Monday, the day before opener, we decide to head back closer to the ocean for first light and start hiking timber and same routine. After the first couple hours I call it a morning and just say screw it, lets go bear hunt and catch some pinks and have another casual day. So we get to the river and just creeping along sitting around waiting for a big salmon bear to poke his head out as Joel was looking for a big big bear. We bear hunted for a few hours with no luck surprisingly with the amount of bear sign around I thought for sure we would be on a bear in no time. No luck with even bears. We have to head back early again to get Joel back to his truck so he can head back to Langley to watch his son. I decide I’m going to have a nap after that. I’m half asleep and I hear a bunch of commotion down the way and I just decide to ignore it and then I hear a couple dirt bikes stop outside the wall tent and apparently some guys decided to take their jeep “off roading”. I was warned that they would be heading my way soon to ask for help and that it was a hopeless venture and they would need a helicopter to get them out and not to waste my time. I go back to the cot and about 15 minutes later I hear a nervous “hello hello we need some help anybody in there”. Well shit, I hop out of bed and go see who is out there. Couple of high school kids who wanted to have some fun. So I throw in a big lip full of Copey Wintergreen and grumpily drive up to their jeep “which should be easy with a winch”. Jesus Christ the damn thing is sunk, have to crawl in through the windows or the cab will flood opening the door. Stock 90s jeep Cherokee with a jack all on the roof. Its a jeep so you can go anywhere. what in the hell were they thinking. They weren’t but we’ve all been there and I’ve got the winch so I’ve got to try and help them. They have the jack all on the top and they have no idea how to use it so there I am in the mud showing them how to run a jack all and trying to get just enough length of the winch to see if I can pull them out. I jacked up as much as I could and I slipped into the mud pit and sprained my ankle pretty good, hobble back to the truck pissed off and tried again to pull it out with the winch. Burn the winch out…shit. Well boys can’t help ya, use my inreach and get some help on the way and go hang out in the wall tent and stay warm until they get here I gotta go look for some elk. Again no elk just a seriously swollen ankle and a depressing night at camp until the wife to be decides she wants to come up with the pooch for the night. Fine. She gets lost and there I am at 10:30 on the quad going up the mamquam FSR looking for her because she’s missed the turn off to Indian Arm. I finally get through by texting and she says she’s going home and I’m heading back to camp. An hour later a car pulls up and she decided after all to come up anyways. I’m too tired at this point to be annoyed so make room for her and call it a night.
Hoping for elk on the gas line