Preseason Hunting Hike

After what seemed like a busy week, Sunday found my hunting partner Chuck and I looking at Church Mtn., for some preseason scouting for Bears. I Goal for the day was to ascend the Western portion of Church Mtn.. This hike was also to test how good our physical stamina is, and if we needed to put in any extra effort before August 1st. rolls around and the season truly begins.


So here is a shot, not to far from where we parked the rig and started our bushwhacking up the Mtn. (there are no trails that lead to the top of Church Mtn., sure makes for some rugged going!)

Here is the view of Baker where we parked the rig and headed into the "Big Timber"

We started our hike at 6 a.m., and by 9:30 a.m. we were almost to the top. It was windy, wet, and icy cold near the top. The ground got so steep is was like climbing a ladder and every foothold counted. The new green plant growth is sure slick with a little water on it. Neither of us took a picture at the steepest point, it just wasn't worth trying to fish a camera out of our packs at that point.

So on the decent, i found a flat spot and snapped a few shots.

This is a shot of a more manageable portion of the slope, but still steep though.

We side hilled for quite a ways, checking meadow pockets, that we wanted to see.

At one point i looked back up the hill, and saw these clouds blowing through at around 30 mph., they were worth the shot, and i like to call this next picture "Bear Country".... A prime spot to see one strolling through, unfortunately we didn't get to see a bear on this trip, just lots of sign.

Here is a pic. of the clouds that moved in seconds after the above picture was taken, the wind was blowing at a pretty good clip, enough for me to stop and put on my thermal top!
Checking the meadow pockets finally paid off, and we came across these four deer feeding. The one in the lower left corner was a nice buck, he wasn't going to have much for horns, but was big bodied. I took this picture at about 150 yards, i know it doesn't look like much, but the digital camera doesn't do much justice for distance shots. Was sure fun putting the sneak on those deer though, and made the hike that much more rewarding.

And lastly, the find of the day. I found a nice hiking pole, laying in the Salal as we were going through the Big Timber on our way up the Mtn. I guess we aren't the only ones crazy enough to try such a hike. What are the odds?
By noon we'd made it back to the truck and had covered around 5 miles. We both felt good, and weren't to sore or tired. A good preseason hike, to get our legs under us!

This morning as i reflect back, i can't help but think what a difference a year has made. Being 55 pounds lighter, and exercising almost every day, found me with lots of energy and feeling GREAT after a hike that would have destroyed me this time last year.

So, I'll close with that.....From the North.....where we hike for a purpose and see animals too!

Mark....The Iron Skillet