Well, I'm killing time in Whitehorse, Yukon awaiting the Alcan flight that will take me to the Ogilvie Mountains, where Jim and Adrienne Fink operate Blackstone Outfitters. I am hunting Dall sheep, with moose and caribou on the menu. I've had an uneventful trip from Atlanta to SLC to Vancouver and then on to Whitehorse, a surprisingly bustling town, touristy, and packed with college kids. I've seen two Starbucks, a Walmart, Staples, and McDonalds. I've seen two separate First Nation dramas involving massive police and EMT/ambulance responses with the upshot being drunken Indian bad behavior... seems this might be a common occurrence.
Travel requirements had me two days in Whitehorse, waiting, killing time with another hunter and a long-time guide for the outfit. My sleep cycle has been disturbed by jet lag, Pacific Time Zone, and Sheep Fever. I've been in this bed with a street light from across the street boring a hole in my brain for so long now I had to get up an repack the gear one last time, and with still more time, I decided to update the backpackers with this little tale.
I have been doing this type of hunting for several years, and have developed quite a basement full of gear to choose from. I am using a Mystery Ranch G6000 pack this time. The volume is right, it's not as heavy as a Grizzly, and I like the side pockets, one of which I can use for the butt of my NULA .30-06, and balance that on the other side with a nalgene. As a guided hunter, I won't need a spotting scope, the swaro 10X42 range binos are my optics. I've got Hornady Superperformance GMX 150gr ammo, and the NULA is looking ungainly this year wearing a big ole Swarovski Z5 3.5-18 BT, dialed in out to 500 yds.
Went with a Kifaru sleeping bag 0 degree Slick, Neo-air pad, with backup zlite pad cut down to function as a sit pad while glassing. I'm very comfortable in the Sportiva Trango Evo GTX boots, wool socks and liners. Throw in some bug dope and a steripen, some Westcomb rain gear, Arcteryx atom SV coat for warmth along with some puffy pants, and we are GTG. It's about time for breakfast, and a blast off for camp.
More to come...
