the duffel bag across my shoulders

before setting out on the trail                        for a more manageable load.... it was hard to keep my footing!

We arrived at the Tanana River to meet the boat with gear intact...by the time we headed back out, that would be far from the state of affairs!

We were met by a boat at the Tanana River and ferried across to waiting 4-wheelers.  We then set out for a 10-mile ride, about one hour, through more forest and onto the river bed of the Little Delta, where we would camp and hunt.  

Camp was established in an open area on the river bed, safe from predators (or so we thought, more on that later) and relatively protected from winds.  From camp, it would be a rough 18-mile ATV ride up the river bed daily (2-4 hours, depending on how many river crossings had to be completed) to reach good hunting ground.  Thus began my first big game hunt...

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."   - Benjamin Franklin

Next, Part 2: Wet and Wild ATV Adventures

New painting in progress....

After a 6-month hiatus from painting (during which I moved from Tennessee to California; was finally able to reunite with my husband, from whom I spent 15 months apart when we were stationed on opposite coasts; settled into my new Navy job; and began work to establish Creative Warrior Healing in San Diego), paint brushes are back in hand!


Here are a few progress photos:

These were inspired by the views from several campsites along the Copper River.  It is a compilation of these views and the way the river looks as I hike along, equal parts imaginary and real.

Posting these is a significant evolution for me.... I am more typically the "type" of artist who bars anyone but my husband from viewing works in progress; my husband can see them on the grounds that he offers no commentary, either positive or negative, and keeps his face absolutely smooth (to his credit, he readily agreed to these terms when we were dating, and has kept to them ever since with no remarks on how obscenely limiting they are!).  After this year's round of visits to Alaska, however, I began to realize that sharing what I see, and how I see it, is infinitely more important than sheltering my work.... especially when life gets so busy it sometimes dictates months-long breaks.

I also trust myself more these days.  I barred others from viewing my work not due to insecurity or fear of criticism, but because it is vitally important to maintain my own point of view, with no hint of any others', throughout the production process.  Now, I know that I am strong, committed, and creative enough to continue to look through my own filter, no matter what a viewer's reaction.  Why not share the process?

So, I have no idea how long this particular piece will take, but I will continue to post photos here as I chip away at it, one color at a time.