From Utah to Alaska and Back – Part 1

Well, I finally got around to documenting my Alaska trip for the blog. A friend of mine got on me for delaying so long. When I started writing it up, it got so long I decided to break it up into three parts: The trip there; the two weeks in camp; and the trip home. Here’s part 1.

You will remember from my last post, that I was invited to go with Derek Habel, a good friend of mine, on his annual moose hunt in Alaska. Derek has a spot he researched and located in the very southeastern part of Alaska, where he goes each year to hunt moose. He’s come home with some beauties. Derek has his own herd of Missouri Fox Trotter horses and a couple other breeds. He selects a few that have proven themselves reliable and each year he hauls six of them to Alaska and back. It was my privilege to be able to go along this year, and to take my horse, J Golden.

After settling a handful of issues that set us back a bit, timewise, Derek and I finally pulled out of his place near Spanish Fork, Utah and headed northward, on Saturday afternoon, September 8, 2018. We had planned to head out a bit earlier in the week, but, like I said, several unavoidable matters detained us.

The first day we drove to Monida Pass, Montana, where we followed a dirt road a ways from the highway and camped for the night. The following day, we took some time to take a nice morning ride for a couple hours, before loading up and heading on up the road. That was a very pleasant ride through some beautiful scenery. We saw deer and elk and even a coyote. I’d like to ride there again someday.

We headed back out on the road in the late morning the following day. Not far out of Great Falls, we discovered a rear tire on the truck losing air. We had to stop at a rest stop to change it. We stopped at a Walmart, which was the only tire place open on Sunday, and had the tire repaired. We ate a late lunch there and were finally back on the road in the late afternoon. That put us crossing the international border about midnight. We had all our paperwork in order for the horses and vehicles, so the Canadians were quick and easy about getting us back on our way. Just a note of caution, transporting long firearms is no problem, as long as you declare them, but handguns are not permitted. Don’t even think about it.

We made it almost to Cardston, Alberta, Canada that night, but ended up camping in a pullout off the highway, with the horses tied to a fence. We stopped in the early morning hours, slept a few hours, then headed on in to Cardston, where Derek’s parents live. They fed us a good breakfast and allowed us to use their shower, then off we went again.

We pushed on to Grand Prairie that day, arriving at an equestrian center on the west side of town in the early evening. There were corrals and water available and nobody to tell us we couldn’t stay, so we enjoyed a pleasant night at their facility. We met one of the caretakers the next morning, who was pleasant and wished us well as we prepared for departure.

We pushed on again, making a long day of it, finally stopping in a very small town in British Columbia, of which I can’t recall the name, where Derek has made friends of a family who owns a horse facility. They have left him an open invitation to stopover whenever he’s coming through. They had a nice corral and water there, as well as a nice, level area where we parked the LQ trailer and spent a restful night. We stayed the night and left the next morning without ever seeing anybody.

The following day we made a stop in White Horse, the capital of British Columbia, where we bought a few grocery items, then hit the road again. We made it to Beaver Creek in the early evening and set up camp and got the horses situated just in time for us to make it to Buckshot Betty’s restaurant for a nice dinner. As it turns out, Buckshot Betty has a small parcel a little ways out of town with access off the highway, where she allows Derek to park his rig and leave it there for the duration of the hunt.

The drive across Alberta, British Columbia, and The Yukon Territory, was amazing. The golden rolling hills of grain fields and the endless green forests of Alberta gave way to the magnificent rocky mountain peaks of British Columbia. I was never aware of when we left BC and entered the Yukon Territory. The views were absolutely beautiful! We saw plenty of wildlife during the drive as well, including mountain caribou, bighorn sheep, deer, black bear, Dall sheep, elk, buffalo, and even a nice grizzly bear.

There was one area we passed in BC called Toad River. I told Derek that when I die, when (if) I get to Heaven, I hope it looks like that. Here’s a photo: