Leaderboard

Interestingly, the couple who stayed the longest came by my camp the afternoon I had approached them and invited me to breakfast the next morning, which was the morning of the recovery operation. I graciously accepted, and they invited me to dinner the following evening, too. In turn, I grilled ribeyes for them one evening. Like me, they had a Bigfoot camper, although theirs was the large 2500 model. Mine has a framed color image of Frame 352 Patty inside, and a Sasquatch Country plate outside next to the door. When the man saw that, he told me that he was a member if an Anchorage group: Anchorage Sasquatch Searchers ......or ASS. He's quite the character. He actually cited a few reports that I'd never heard of for that precise location in Broad Pass going back to when the railroad was constructed there and transforming the wilderness in the early 1920's.

I planned on trekking out to a new location this past Friday to explore the area and then return yesterday and stay overnight. Friday was derailed by weather. Yesterday (Sunday), the forecast was gorgeous and I was in the car and en route by 7am. I wasn't a mile from home when the "low tire pressure" popped up on my car's screen. Uh oh. I pulled into a convenient store that has an air pump. Front left tire was low as was the back left tire. The front right tire was low so I was batting a thousand when I looked at my left rear tire--it was a pancake on asphalt. I was able to add air to each of them, including the pancake, and limp back home. It dawned on me, what on earth would I do if this had happened miles from humanity where there is no cell service. It was time to get serious about emergency gear. I just ordered a battery charger (NOCO GB50) and an air compressor (ViAir 300P). Naturally, none of these were available locally so I have to wait for them to arrive. There are a few other things I need to have for emergency vehicle gear purposes that I will need to address. I don't ever want to be in this position again in the hinterlands. I thought I would throw this out there and see what everyone else has in their vehicle to help themselves if some problem arises. What contingency plans have you made to plans if something in your vehicle fails?

Hello for the Hills and Hollers of Eastern Kentucky.

There was a mud ox up the East Fork. I saw him come out on Monday with a nice moose rack. They're a bit spendier than I can invest at my age.

It doesn't seem like how many parts, tools, and equipment I carry. "Stuff" happens: I left late for my moose hunt this year because the newer Argo I just bought wouldn't run after I ran it into my garage to pack it. There's some kind of bizarre carburator problem. I had already used it last month on a very deep caribou hunt; over 20 miles in to a VERY lonely valley. I was actually glad it broke in my garage and not out in the trail. I ordered a carb kit for it, then quickly prepped my old Argo for this trip. The morning I left home (Sunday, Sept. 5), the utility trailer that I haul the Argo in had a flat. Nobody open to repair it. I'm starting to feel a bit nervous. God might be telling me something, but I never seem to understand these "messages". Am I supposed to be determined, or should I call it off? I put the spare on and aired up the flat. It's a slow leak. It became my new spare. It rained all the way up to the upper Chulitna River area. I stayed in the camper all day and night Monday. Tuesday morning it was overcast and looked threatening, but it wasn't rainy. My camp spot goal was only about 5 miles in, but there were some pretty rough trail areas. A creek actually took the trail over for a hundred yards or so, and there were several creek crossings. I got right up to the ridge I wanted to camp on, but went past it a bit to the worse spots on the trail.........and broke a chain. No power to the rear 3 wheels on the right side. I got the chain unbound, but found that I'd left my chain repair parts and tools in the newer Argo. It was a wet 5 mile hike out. At least it was daylight..........

This happens on your basic Twilight Zone trips.

Yes, so many oddities about this one. I do hope that we get answers in the end and it is not left as unsolved.