Our Adventures in the Arctic Circle

Well, you may know that Captain J and I recently made the long drive to the Arctic Circle for some caribou hunting. I'm here to tell you that I survived despite the much colder conditions than what we expected (and despite my really negative attitude towards this trip!). When Captain J approached me about this trip, I thought- "Yeah, I could use a girl's weekend! The lovely and brilliant, Sarah, will have recently said goodbye to her man so I could probably talk her into hangin' with me!" Much to my surprise, J wanted me to attend. Really? Me... hunting? I've only shot at targets before and they're never moving targets! I told him there's no way I was going. A week later, he had some help in talking me into going with him and I caved. I suppose I am happy that he wants me around! Still, I was in a poopy mood on Morning One because we woke up to -15 degrees Fahrenheit and I was pretty sure someone was going to die on this little adventure or at the very least- someone was going to get frost bite. Captain J was trying to cheer me up so he decided to record a vlog for all of you...

As you can plainly see, I wasn't too thrilled about this 10+ mile hike we were about to undertake. I felt like we weren't prepared and that can get messy in Alaska. In this climate, you just can't go somewhere unprepared. I should have trusted the four army guys that I was with. They assess risks and make important decisions almost daily- I guess I can't argue! We decided to hike up into the Brooks Mountain Range to see if we could find the herd of caribou that was said to have been grazing there. For the first hour or so, there was nothing but white, snow covered mountains as far as the eye could see. Each peak we ascended, another one appeared shortly after.I kept picturing that game on the price is right that shows the man hiking up the mountain to get to the correct price range. That guy made it look so easy! I also kept invisioning someone passing out and finding us all in a survival situation pretty quickly. I do worry too much. The thing that really got me through is thinking about Jesus. You may laugh, but I'm totally serious! I was imagining what it was like for him to carry his own cross that he was to die on while his body physically should have given out. That made me realize that I shouldn't complain about this lil ole mountain climb!

Anyway, we finally see some movement and notice a smaller portion of the herd close by. Unfortunately, two out of the three rifles that we had had gotten snow and ice inside the barrels so they wouldn't fire properly (and we risked really damaging the guns). The other gun was not meant for 300 yards out, which is how far away we were. That guy took so many shots that it was comical! The caribou weren't even phased by that gunfire. The one shot that Captain J took missed (which he blames on the ice built up in his gun). It turns out that the only things we killed were calories.

The hike wasn't quite as treacherous as I thought it might be. We were hiking up a mountain so the elevation changed quickly. I thought that it would kick my butt because I was hiking with four army guys and one other wife (who is in excellent shape!). I was fine, though. It felt good to get some exercise and fresh air.

My hair was white because it was frozen. My attire was making me actually quite hot because the ensemble was an arctic suit the army issued J when he first arrived here. The only thing that became problematic for all of us was our extremeties-  especially our fingers and toes. After about ten hours outside in this climate, we were all spent. We made it back to our vehicles and hit the road. Hunting just wasn't our cup of tea in Alaska in October. We defintely should have gone sometime back in August!

Here's another video from our drive (Isn't it beautiful?):

The best part of the trip was definitely the views. It always amazes me how quickly the climate and weather patterns change in just the span of a few minutes (or a few miles). We'd be driving along in something like this-

Then we'd drive into this-

The 12 hour drive (each way) was completely gorgeous. We had a lot of downtime where we discussed everything from zombies to religion! Here's one last video of our group of people in our truck-

On the drive home, we got to see the most distinct and prettiest display of the Northern Lights that I have seen to date.

This adventure should tide me over for awhile. I'm satisfied. I don't know too many people who camp when it's below zero ;)