Caribou, Where are You?

Ryan was planning to go on a caribou hunt at the beginning of December. Only one problem: the caribou were so close to the road, it would have been too easy. So the Dept. of Fish and Game closed the hunt. Ryan and a friend decided it was the perfect chance to drive up and see the caribou Thanksgiving weekend. They had a great time and saw quite a few caribou. They were even on the road, so they got a great view.

Caribou Tracks


See that big line of dots? Caribou.


Ryan, backlit by a sunset with caribou behind him.


The next weekend we decided to go up again so the kids and I could see them also. We had a good time, but the kids got tired of driving so we had to stop and go for a hike. It was a pretty warm day, about 10 above, so it was good for hiking. We started down a hill and found this great tree. The opportunity to get a picture in front of this was too good to pass up.


We continued hiking down the hill and on the frozen creek. At the end of our hike, Ryan and the kids found a great little cubbyhole to climb into. It doubled as a great bronco.

The cubbyhole.


Mom and Libby enjoying the weather


Since the days are so short here, we had to hurry back to the car so we could keep looking for caribou. We drove a little more and I was about to give up hope, when we saw a small herd. By the time we turned around and went back, they were gone. We were excited though, so we kept on going. We ended up seeing several herds off the road a little way. Then we hit the jackpot. A herd of about 20 about 30 yards from the Jeep. The kids LOVED it. The enjoyed looking through the binoculars at the animals and spotting them. The only bad thing was that Libby would get so excited she would laugh and talk really loudly and the animals would get scared and run away. Sorry, no pictures. We were too busy making sure the kids had ample opportunity to see them. We finished off a great night by stopping at the Chatanika Lodge for dinner on the way home. What a GREAT day!