My 9 1/2 hour adventure

I know my adventure was 9 1/2 hours long because that's how long I left Stuie with the babysitter. We left the house at 7:50 AM, kayak on the back of the truck, and I dropped Stu off in the pre dawn dark at the babysitter's house. I picked him up 9 and one half hours later in the gloaming of the evening. In between I had my adventure.

Most of my adventure consisted of driving and then paddling the kayak, seemingly forever. I drove over the pass and got to Anton Larsen Bay at dawn and started to paddle. And I paddled and paddled - about 6 miles in all (each way). I am not in paddling shape either - my shoulders killed and both hands developed blisters. But as I paddled I thought about how much better boat travel is than walking. Whenever I got close to shore I realized how quickly I was moving - at the pace of a quick jog! It was only when I looked up at distant landmarks and they moved forward ever so slowly forward that I cursed my floating wheelchair and wished for something propelled by fossil fuels.

But eventually I did get off of the 'road system' and into an area where I could legally hunt deer. Then it was just a question of finding a deer. I did not see anything for about two and a half hours and I must admit I was getting a little discouraged. Then I walked around the bend and there were deer everywhere. A big three point, obviously in rut, a doe and fawn, and a lone deer without antlers. I opted for the lone deer and it turned out to be a button buck. The big 3 just stood skylined on the ridge and watched me for about an hour while I worked on the button buck. Almost as if he wanted to tempt me into shooting something my family would not eat - 'look I got huge antlers - harvest me!' I stayed away from the rutty meat - Zoya, Stu and Nora will be thankful.

The coolest thing about the kayak ride home was that Anton Larsen Bay had developed skim ice while i was away for the day. I had to lean way back to get the bow of the kayak to ride up on the ice and sheer it. Awesome noise. Crrrrunch. Picked Stu up at the babysitter and my adventure was over. Then I had baby at home feeding adventure, but that is another story.

Photos: Top: on the way home in my kayak - Kizhuyak Bay is glassed off. Second: Cottonwood trees silhouetted against Sheratin Mountain. Bottom: Sheratin Bay and Mountain panoramic.

Patrick