Retrieving A Sheep In The Great Alaskan Outdoors
A few weeks back now (I've been busy lately!) Jason, a friend of a friend, went out sheep hunting and successfully shot himself a sheep. Of course sheep being what they are, and his shot being a touch less than perfect, the animal ran off and headed into the worst terrain it knew, dropping down a few waterfalls in a steep rocky gully before finally dying. He followed it down the gully, sliding down rock faces and dropping off ledges until he was able to reach the sheep, and dressed it out and prepped to hike all his gear and the meat back down to camp, planning to take several trips. Looking around though, he was unable to find a way OUT of the gully he'd gotten himself into! With light waning, he called out on his satellite phone, getting ahold of my friend John who he knew is involved in firefighting and rescue work. John advised him to sit out the night and try to get out in the morning.
Unfortunately, morning didn't level the terrain any, and Jason decided he needed some outside assistance to get himself out. He used his Sat phone to call in the Alaska State Troopers' helicopter, which tracked in on him while talking to him on the phone and moved in close over the gully he was in. A rescuer with the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group dropped in on a line, hooked him up, and they hoisted him out and dropped him off at his six-wheeler at the base of the mountain.
And that's where things began!
Jason was forced to leave all of his hunting gear and meat in the gorge due to weight and time limitations with the helicopter. He enlisted John to help him go back with ropes and high-angle gear to get the stuff back, especially the satellite phone which was a rental, and very expensive! :cry John called around and enlisted the aid of all the firefighters he could find that know how to work with ropes, and we set up to meet with Jason and spend a day getting his gear back.
When we met up with Jason at the trailhead early in the morning, John and I were the only ones that showed. We followed Jason and his truck and trailer up the Knik Riverbed several miles until the trail got too ugly for the trailer, and then Jason went on on his six-wheeler with John and I following in the truck. This is where I should have pulled out the camera to get some pictures of the truck driving headlights-deep in a narrow creekbed with thick woods all around. Sadly, I missed the shot, and on the way back it was well after dark, so you'll just have to envision that one!
So that's plenty of back-story for you all. On to the meat of the adventure! We parked the vehicles at the base of the mountain and set out on the next part of the trek with the end literally in sight high above us. We're almost there!
The woods in the lower valley keep the underbrush thin and travel is fairly easy. Jason leads the way.
As we get higher though, we move into the alder elevation, and the only access is up a narrow and steep creakbed overrun with brush. John brings up the rear, emerging from the foliage.
The trek is definitely hard work, but every so often we'd get a glance at the goal and it was always a bit closer. We're almost there! And of course any outing into the Alaskan outdoors is a beautiful one.
Breaking out into some open terrain, we found the going a bit easier, and the views opened up significantly. This is the Knik Glacier a few miles further up the valley.
I have no idea what these peaks are named. There's so many around here it's often hard to keep track.
The steep going was made a little easier (I thought) by a scree slope with little chunks of bedrock jutting through here and there. John decided at this point that he was much better off on a fire scene where his conditioning and experience sets him out above even most firefighters. Here on a steep slippery slope high above the valley floor, he was a bit out of his element, and feeling it.
Patches of scrub brush slowed us down a bit, but it wasn't too bad, because we're almost there!
At length, we made it to the elevation Jason figured he shot the sheep from and traversed into the gully. Moving down from above to get access to the meat and gear, both John and I were duly impressed with the situation Jason had gotten himself into. I think all three of us were expecting John and I to get there and be humored by Jason's inability to help himself, but in all honesty based on fourteen years of rock climbing, he was really stuck! :thumb Jason felt a little better about his helicopter ride as we lowered ourselves into the chasm. This of course is after repeated assurance that yes, I could definitely get us all out of here. :rofl
The creek cascades down several fifteen foot drops, with slippery polished rock often crumbly in places and steep cliffs all around. We used the rope in a couple spots to lower ourselves in relative safety, with only one slight mishap resulting in a few bruises and a bit of pain for John.
Okay I felt a little bad about pulling out the camera instead of lending a hand, but we all made it safely to the meat. :rofl Jason checks it out and after ten days hung in the rocks just shy of the snowline, the meat still looks to be in good condition!
Jason demonstrates where he spent a chilly night with a small bit of fire warming him.
With all of this accomplished, all we had left to do was haul the gear and meat out of the gully, hike it back to the truck, and drive ourselves out. We're almost there!
I climbed myself out and set up a rope for the others, and we hauled the gear and meat in several loads to higher ground where we could access a route down the mountain, and I showed Jason and John how to use climbing gear to ascend a rope. Now this is never an easy process in any conditions, and is made especially more difficult in forty degree temperatures with a wet rope and when the only anchors available direct your climb straight up a waterfall!
But all difficulties were overcome and Jason and John managed to haul themselves out of trouble and onto the open mountain slope. We're almost done!
Only now instead of just the ropes and carabiners, we're all carrying considerable amounts of extra weight. The hike down took us almost as long as the hike up, and was far more grueling. The trees at the base of the mountain never seemed to get any closer, and with all of our packs somewhere in the neighborhood of eighty pounds, we were beat! Still, we kept repeating our mantra: We're almost there!
Eventually just as light faded into blackness we made it back to the truck and six-wheeler, and Jason's knowledge of the intricate network of trails led us through the darkness exactly back to where we parked the trailer and from there back to the road. All in all, we spent fifteen hours of hard work, but we managed to recover everything for Jason, and even the meat seemed okay, so it was a day well spent for sure! And I came away with a few more pictures of the beautiful Alaskan outdoors. Hope you enjoyed them too!
Unfortunately, morning didn't level the terrain any, and Jason decided he needed some outside assistance to get himself out. He used his Sat phone to call in the Alaska State Troopers' helicopter, which tracked in on him while talking to him on the phone and moved in close over the gully he was in. A rescuer with the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group dropped in on a line, hooked him up, and they hoisted him out and dropped him off at his six-wheeler at the base of the mountain.
And that's where things began!
Jason was forced to leave all of his hunting gear and meat in the gorge due to weight and time limitations with the helicopter. He enlisted John to help him go back with ropes and high-angle gear to get the stuff back, especially the satellite phone which was a rental, and very expensive! :cry John called around and enlisted the aid of all the firefighters he could find that know how to work with ropes, and we set up to meet with Jason and spend a day getting his gear back.
When we met up with Jason at the trailhead early in the morning, John and I were the only ones that showed. We followed Jason and his truck and trailer up the Knik Riverbed several miles until the trail got too ugly for the trailer, and then Jason went on on his six-wheeler with John and I following in the truck. This is where I should have pulled out the camera to get some pictures of the truck driving headlights-deep in a narrow creekbed with thick woods all around. Sadly, I missed the shot, and on the way back it was well after dark, so you'll just have to envision that one!
So that's plenty of back-story for you all. On to the meat of the adventure! We parked the vehicles at the base of the mountain and set out on the next part of the trek with the end literally in sight high above us. We're almost there!
The woods in the lower valley keep the underbrush thin and travel is fairly easy. Jason leads the way.
As we get higher though, we move into the alder elevation, and the only access is up a narrow and steep creakbed overrun with brush. John brings up the rear, emerging from the foliage.
The trek is definitely hard work, but every so often we'd get a glance at the goal and it was always a bit closer. We're almost there! And of course any outing into the Alaskan outdoors is a beautiful one.
Breaking out into some open terrain, we found the going a bit easier, and the views opened up significantly. This is the Knik Glacier a few miles further up the valley.
I have no idea what these peaks are named. There's so many around here it's often hard to keep track.
The steep going was made a little easier (I thought) by a scree slope with little chunks of bedrock jutting through here and there. John decided at this point that he was much better off on a fire scene where his conditioning and experience sets him out above even most firefighters. Here on a steep slippery slope high above the valley floor, he was a bit out of his element, and feeling it.
Patches of scrub brush slowed us down a bit, but it wasn't too bad, because we're almost there!
At length, we made it to the elevation Jason figured he shot the sheep from and traversed into the gully. Moving down from above to get access to the meat and gear, both John and I were duly impressed with the situation Jason had gotten himself into. I think all three of us were expecting John and I to get there and be humored by Jason's inability to help himself, but in all honesty based on fourteen years of rock climbing, he was really stuck! :thumb Jason felt a little better about his helicopter ride as we lowered ourselves into the chasm. This of course is after repeated assurance that yes, I could definitely get us all out of here. :rofl
The creek cascades down several fifteen foot drops, with slippery polished rock often crumbly in places and steep cliffs all around. We used the rope in a couple spots to lower ourselves in relative safety, with only one slight mishap resulting in a few bruises and a bit of pain for John.
Okay I felt a little bad about pulling out the camera instead of lending a hand, but we all made it safely to the meat. :rofl Jason checks it out and after ten days hung in the rocks just shy of the snowline, the meat still looks to be in good condition!
Jason demonstrates where he spent a chilly night with a small bit of fire warming him.
With all of this accomplished, all we had left to do was haul the gear and meat out of the gully, hike it back to the truck, and drive ourselves out. We're almost there!
I climbed myself out and set up a rope for the others, and we hauled the gear and meat in several loads to higher ground where we could access a route down the mountain, and I showed Jason and John how to use climbing gear to ascend a rope. Now this is never an easy process in any conditions, and is made especially more difficult in forty degree temperatures with a wet rope and when the only anchors available direct your climb straight up a waterfall!
But all difficulties were overcome and Jason and John managed to haul themselves out of trouble and onto the open mountain slope. We're almost done!
Only now instead of just the ropes and carabiners, we're all carrying considerable amounts of extra weight. The hike down took us almost as long as the hike up, and was far more grueling. The trees at the base of the mountain never seemed to get any closer, and with all of our packs somewhere in the neighborhood of eighty pounds, we were beat! Still, we kept repeating our mantra: We're almost there!
Eventually just as light faded into blackness we made it back to the truck and six-wheeler, and Jason's knowledge of the intricate network of trails led us through the darkness exactly back to where we parked the trailer and from there back to the road. All in all, we spent fifteen hours of hard work, but we managed to recover everything for Jason, and even the meat seemed okay, so it was a day well spent for sure! And I came away with a few more pictures of the beautiful Alaskan outdoors. Hope you enjoyed them too!
John Borland
www.morffed.com
www.morffed.com
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Comments
a GREAT collection of photos with an even more impressive story. thanks for sharing!
Great pictures, and story line to go with them.
AZFred
My Photo Blog -->http://dthorpphoto.blogspot.com/
Doug and Cathy
www.goldenstarphoto.com
http://www.facebook.com/artist.goldenstarphoto?ref=hl
That's my take too. Every hunting experience I've had has been like this, with hours or even days of strenuous work in uncooperative weather, usually unsuccessful and occasionally yielding a little bit of meat. Cameras are so much easier.
Thanks for browsing and commenting, all!
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