Day 7Tuesday February 16th (Fat Tuesday) 2010
Clear, 18 above
Ken keeps throwing beads at me trying to get me to lift my shirt. (lame mardi gras joke)
Morning breakfast ate and dishes done. We decide to head out to the southern line that we had previously snow shoed. I’m excited to get to make a few wolverine sets in the famed “gulo ditch”. Ken says we should probably add a few more marten sets to the three we had originally made. We load the sled lightly anticipating the rough terrain.
Shortly after climbing our homemade snow ramp, we arrive at the first of three marten foothold sets that we’d made while breaking trail. We’re greeted by with a nice marten waiting patiently for us. She’s a feisty, medium sized female. Number eight overall, and the first female we’ve got. I get to try my hand at Ken’s quick dispatch method. I’ll sum it up by saying this…you better be fast, and you better not worry about being bitten, or you’ll have a little buzz saw attached to you before you know it. After a couple of “false starts” I manage to get the young lady to see things my way. It goes without a hitch and I hang her in the fork of a tree to be picked up on the way back. We set a vertical can en-route to the next set. At leaning pole number 2 of the line, the trap was sprung and empty. After closer inspection we had to replace the trap due to slow firing. Hopefully our next trip through we'll have the culprit. We set another vertical can a few yards from this set.
We check the third leaning pole located in “gulo ditch” and it’s empty, we put out a wolverine bucket there and continue on to where we had stopped the snow shoe death march. The going is really rough here and I spend as much time pushing on the back of the sled as I do standing on the runners. Don’t think for a minute that Ken has it made while driving the machine. He’s had me drive enough that I know what a workout it is to be constantly throwing your body from side to side while trying to keep the machine upright and moving forward. I really hope all the hard work will be worth it. Ken points to a blaze mark on a tree. He says that the blazed tree marks one of his old trails that leads down to a creek. He suggests I bring some gear, go down to the creek bank and make a good wolverine set. He’s says he’s going to try to find an easier way to get back out to the tundra. I grab up the trap, bucket, tie-off snare, and
Backbreaker, and make way down to the creek looking for a good set site. Soon the sound of the machine fades away and I take a minute to just stand looking at the empty sky. I notice there are no birds chirping, no planes flying over, no trains in the distance, there is
nothing. Not so much as a hint of a breeze stirs. I realize I’m listening to the sound of silence. Yes, that’s right, the sound of silence. It’s something that I’ve been told of, but never experienced. Now, as I stand here, I notice there is not a single sound to be heard, except for the hollow ring of silence. It’s not eerie or creepy, it’s indescribably peaceful.
I snap out of my minute of daydreaming and look to find the perfect spot to make a gulo connection. I find what I think looks like an ideal spot, a small ridge near the creek bank, with a stout log propped up enough to allow me to wedge the bucket under it. As I walk over to set it up I see a good sign, a fresh wolverine trail lays about three feet on the other side of the log I’d picked out. That gives me a little confidence! I start making the set and realize that the springs aren’t cocked on the belisle 330. Ooopps. Well I’m not going to walk back out and then wait on Ken to get back, so I figure I’ll use a little T-man knowledge and just set it by hand. It actually works out well and is much easier than I had thought. I finish the set up giving it a healthy dose of
Backbreaker, and head back to meet up with Ken. We use the trail he’s made to get across the tundra and stick in one more leaning pole set.
After the bumpy ride out we head back to camp to have a good snack (smoked salmon courtesy of Hupurest) and warm drinks. Then it’s off to prospect on the creek near the Northern line, the one that Ken had been interested in. We decide we may as well just check a few of those sets while we’re in the area. I think Ken wants to see those wolverine snares and the hay set produce just as bad as me. We check the arsenal of gulo sets, as well as the few marten sets, near the area but we haven’t connected. Again, we leave puzzled by the lack of fresh sign, we decide to stay away from the remaining canine and marten sets, we’ll return the following day and check them.
We find a suitable place to get on the creek and take off on our afternoon stroll. Ken’s not sure of the condition of the ice so we leave the machine and go on foot, staying near the bank. He is kind enough to walk in front, but his talk of thin ice still keeps me on edge. After the first ten or twelve times of breaking through the shallow overflow ice, I finally stopped leaping for the nearest tree. The overflow ice was dry underneath and had thick solid ice an inch or so underneath. I tried to think “light”.
We covered over a mile of walking distance, but probably weren’t over a half of a mile from the sled. The creek looked like an oversized snake trail, but at least the snow on top was not so deep as to need snoe shoes. The creek was covered in tracks of all kinds. There were numerous marten tracks, several wolverine tracks, and an uncountable number of otter trails. Several times we even see where the wolverine(s) have used the otter trails like snowplowed roads. As we get near where the creek runs into the river, we reach a confluence of trails. It’s a likely looking place for a wolverine set, and as an added bonus there is a hole in the main creek ice that is obviously being kept open with often use. To me this seems to be an otter producer.
With our reconnaissance mission complete, we mentally set out the line on our way back out to the sled. It looks like we’ve got a decent little prospect line here, and we’re anxious to get back and set it up.
Dinner is moose roast and gravy Part Deuce… even better than the first time.
I would have to say I would be smiling also. I know two coyotes in one day is tough, I can only imagine your hands with all that fur to process.
