I went for a hike a couple of weeks ago, and when I was about a mile outside the village I saw a guy come in my direction with a rifle propped up on his snow machine. I knew he was going out hunting, but I didn’t know for what. He stopped and asked if I had seen a fox - there was one running around on the outskirts of the village and then ran out in my direction. I told him no, I hadn’t seen one, but I’d keep a look out for it. (Remember, most foxes are rabid out here, which is why they shoot them.) He drove away and I resumed my walking. Not ten seconds later, though, and I spotted the fox about 200 yards away. I looked to signal to the Eskimo, but he had seen it too. The chase was on!
The fox took off running and I grabbed my binoculars to watch the show. But there wasn’t much action - the fox was fast and I watched until both were out of view. I never heard a gunshot - I just assumed he had lost it. I kept hiking, the wind picking up ridiculous speed. It was a beautiful day - warm weather (around 15 degrees), blue skies, and everything clear. But the wind was merciless. I had asked Grant what the wind speed was later and he said around 50 mph! So needless to say, my work was cut out for me. I hiked on with the wind against my back, knowing all along the trip back was going to be brutal trying to walk into the wind, but going for the distance anyway.
After a little while I looked up and saw to the north a fox - I assumed it was the same one from earlier but you never know. There had been a hill separating us, and now that I had reached the top of it, I could see it - we were only about 50 feet away from each other. There was a huge hunk of moose meat that someone had left and the fox was going at it. I was kicking myself for not bringing the camera! This would have been an awesome picture! But I watched on - the fox didn’t look rabid to me, but I’m no expert on the subject. I don’t know why but I’m not afraid of them like everyone says I should be. I mean, I wouldn’t go up and try to pet it, but I like getting close enough to see it up close. They are beautiful animals! I stood there probably 10 minutes just watching it trot around and consider the moose’s remains. It new I was there - it stopped and watched me intently several times - but it didn’t advance or run away, which made me believe this particular fox really didn’t have rabies. We were both curious of each other.
Eventually the fox lost interest and moved on. I watched it trot off over the hills and into the wild, thanking God for His beautiful creation and the opportunity to witness this kind of thing first hand.
I continued my hike, looking down at the GPS to tell me when I had finally reached the 3 mile mark. I was dreading the return trip in that wind. Finally I made it. Usually at the half way mark I take a break, drink some tea from my thermos, and enjoy the surroundings from a standstill. But I was really dreading the 3 mile hike back against 50 mph winds, so I figured I might as well start and get it over with.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing that kind of hike in the snow, let me try and explain what it’s like. You can’t hear a thing other than wind gusts swooshing right in your face. You can barely stand straight up - you’re hunkered down, putting all your strength into taking the next step, just to take the next one, trying to level the snow shoes and not fall over, because it’s impossible to walk in a straight line. So what turns out to be a 3 mile hike back to the village wound up to be 5 miles - 2 miles alone just from wandering off track. It was crazy, to say the least. I was very grateful, however, that it was just the wind I was fighting and not the extreme cold, too.
I hiked a long time, not resting until my snow shoe binding came loose. I could not get the dang thing back on! To walk without it clipped is harder than not using it at all, so I finally gave up and carried the darn thing. So I was walking with one shoe on, one off, maybe for 20 minutes, before I came to a hill and could find a little shelter from the wind so as to really work on the bindings. I fixed it, strapped it on, and kept pushing through that wind.
Two men on snow machines came out to meet me when I got closer to the village and asked if I was okay. I told them I was fine, just very tired from the walk in this wind. I thanked them for checking on me and they offered to give me a ride back, but I couldn’t accept. I have to finish what I started!
I finally arrived at the edge of the village, and I figured this is as good a place as any to give myself a much needed rest. I never really know how tired I am until I actually stop doing whatever it is I’m doing, and when I just dropped my gear and collapsed on the snow, I lay there completely exhausted, thinking “this seems all too familiar!” I closed my eyes and didn’t move a muscle. I could have fallen asleep right there! I lay there probably 20 minutes, allowing my body to rest, something I need to learn to do more. When I sat up to go home I clipped my snow shoes on my backpack, and still, I barely had enough energy to stand up. I’m sure it must have been a funny site to see me try and stand up with my hiking poles, sinking in the snow, and try and hoist the backpack back on in that wind. I made the walk back to the cabin, loving the feeling of exhaustion after completing a strenuous hike!
No comments:
Post a Comment