an unfamiliar location on the border of the Scappoose Unit and Saddle
Mountain. At the Hardware/liquor strore/bait and tackle shop I
noticed coolant coming out like mad under my truck. The beginning of
a long day was ahead of me but I had elk on the brain.
I figured I should let the engine cool at the next gate I come to and
hunt for the day and deal with my truck later. I bought some coolant
and headed on out of town.
Engine temperature rose and I ended pulling off in a completely new
area that I hadn't planned on. Even through the steamy coolant smell
of my truck I could smell elk as soon as I stopped and stepped out the
door.
I had an amazing hunt stumbling upon two does right off the bat.
There was scattered fresh sign around each turn... bear, cougar, deer,
elk. I was "in it" all day. I found a great spot by being stranded
at this gate. I may have spent too long in one area and approached a
different area incorrectly but I know I can go back and do it right.
Earlier in the week I was reading a thread about "weird things in the
woods" on ifish.net. I remembered one guy posting that his friend
leaves golf balls up at intersections in the woods and trailheads.
Upon reading it I vaguely remember coming across them in years past.
Wouldn't you know it but I happened to come across one about two miles
into the back country. I had to take a picture of it. You can see
the ball in the lower left corner. It was a "2 SRIXON" whatever that
means. Label was facing up so I could read it without disturbing it.
At dark I headed to the truck. My long bow still felt light and my
legs felt strong. I hoofed it out in a hurry. It took me about 90
minutes to go 30 miles back to Vernonia. I could run the truck for a
while then had to shut it down. A guy named Allen came by and offered
to call my wife when he got into service. I had a new thermostat in
my truck, just no 3/8" extension to get the old thermostat out.
Neither did he.
When I rolled into the mini-mart where Allen told me to go, the girl
running the store was waiting for me. Allen had called ahead. When
she found out I just need a little tool, she made a call to Chief of
"Chief's Yota Builds" and he came over to the station and helped me
put my new thermostat on. He tells me he builds Toyotas and screaming
quads and such. This morning I looked for some sort of contact listing online for his business but I guess it operates a little more covertly. He was a heck of a nice guy. The whole town seemed
to have pitched in to get me on my way. I guess it sometimes takes a
village to rescue the fatigued in fatigues.
