My Snowshoe, Wolf Hunt, Fishing Trip

Winter view of the river

As my family can attest, I have never been one who likes to be tied down and set in a routine for very long.  It is not that I am ADD or ADHD, but rather that I seem to have an obsession for the outdoors.  My wife (bless her heart) has at times made a comment or two which sounds something like, "You need to go fishing or something so you're not so grouchy".  She knows me and loves me (who knows why) and I am glad to be married to a woman who is patient enough to deal with my obsession.

Sooo... The other day I was a little stir crazy at work and a bit overwhelmed with the demands of my job, schooling, and other responsibilities.  My employer actually told me that I needed to take time off because they were concerned with the amount of overtime I was working.  Hearing this from my employer on a Wednesday was probably the best/worst thing for me to hear that early into the week.  I decided to focus on my schooling and family responsibilities on Thursday and then attempt to take a day for myself on Friday. 

When Friday rolled around, my day was wide open and the options were limitless.  I knew that whatever I decided to do, I needed to get outside and away from civilization.  I contemplated hiking around with snowshoes seeing how lost I could get with the given time I had.  I then thought about how I wanted to get out and go fishing.  I then thought about how the wolf hunting season in Idaho was only open for a few more days and that I would probably regret it if I didn't give it one last shot.  Sooo... my decision was.... All of the above!

Eberlestock X2 Pack all loaded up!

 I decided that I would drive up to the mountains, snowshoe along the frozen river looking for a wolf or other predators, and when I got to open water I would pull out my fishing pole just because I could.  Good thing I got the Eberlestock X2 Pack for Christmas, or this trip couldn't have happened.  I packed all of my normal hunting gear, winter survival gear, extra clothes, my rifle, fishing pole, and tackle box all on my pack for this trip.

I parked next to the "Y" in the road (bottom left) on the picture above and walked through the trees along the river until I reached the power-line crossing a few miles up river.  I followed a few tracks of a fox, but ever got a glimps of him.  I walked until I found open water, but even then the ice was to far out from the bank to allow me to fish so I had to walk a lot further than I had planned if I was going to accomplish all of my tasks I had set out to accomplish.

Snowshoe tracks long the river

Once I finally got to a spot I could fish, I sat down, threw out my fishing pole, and cooked me a nice warm Mountain House meal to fill me up.  It wasn't long before I started catching fish.  I ended up catching 4 fish in less than half an hour, two of which I decided to bring home for dinner.  I packed everything back up, including the two fish, and hiked back out!

In the end, I accomplished the most important task I sought out to do which was relax and get away from all the busyness of the world.  I hiked over 4 miles through 3+ feet of snow, saw views that some people will never see in their lifetime, tried out my new hunting pack, and caught my wife and I a healthy dinner.  The feelings I get while doing any one of these activities is one that I could explain in words, but it would not do it justice unless you yourself had experienced it.  The only thing I wish I would have done differently would be to follow the moto of the Eberlestock pack and, "go in light come out heavy"... I must have gotten it backwards and decided to pack everything I could to test out the load capacity of my new pack!