adventures of the miebs family: 2-day sheep hunt

on a 3 day notice, i had to get my isht together for a 2 day sheep hunt. i've watched my husband for the past 6 years, spend a week getting gear packed for his sheep hunts. i know it's no throw-some-clothes-in-a-dufflebag kind of hunt. it's about cutting the handle off a toothbrush in order to save on weight. it's about packing food to sustain energy for entire days of hiking rugged, steep terrain. and most importantly, having the right clothing to keep you warm throughout the nights, but able to breathe easy during the day when you're sweating through your ascents. and i can say this, after my extremely brief stint, i'm ready for a week of it.

i didn't think i wouldn't like it. i love to hike. i do my little hour hikes with the kids, drive home and stare out my windows, craving even more. i can only do so much with jb's little legs though. i do realize i'm conditioning him to someday soon, leave me to hike on his own or better yet, with his dada. anytime we hike the butte, with pioneer peak in the backdrop, jackie points to it and tells me he wants to climb that mountain. i think ben has fantasies about drawing a sheep tag in the chugach and taking his son up with him. maybe one of these days.

chugach moutains on our drive

off load

so we left on a saturday afternoon and by the time we left the truck, we had about an hour and a half or so before sunset. ben told me the four-wheeler ride was about an hour, but we reached our destination as the sun was settling behind the mountains and the raindrops were dripping. within 5 minutes, we had our tent set up and were snuggled in our sleeping bags. we lost a good 10-15 degrees when the sun went down.

the night was rough. i'm not a back sleeper but more of a side-with-my-leg-up kind of sleeper. or, on my stomach with my arms under my pillow. but. these options were not possible. my sleeping bag is similar to that of a cocoon; tight around my body, without much room for movement. when i fell asleep, my face was tucked warmly inside, but i woke up numerous times because in my course of shut-eye, i naturally came up for air - but my face would be seconds from freezing, thus waking me to take action! it was a long night. my hair got left outside of my bag at some point of tossing and turning, and when i woke up, it felt rigid and frozen. note to self for next time, braid hair and sleep in a hat!

we woke up at 7, and i was frigid. now, i didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag, go figure. after getting dressed and lacing up our boots, we were warmer and with the thought of our oatmeal to warm our bellies, i was feeling even better about life. ben happily slinked out of the tent and threw me my gloves and hat to keep warm. we scarfed our oatmeal, loaded our packs with nalgenes of water and snacks to supplement, and off we trekked to find the rams.

home sweet home

chilly in the a.m.

fog settled in the valley

water, snacks, supplies

mine on the left, benji's on the right

preparing our breakfast

before we even left, ben warned me to keep my voice down because you never know where the sheep will settle. well, my husband knows his shtuff because we weren't 5 minutes from our camp when he spotted these ewes & lambs and one ram. he grabbed his binos from his chest pocket and quickly determined that the lone ram wasn't quite legal. we watched them for a bit, but they quickly spotted us and took off up the mountain. i can't even describe how fast these moms and babes made it up and away from us.

mamas and babies on the left, ram on the right.

spooked, now on the run.

because we left in such a rush, my jacket didn't make it into the truck. i'm not blaming ben, but i'm not blaming myself, either. can i actually say that?! where i pack for all of us for vacations, (yes, that includes kids and adult husband) i kinda left it up to ben to pack for our hunt. that seems only fair, no? well, next time i will be sure to pack my so-very-necessary clothing. but lemme just say this: thank you, benji, for your jacket. i'm thankful that i only needed to wear it for 15 minutes of hiking before getting warm, and that the beautiful weather was on our side.

the little white dots are sheep

frost

see our little trail?

terrain goes from shale to tundra-like squish to jagged rocks...

very loose, jagged rocks

in no time, that sun warms you right up.

no, those are not chocolate chips.

notice all the lines running horizontally?

those are sheep tracks.

incredible views from up here.

spotting for sheep...

but we're met with shadows.

but oh, look how glorious.

more sheep tracks and trails

after about an hour of hiking, we broke free from our packs and took in the beauty. during ben's average 7-10 day hunts, this is the point where he would cop a snooze in the sun. i can totally see that now. there was a slight breeze, and with the sun pounding down on our backs, it was the perfect recipe for a nap. but, we only had so much time. so i snapped some pictures, while ben spotted, we snacked and kept on.

mountains to the right

and to the left

we hiked over another ridge, to yet another bowl, where we spotted even more ewes and lambs, but not a single ram. at this point, ben said, somebody's making all those babies. as quiet as we had to be, i couldn't help but laugh out loud. it's difficult to see from the picture below, but there were about a dozen sheep. at some point, the sheep spotted us and quickly headed up. it took them about 5 minutes to ascend and about 20 minutes until we spotted them on the other side of the ridge, near the bottom of the bowl. i still can't believe how fast they can move. so while we were busy watching the babies, ben looked over to the other ridges and noticed where ALL the rams were hiding...

ewes & lambs

hello, friend moth.

like i said before, this sort of hiking, you need to be concerned about weight.

leave it to me to pack, likely, the heaviest kind of candy: licorice.

these are the sorts of pictures i've been craving to capture.

and he didn't think i could pack my camera...

same sheep as above, kinda hard to distinguish in the rocks,

but man, look at all their paths they've taken...

again, the terrain is so wild up there.

i wasn't expecting much vegetation, but i guess the sheep gotta eat!

couldn't have asked for a better day.

and here are all the rams we've been looking for...

can you see the white dots on that top ridge?

14 sets of horns, only 2-3 legal ones.

these are the ewes and lambs from the other side, making their way up to the rams.

single-file line, no pushing or shoving or ramming

rams at the top, mothers and babies making their way

there's an attachment made for ben's spotting scope that you can place your camera lens into and snap snap snap away at the animals up close. i think i know what benji's getting for Christmas... or would that be what i'm getting for Christmas... so the pictures are dark and fuzzy, but you get the gist of it.

so, where i was ready to hike on over to that ridge, ben had to just laugh. he estimated that well, to that ridge is 900-some odd yards and another 900 yards to those rams, so about a day and a half of hiking. huh. then he kept on and once you shoot your ram, it's gonna tumble all the way to the bottom, and then you have to hike down to that bottom. and, THEN you have to pack it, and hike ALL the way back up to the top. then, back to your camp. with an extra pounds on your back. double huh. so with our time running short, we had to bid our farewells to the goldmine of sheep.