Saturday
We arrived at the trailhead about 6:15 p.m. last night. Drew and I had previously talked about splitting up, each heading off in a separate direction until either of us “got into elk”. I also had the brilliant idea of bringing my mountain bike – not. I should have remembered my last episode of trying to bike with a 70lb pack, almost impossible. Didn’t see any elk hiking in – ¾ moon.
This morning I wanted to check the area we’d found on our last outing with lots of sign…apparently Drew had the same idea because he called me in mid-morning with some low chuckles in some heavy timber – I wish he wasn’t as good a caller as he is! We again departed ways and I continued heading east and he worked off toward the south, I wouldn’t see him for several more days. Walking down the trail I came across one of the outfitters drop camps and spoke with the guys packing out from their week long hunt. They gave me some good info to keep heading east. I spent the night solo about mid way up a large drainage. Found a wallow and fresh sign. Only heard one bugle and suspect it was another hunter.
I also realized I set my bivy directly in the path of a heavily used elk trail that had been getting regular use. I tried moving logs across the trail to make sure I didn’t get stepped on in the middle of the night but decided I’d rather get stepped on than landed on, so I strategically placed my already funky boots at either side of the trail. For some reason I didn’t sleep too well that night?