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pmj
10-12-2007, 09:39 AM
I have safely returned from my first alpine trip. First I want to give a big thank you to frenchbar from this forum for all his help. He provided information that helped to make this trip a great experience. He really knows the mountains in Region 3-32 like the back of his hand. He is a stand up guy and a pleasure to talk with. He is a bundle of accurate mountain information. I want to blame all those guys on this site who have shown pictures of the alpine, done gear reports, provided detailed equipment lists, given work out and excercise advise and endlessly talked about alpine hunting. You guys gave me the push to get started.
The Story: After a year of planning and collecting gear, with my buddy James and his girl friend we drove up from the lower mainland on Saturday morning October 6 to the Lilloette area. Headed up Bridge River valley. Some spectacular sceenery there. Took a turn off and drove up no tellum valley. We turned off into a clear cut and after a little bit of driving up dead end roads we were able to locate the old road which took us into our trail head at about 12:30pm. The temperature was -1. We took a compass bearing and started what was on the maps a 3km hike in. There were numerous valleys hills and ridges to climb. We discovered that my 1:50,000 topo map was missing a creek and a 300' canyon it ran through. We persevered and discovered by my friends GPS that we had walked 6 km to reach the lake we were camping at. Maps can not show the up and down distance you travel, just the distance as the crow flies. We set up camp on the only protected part of the small alpine lake just as the winds started to pick up. By dinner time the winds were gusting over 70 kmh. I did a late afternoon scout and had trouble standing up in the directly exposed areas. The weather man had called for a wind warning and wind we got! The morning of day 2 the winds continued. We were headed out for our morning hunt and it started to rain. We headed back to camp and spent the day in the tent. I had cut off all the labels on my equipment to save weight so I had nothing to read. Fortunatley we had a copy of the Regulations so we were able to play Regulations trivia. How do you recognize a female cougar? Over 40 with a nose piercing hanging out in a bar with 20 year olds. In the late afternoon the rain stopped. We headed out again. Got about 1/2 hour out then the snow started. Whipped by winds so it was coming straight up our noses. The only thing we saw was the biggest grizzly droppings I have seen in my life:shock:. To be continued...

My yellow Eureka Alpen Lite 4 season tent. James and his girl friends tent is behind the tree to the right.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Alpine_2007_Tent.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6304&limit=recent)

pmj
10-12-2007, 09:41 AM
That night the temperature dropped to what felt like -8 or -10. The small lake by our camp froze over night. Day 3 was crisp and cold. No wind. We saw fresh tracks coming off the plateau above our camp. Through our the trip while glassing, I would find new tracks that appeared at night or when we were holed up in our tents due to weather. We did a long hike and staked out a good looking draw with some fairly fresh tracks in it that had a funnel coming off the nearby slopes. I had the video camera all set to catch the action but after over 2hrs nothing. We moved on and did some more scouting. We covered most of the area with in reasonable range of our camp. Not much for signs. Just more grizzly c***. The previous days rain had melted some old snow at our campsite. We found the grizzly had also used our camp as a toilet at one time. I had caught a heck of a chest cold 2 days before the trip and not being able to sleep very well in between coughing fits, I suggested we return a day early if the weather is not good. Day 4 broke with clouds, driving snow and bitter cold winds:|. I did a hunt in the morning for several hours. We packed up and headed out by 11:00am. At our truck we found in the fresh snow the prints of a sow and cub grizzly. It was a great trip. We all agreed it was a success. The mountains were spectacular and the terrain was amazing. For my self the veteran and the 2 newbie hunters in their 3rd season, it was the best place and the best time for an alpine trip we coud have ever expected. We learned tons and made it back safely. I look forward to doing it again. I want to thank my wife Marianne for making me buy the best equipment when I was thinking of going for the cheaper stuff8). Stayed warm and dry the whole time. On a side note. In preperation for this trip I went on a exercise program. I lost 20 lbs so the alpine was the incentive I needed to get into shape.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Alpine_2007_plateau.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6305&limit=recent)

pmj
10-12-2007, 09:45 AM
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Alpine_2007.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6303&limit=recent)
That is me on the right.

Big Bucks
10-12-2007, 10:18 AM
Great pics and great story , i do alot of hunting up in that area , it is a great place , the weather can sure come in fast there. I have been hunkered on the side of a mountain many times up there . Good for you guys getting out there and doing it.

BlacktailStalker
10-12-2007, 10:21 AM
Sounds like a good time, theres nothing like a first.
Nice country and pics.

Wildman
10-12-2007, 10:55 AM
Hey Paul...........How do you place that watermark on your photos? What program do you use? Great story too by the way.

Will
10-12-2007, 05:11 PM
Pics Look Great ! Thanks for the Read too :)

Th0r
10-12-2007, 08:20 PM
Sounds and looks like a great experience. Thanks for sharing.:smile: