Back from Elk Camp -

We got back last night from nine days at elk camp. And we could sure use at least that many more there! No, Tramp 1 didn't shoot an elk with his bow. But we saw lots of elk and had a great time. Staying in the cabin takes some adjustment - like getting used to hauling water from the spring, cooking without electricity and reading by lantern light. Just when we start to truly get our rhythm in sync with Mom Nature it is time to head back to reality.

We had a visitor come by but we didn't get to see him. A nice big boar black bear was roaming around and I found his fresh track headed the same direction I was hiking. I decided to detour around an area of blowdown without much escapement - just erring on the side of caution.

My hiking shoe in this picture is an eight - so this is not a particularly tiny bear!

Over Labor Day weekend I got a fleeting glimpse of two bear cubs that have been prowling around with their mother. We figured they would be coming in to dine on the very ripe dead Angus bull but they never dropped by. Yes, poor Bruiser had to be put down - he had gangrene from his broken hip and is now out of his misery.

We had several days of rain showers and a good thunder and lightning storm while at the cabin. Kind of gives me the creeps being in that tiny cabin with it's metal roof during storms. No where to run, no where to hide... Unless we wanted to join the packrats that were crawling around at night under the floor and in the walls - we were able to trap several of them during the week.

Our last night at camp found the meadow by the cabin alive with a sea of elk. Multiple branch antlered bulls, spikes, cows and calves were all feeding until dark. Once daylight faded into darkness, they broke up into smaller bands and took up their posts on the ridges surrounding the cabin. We were treated to their bugles, grunts, squeals and chuckles all night long. I felt so safe nestled deep in the forest with the elk as sentinels guarding for us.

Now it is back to our real life... Piles of laundry and lots of gear to sort and stow away. And the Dish TV guy was out first thing this morning to troubleshoot the new system we had put in on Friday before we left for elk camp. We got a DVR so I wouldn't have to miss the new season of television shows. But I ended up missing them anyway because about four hours after everything was installed something went badly wrong and we lost the satellite signal. We were up half the night on the phone with Dish to no avail. Had to leave town knowing that I would be missing so much.... Yes, I shed a tear of frustration that night... But now it is all up and working again - hopefully for a very long time.

The drive home was long and Tramp 1 was eyeing all the other hunters on the highway to see who was bringing anything home. He is such a great sport about it all - truly a sportsman not a hunter. It isn't all about the kill as much as it is about the pursuit. And we had some wonderful adventures calling in the bull elk that we will hopefully be seeing again in the spring sporting massive antlers in velvet as yet another season begins.