Day 13

Thursday,
March 15, 2001

Last night the guides met with me and put together a game plan. One of the other hunters, Big Dan, had just gotten in and had harvested a huge 9 1/2 foot bear. He told the story about his bear and as he did, I got excited. He said they first spotted the bear devouring a seal near a crack they were following. He said that once the dogs were released, the bear climbed up on a pressure ridge about 100 yards from where they were and just stayed there, high enough so that the dogs couldn't get at him. Big Dan was able to make a good clean shot with his rifle and harvested the bear humanely.

A Game Plan

That's kind of what I've been dreaming of--that type of scenario. I was pretty fired up and ready to go, but I had the whole night to spend in the motel in my new surroundings. As a matter of fact, I couldn't even sleep. I kept flopping around like a fish. I thought of taking my sleeping bag and putting it on the floor, and opening all the windows, because I wasn't used to such a nice soft cushy bed with sheets and a mattress.

The other thing that Dan and his guides had told us is that he saw three other huge boars in the same area after he had harvested his bear. He said the seals were quite abundant along that crack. Throughout the week he had seen over 35 bears! So that has been our game plan--to head out and get to that crack as quickly as we could before the bears left the area.

An Iditarod

We left Resolute early today with fresh supplies. We've been traveling all day. We have a long way to go to get to that crack. I've been doing so much sled riding lately that I'll probably be a good candidate to win the Iditarod this year. I'm used to the cold--got my own frostbite--and look just like everyone else. I'm very excited about reaching the crack tomorrow. The long ride has made me tired and I'm going to sleep good tonight.