Sunday Morning:
Having loaded our packs the night before, we got up early,
had a good breakfast and discussed the upcoming hike. We would
be hiking through what the locals call 'jungle' or rain forest
for about 1000 feet of elevation before breaking off into muskeg
which is a swampy, spongy grass before reaching camp 2 at about
1700 feet.
Each terrain has its own drawbacks. The jungle is a twisted
mess of downed trees, berry bushes and the dreaded Devils Club
- a thorn laden bush. The muskeg sucks your energy as you sink
to your ankle with each step - still better than the dreaded
climb through the rain forest!
Devils Club
The hike was exhausting and took much longer because we were
constantly getting tangled up in the bushes and trees along the
route. I quickly found out why Johnny urged me to purchase a
pair of 'caulks' which are a boot with metal spikes screwed into
the sole. While I was not very thrilled about changing footwear
for the trip, I heeded his recommendation and bought a pair of
the $120 boots. It turned out to be the best investment I made
for this trip as this is the footwear that the guides and loggers
in this country use to conserve energy and keep their feet where
they plant them - it pays to listen to your guide! I wish I had
listened to his other recommendation which was to carry my arrows
in my arrow case, rather than my bow quiver. I broke one arrow
and lost another 2. That left me with only four arrows to hunt
with going into my hunt.
After several hours we reached camp 2. We planned on spiking
up with the goats with an ultralight setup later in the trip
but for now this was our 'base spike'. As soon as the gear was
unpacked and the camp set up we took a nap and had lunch.
Sunday Afternoon
We decided to do a scouting run to the base of the cliffs
- about two hours up the valley. We spotted goats all afternoon
and plotted our hunt strategy for the next few days. We never
hunted that day since we needed another 1500 foot climb to get
into goat country and neither Johnnie, nor I, had it in us. We
spotted over 20 goats, some possible billies, from that basin.
We both retired to our little one-man tents around 8:40 after
a freeze dried meal and a hot chocolate. Tomorrow, the hump begins!