September 23, 2006
Saturday

 

Our opportunity had come!  The forecast called for 2 days of beautiful sunny weather between storms.  We had one more chance to use our new boat before we mothballed it for the winter.  We normally avoid Whittier like the plague on the weekend, because of the crowds.  The weather forecast for Friday had been 50 Kt winds with gusts to 70, today it was just 4 ft. seas with rain.  We launched around 11:00 AM and started out of Passage Canal.  Upon reaching Decision Point, the wind was gusting into the 20’s and we were taking 3-4 footers head on.  We chose the calm waters of Culross Passage rather than the outside routing.  Exiting Culross Passage, the winds were much calmer and we made a straight line for the passageway at the north end of Knight Island.  Next, it was around the Applegate Rocks, past the northeast end of Green Island and finally to Montague.  This was our first time to make Montague Island in our own boat .  We approached the island at Graveyard Point and entered Stockdale Harbor, where we glassed for deer for a while.  The area just seemed too low to hold bucks this time of the season.  We left there and headed for our original destination, Port Chalmers.  As we entered, we saw a mooring buoy and headed straight for it.  The mooring buoy was located behind Wilby Island.  As we motored toward  it, we saw another boat, with someone standing on the bow, coming from behind the island.  The other boat also appeared to be headed to the same buoy.  I couldn’t believe it!  How, in the middle of  no where, could someone else be heading for the exact same buoy I wanted and at the same time!  We slowed and when they came closer we talked with them.  They said they had the Forest Service cabin rented, but they couldn’t find it.  I checked my GPS and told them it was 2.8 miles from our current location.  They were also planning to hunt for deer.  We told each other if anyone needed help, we would be available.  Ahhhh…… the mooring buoy was all ours; I sleep much better at night on a buoy rather than swinging on an anchor.  We tied off with a mooring line and I was HOT to hit the beach.  I blew up our raft and rowed us to shore around 4:00 PM.  We landed on the rocky beach and tied up.  The alders at the beach were like a thick, barely penetrable jungle, which then gave way to thick spruce and FINALLY opened into squishy interconnecting meadows.  We worked our way from meadow to meadow, further and further, just trying to find out what the REAL hunt would be like tomorrow.  There were many small creeks, 1 ½ ft wide and often over 1 ft deep.  We immediately saw deer sign everywhere, deer tracks, deer scat, and heavily chewed on skunk cabbage.  While overlooking the bay, we saw a large sailboat headed into our anchorage.  We continued higher and higher, making our bear precaution noise, as we hiked.  I was slightly ahead of Shanna when I heard a phhhtttt…phhtt.  I thought we were finally going to get to see a deer.  I had Shanna stop and be quiet, that’s when she saw the brush moving all around and said, "That’s no deer, that’s a bear!"  I had to admit with the amount of brush moving, it seemed to be much larger than a deer.  We decided this would be a good time to turn back and head for the boat.  Our hike back was made even more difficult with bad coordinates from our GPS.  The GPS initially had problems finding itself earlier on the beach and therefore, incorrectly marked our raft 1/4 mile away from its actual location; we came back the long way.  We arrived on the beach and heard a loud.... .loud… motor running around.  The motor slowed momentarily and then Bamm!……A shot was fired, then the motor immediately gassed back up.  Shanna became concerned.  She thought maybe he was shooting at us, because we looked like deer on the beach.  I was sure he wasn't shooting at us.  We rowed back to the boat and a young man pulled up in the dinghy with the loud motor.   Kobi introduced himself to us.  We offered him a beer, which he gladly accepted, and we visited for a while.  He said he had been commercial fishing with his dad and brother all summer and now he and his dad were finishing up their season with an inside passage return to Seward.  He said they had shredded their jib sail and had battled 22 ft seas the night before.  They were now holing up behind Montague Island for some rest and hunting.   He was cruising the shore in his dingy looking for ducks and deer and was planning on climbing to the top of the mountain the next day for a buck.  We had a good visit before he headed back to their boat, which was a 53’ sailboat converted to a troller and long liner.  Shanna & I cooked up some dinner, drank some beer and called it a night.

 

 

September 24, 2006
Sunday

 

We slept in and by the time we had a bite to eat, it was 10:30AM before we left the boat to start our hike up the mountain.  We planned to hike to the high country in search of deer.  After about an hour and a half, we were several miles from the beach and had climbed to about the 400 ft level.  .  Since we were still several miles from where we planned to hunt, we continued to make noise as we traveled, "Hey Bear, No Bear," etc.  We rounded a corner and headed up to the next meadow.  As we entered our next plateau, we heard the woofing sounds of a bear.  Across the plateau, about 125 ft away, we saw a brown bear stand up on its hind legs.  We immediately started yelling and making as much noise as possible trying to scare it away.  However, it dropped to all fours and CHARGED!!  About 30ft from us it stopped for ¼ second and then continued a full-on charge straight for us again!  As it started for us again, Shanna immediately started spraying with her bear spray, covering its face!  It still continued charging at top speed, and was nearly to us!  When the bear first stood up, I pulled my rifle from my pack, loaded a shell, and fumbled the safety off.  When the bear was 8 ft away and still coming full bore with its head down, I fired from my side -- the scope covers were still on!  There was no time to aim!   

 

Thankfully, the bear fell immediately into a pile of fur!  I was backing up and attempting to reload when I stumbled and fell backwards in a small creek.  Luckily, after the shot, the bear never  moved!  If the shot hadn't dropped her instantly, she would've run us over in her next step or two!  As we were looking down at her, breathing a huge sigh of relief, we suddenly started hearing more bear noises on the hillside.  We then saw two yearling cubs stand on their hind legs to look at us.  We thought, Oh, no!  It's not over......here comes the second wave!  We yelled at them and waved our arms.  One of them bawled and they made lots of noise in the bushes for quite a while.  Finally, things calmed down.  The sow was very dead.  When the adrenaline rush was over, Shanna started to cry a bit.  She said she didn‘t know if she was crying for herself, the dead bear or the cubs.  It was all very overwhelming!  After we calmed down,  Shanna stood guard as I checked to see where my shot hit.  I had hit the bear slightly higher than right between the eyes.  

 

Once back at our boat, we had a few beers and relaxed for a while.  About 45 minutes before sunset, we motored over to Kobi’s boat where we met his dad (Mark, we think).  We told him our story and he became very concerned for his son.  We promised to help if Kobi didn’t make it back to the beach before dark.  Motoring away, we sure hoped our services would not be needed.  About 15 minutes prior to sunset, we heard Kobi yelling from the beach.  "Dad!!!  Dad!!!"  Soon his dad had the dinghy fired up and was headed to pick him up.  Kobi had a Blacktail deer slung around his neck.  We heard Kobi tell his dad on the beach, "I’ll never do that again!"  They loaded up in their little dinghy and made their way over to our boat.  Unbelievable!!  Kobi went up the mountain with nothing but jeans, his rifle and a sweatshirt.  Not even a watch!  He said he had to hike all the way to the snow line before he saw a buck. 

 

September 25, Monday

 

Another beautiful day, just a few clouds in the sky.  I worked out a route on the computer that would be a great tour and only add 14 miles to our return trip.  We left our beloved mooring buoy and headed for the south end of Knight Island.  We passed Little Green Island along the way and then worked our way up the passages on the west side of Knight Island.  We stopped in the northwest corner of Lower Herring Bay for lunch and to try to spot some deer.  Lunch was Stove Top Stuffing and tender Caribou steaks grilled in a skillet.  Yum!!  After lunch, we continued up the west coast of Knight Island until we cut across the open water to come in behind Crafton Island.  Next,  it was up Culross Passage, thru Wells Passage and back into Whittier. 10-15 minutes from docking in Whittier, we stopped the boat to call the troopers in Girdwood and ADF&G in Soldotna to notify them about our DLP (defense of life and property) kill.  ADF&G said be at their office first thing in the morning.