We're finally getting snow that's sticking but the temperatures up here still haven't been below zero. Which means I'm getting a lot of skin sewing in but my trapping partner and I didn't get any sets out until yesterday (other than some beaver sets when all the rivers and lakes were still open at the beginning of trapping season). And it wasn't quite the day that we had planned on. The temps were in the teens/twenties, not the forecasted single digits. The started out pretty good. We'd recently gotten dumped on so it was some work breaking trail. It was great to be outside and to finally have snow. There were open edges on the river and creeks.







We got seven sets in on our North River line before we got to the creek that we both have a hard time getting across. Gregg unhooked the sled and only required a little push to get his machine up. Four stroke long tracks are great for trapping. I on the other hand had to get off and push, while Gregg pulled after readjusting where my track was sitting on the creek. We cruised to the next creek, breaking trail without the sled for a change. There were a few spots where I saw some brown snow from creek overflow and passed over em after Gregg with no problem. I hesitated a moment before trying a spot with a bit more brown snow and a little hole and then went for it.

Everything went crack. My left ski went down, my right ski went up, I slammed to a stop and my back end crashed through. I hopped to the right side, then hopped right to the ice/snow that was holding my right ski up. I whistled my sharp whistle and Gregg paused, looked back and then circled back to me.



We both stood at stared at my rig for a minute before realizing that everything we had was back in the sled. We pulled our 330 ropes from our jackets and decided to try and get one around the ski in the water. Gregg broke off the shelf of ice it was under. I took off my jacket and sweater, and in my tank top I reached down and looped the rope around the loop in my ski. I shook off and put my sweater back on, grabbed my gloves and we tried lifting. We got the ski up to just under the top of the water. Gregg busted a tree down and tried levering while I pulled and we got the tip of the ski out of the water and then no further. It was about 2:20. He talked about riding double to town but I figured it be dark by the time we got back. Sunset was in an hour and civil twilight was in about 2 and a half. I told him I'd hang out there so he could get to town faster and get some tools and help. He took off and I broke off some pine branches with needles and made a little seat for myself under a leaning tree. I walked around a bit to cool down/warm up. After I my sweat dried up and I felt comfy, I built a little fire and settled in to relax.





Gregger came back with someone to help from town and two come alongs. By then the back of my rig had sunk lower but the front was still in the same place. We hooked one rope to the ski peeking out of the water and one to the bumper. Gregg pried with the tree and we inched the come alongs up a bit at a time. It came out of the water bit by bit. As soon as we had it out of the water and less than precariously perched teetering on the edge of the ice, they tore into it.





I stood there, handed them things, held my flashlight, and looked pretty while they drained the engine, dried the spark plugs, drained the carburetors, and the air box. They pulled and spit water out of the engine until it quit spitting and put it all back together. Two pulls and it stopped pulling. They'd forgotten to take the water out of the bottom part of the muffler, because the big part of the muffler never went in the water. By the time they took it all back apart and started draining, ice had formed on one of the pistons in the engine. Gregg belated wished he'd grabbed a torch. They put it back together and we buckled the cowling down, grabbed our gear and headed back to the snow machines.

I rode double back with Gregg and our friend followed behind us. I don't think I'd ridden double since Gregg and I tried it on my snow machine coming back from a hunting trip when his rig didn't start. (It didn't work, we took turns riding caribou in a sled back from Iglutalik, but that's a story for another time.) Gregg's new machine wasn't terrible for riding double. On the way back we chatted about the day. The part that cracked me up was him asking how in the world I didn't get a drop of water on me when I sunk my rig. I guess my reflexes are still in good condition for a late start to the trapping season.

Poor sled! Glad you were ok and that you didn't get wet! Good to hear you at least got some gear out! Hopefully you will get the sled up and running! Be safe!

Talk about some quick reflexes! Bet that would have made for a great video . Glad you were not injured and managed to get some sets out.

Sissy,your supposed to pin the throttle crossing spots like that.
Good to trap with a partner sometimes.

We went back up yesterday to try and get it started and if that didn't work, haul it out of there. We packed up a torch, some heet, and more tools. Gregg hooked me up with his old tundra and we cruised up to our line. My machine was frosted and frozen. We tried the torch, but couldn't get anything moving.





The creek had iced over. I was super grateful that we'd gotten it out the day before and weren't chopping it out of the creek. We used the come along and some lifting to get it turned around and to a place where we could get a sled under it. The track was pretty iced up and wasn't gonna move. We used a rope and got the sled out to where we could hook Gregg's machine up to it. The drive out was slow but successful.



While we were up getting my rig, some overflow started showing up on the river. A little unnerving, but we didn't run into any trouble. As soon as we got to town we made room in his shop and hauled it in and put it up on blocks to get it thawing out.

Today Gregg drained it, put it back together, and it fired up after three pulls. I was amazed. He pulled the seat off, it currently weighs 40 or 50 lbs. He's got it hanging up and draining into a bucket. So far a gallon of water has drained out of it.



HFT AK - My poor sled indeed. Once the seat gets a little less waterlogged I'll take it on a long ride and hopefully it'll be okay. I'm glad we got a little gear out too. Things could have been way worse!

broncoformudv - Hahaha... I did get a short clip of him towing my rig out on the tundra, but that was it. No injuries other than a swollen bruised forearm and bruised hands. Pretty lucky!

Boco - I tried and failed. I perched right under the tree, came down onto the creek and tried to gun it, hard on that trail. I love my trapping partner. He's one of my best friends and is a handy guy. Him and my other rescuer will definitely be getting a dozen cinnamon rolls each.

Thanks for the ride a long Sissy. You did well with your remaining calm, staying dry and building a fire. Just another adventure to learn from.

Our first kitty of the year. Turned the ears, lips, and skinned out the feet. The front left paw had a splinter in his pad. The set he was caught in is about 100 yards back from where we park our snow machines and walk in. The warm weather caused over flow one week and then open holes a couple days later. The snare was knocked over and the foothold was buried in at least six inches and didn't go off when it was stepped on. The kitty stuck her head in a wolverine box and got thumped pretty good by a 330.





AKHowler - Thank you. It was certainly an adventure I would have passed on given the choice, but I feel like the outcome has been fairly decent.

Three strikes...... and it's out............................... in your fur shed.
Good job

Enjoying your thread and the pics. Missing Unk.
mt

At work Saturday my trapping partner gave me a call. I thought he was setting up a time for us to go out and get back on the line Monday instead he was calling to tell me that he almost took a huge chunk out of his hand and that he'd just gotten 14 stitches.

I worked Sunday and then decided to go out by myself to check the kitty sets and put some snare sets out on the river. I grabbed the sled from Gregg and headed up the river. It'd been below zero since the Monday after I dropped my rig in the creek. There was no new sign by any of the kitty sets. It was a beautiful day. And my rig was behaving nicely after it's little swim.




I bumped into two moose on Christmas tree trail on my way to the first place I wanted to set snares. Nice to see em running around.





I got seventeen snares out. I came across otter track and tried to find his hole, but after punching through shelf ice about seven times and finally falling over I gave up on that endeavor.



It was a good day and really nice to get out.


I went out today and checked everything, even venturing out on the marten line. It was just above zero and the light was flat. I didn't see any lynx or fox sign. I did come across mink sign in two places but didn't have the right boxes. I saw more otter sign too, but it was over on the sides of the river where it's deep and definitely not where I want to be walking. There was one marten.



There was a little overflow on the river but it wasn't bad at all.




The guys appreciated their cinnamon rolls. My speedometer no longer works and I burned out a bulb, but if that's the only damages from my misadventure, I'm totally okay with that.

Gregg should be getting his stitches out on the 31st. Hopefully he is patient and doesn't slow the healing process by getting bored and doing too much.


Northof50 Thank you!

martentrapper Thanks! UNK's pretty great. But I'm biased.

You had me at cinnamon rolls Ms Sissy.
Greatly enjoying your adventures. Stay safe.

Osky

Cool to see you all made it out OK. Years ago I completely sunk my 600 Summit in a slough that was normally snowed over. It was 11 below, we were 30 miles from town and my two ride-along friends came with (thank God!). Only the top half of my windshield was showing. I stood on my seat and waved my arms so my two friends wouldn't make the same mistake I did. They stopped at the edge. It was dark already. They handed me a rope and I jumped into the water, reached in it and tied the rope on the back of the machine, climbed out and we tried pulling it out. No dice, the bank was steep and the paddle track would hit it. We couldn't lift it up high enough. So, we threw it back in the water. I jumped back in, untied it from the back and tied it on the front. Again, we got it up as far as the track and the track stopped us. So we tipped it over to its side, on the foot rails and slid it up onto the bank. That was a monumental task. Fortunately for me my two friends were State wrestling champs years before (the best I did was 3rd).

We took off the belt and pulled it home. A skidoo doesn't have 10mm drain plugs at the bottom of cylinders like the old Polarises do. I got home and my ski pants could stand up by themselves they were that frozen.

Glad to see you're not only out, but back up and running. Thanks for the story and blessings to you all this season.

For those otters in suspended ice, just punch a hole with the ice chisel 3 inch diameter, and place a 160 or 220 over it and put a hard pac snow drift over the whole mess, trap on drag. Add a squirt of fish oil in the hole before covering up. What happens is there is always air coming through the hole from the shelf-ice, so odor is always displaced well into freezing. The otter comes by and force dives into the hole. Ever fallen through one of those suspensions....what happens.....is there is a rush of air going up..even before you heart skips a beat

Cost me a top off a Jack Daniels bottle to learn this from a trapper who took 75 otter one year when the prices were crazy.

Well I'm pretty discouraged. My trapping partner got his stitches removed on the 31st. His cut started splitting back open so the doc put a special tape on it and said to take it easy until the tape fell off. I went out on the 31st without him and checked all of the sets outside of the little north line. It started snowing hard when I got to the start of little north and the wind started picking up, so I turned back and headed for home. By the time I hit the river I was crawling, trying to stay on the trail with the blowing snow and flat light. My trail from earlier in the day was gone.



I was supposed to fly out that day for a break, but we didn't fly until the 2nd. The storm blew and then I had to work over the weekend. Gregg broke trail and checked while I was at work. There was one marten up in little north.



I skinned the marten and turned him. Monday rolled around and the temperature dropped to -20, about -48 below with wind chill. Gregg didn't want to go out. And the weather only got colder as the week went on. On the bright side I got a lot of sewing and crafting in. I worked the weekend and it finally warmed up, but the huge tempterature change caused another storm. Flights didn't make it in for two days again. But I managed to get out on a flight Monday and have been playing in Anchorage all week.

Miss Sissy if your trapping partner ever bails on you completely please give me a call . I’ve always wanted to trap in that country but would not think of it without a partner. Do you make those cinnamon rolls often or just occasionally? I am getting older but can still do a days work if I’m fed right . Do you typically frost those roll when they are done or do they have the thick caramel on the bottom ?

Just kidding around of course but wanted to say I’m enjoying your trapping adventure! I am curious, what do you do for a living that you seem to work only weekends ?

Oh wow them cinnamon rolls got my attention also. Wonderful looking country Sissy keep up with the pictures. Thanks!

Keep at it. The critters are out there somewhere! Did you learn to make the rolls from your mom?
MT

A great read, enjoying your journal.

Today was my first day out in over a month. That's way too long. I guess it's been rough on everyone around here though. One pulled his marten line in December. One only got marten sets out a week ago. And another only broke trail to North Fork last week.

Today was good. It was so nice to be out after two days at the airport with all kinds of cancelled flights.



The river flooded and huge pieces of the ice were lifted up and put on where the ice didn't break away, so now there are huge holes in the river for a good three miles and all kinds of overflow. So I went overland to my trapping partners cabin this morning. We went and rebaited sets, dug out traps, and adjusted snares as needed. It was a long day of breaking trail and wading through hip deep snow in places. I loved every minute.




There was no marten sign at all. There was mink sign in two places. We put out three new mink sets. Decided not to expand the marten line because of lack of sign. The only critter track we saw up our marten line was ermine.




He had dashing whiskers. It was great visiting with Gregg when we stopped to work. On the last set of the day, we added a mink box and had to reset some snares.





Gregger learned about building a little fenced in area and using a leaned stick to set a snare at the opening. A kitty finally came by and it worked like a charm! Not a bad way to end the day. We put the sled on my rig where were parted ways and I cruised on home with the kitty and ermine and he headed home. The winds are supposed to gust up to 50 tomorrow, so he might not come to town. I'll be at work and then Wednesday night I'll be skinning. I'm excited.



Osky - Thank you. I feel my adventures have been few and far between this year.

Inupiaq - That sounds really rough. I'm really glad I didn't have to get into the water.

Northof50 - That's a great tip/lesson! Thank you. I didn't get the chance to try it out because of overflow and the lower part of the river being sketchy on and off. It seems like when I have a day off the river and weather don't cooperate.

backroadsarcher - I'm particularly fond of this country. I'm biased though. It's home.

martentrapper - Sure did. She's still one of the best bakers in UNK. I'm honored to learn from her.

trapper ron - Thank you!

Thanks for bring us back to life.
Tip/lesson #2....on that mink box. Try to make it difficult for them to get at it. Take some hard pack snow lifted/ scooped with your shovel 1/2 inch trick and make a hidden corral in front of your set, then take a little twig and make a 1/2 inch breathing hole...... the ground will drift things all around but that area in front of the trap will still fire. Just their curiosity will make them dig.
The moral of the story........Teach them a bad habit... and make them pay for it.
Those northern mink were nice and silky when I got to handle them grading..