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
