My sweet hunter of a husband has a bunch of eager mini-me's constantly begging to go on a hunt. Last weekend, he took the oldest three on a sheep hunt in the Rangles. This weekend, we were all off to chase caribou along the Denali Highway. We pulled the camper and set up base camp, the next morning Marcus and the oldest three took off to do a day hunt. I am proud of my little hikers, they will go anywhere Marcus points. They are always trying to prove they are big enough. On the first day, they saw some cow caribou and passed on them in search of a bull. After an early morning and long day of hunting, they returned back to camp, ate dinner, and I asked if we could all take a drive further up the Denali Highway so they could map out their next day. We all jumped in the car and took in the scenery. It is a spectacular drive especially when cloaked in fall colors (yep, it is fall up here already). The road is unpaved and is known for causing flats, we can now personally attest to the truth of this statement. This was one of the many moments that I am so glad I married a handy worrier who has a full size spare that has been aired up and is ready to go. He and Aidric had it all switched out in a jiff and we were back on the road. The only problem was that we didn't have a second spare and we still had to make the six hour drive home.
Marcus decided in light of the circumstances that we should just hunt out of camp instead of heading down the road on day hunts. Then I decided we should all hunt! Marcus splattered us with camo and we headed up into the hills above camp. We had a great time, I would guess we hiked about 5 miles picking berries, spotting caribou, and making forts in trees. We saw a number of caribou, some out of range of our ragtag hunting party and one close enough that the boys yelled "caribou" as Marcus looked at me to see if I wanted him to shoot. It was a cow and a cute one at that so we let her pass. The season lasts another month so there wasn't pressure to fill the tag just yet. We are no doubt a handicap to Marcus' hunting but the memories will last longer than meat in the freezer. Marcus and I both delight in the exuberance of our children, and getting to experience this amazing and huge country as a family is pure joy. We spent one more day taking the kids fishing in the lake and on another close in hunting hike before heading home to unload and wash up. I never feel more like an adult than when I am the one who has to load and unload camping trips. Camping was just a tad more magical as a kid! Thank you to all the moms and dads who put in the effort, I do believe it is worth it!