This year we planned our trip to canyon creek for the middle of October to try to beat the snowstorms. November was a bad month to be there, as we found out, last year. This year the group would be Harry, Bud, LeRoy, Uncle Charlie, and myself. LeRoy brought along a couple of donkeys to pack animals should we get an elk or deer away from camp.
The trailer house was set up in a grove of trees below the main highway near the North Fork of Canyon Creek. The lean-to was put up for the cooking area and Uncle Charlie’s Pickup and camper was parked nearby so we could use it for playing cards in the evenings. Some dry trees nearby were sawed down for the campfire. We would need about a cord of wood to keep the campfire going for a week. The coffee pot was going most of the time, Strong as it was. The campfire was always a big part of camping. The fire takes the chill out of the air when darkness comes in the mountains. Without a fire, we could not get smoky smelling and stink the whole time we were there. A good dry camp was set up, but everything was put under cover just in case it snowed or even rained. There were some clouds hanging over the high hills that looked very threatening. We were now prepared for anything that nature could throw at us.
We had only been there for one day when it started snowing. Our plan to beat the snowstorms just went out the door. We were ready for it with plenty of wood, enough hay for the donkeys and a well propped up cooking area. This first snowstorm was a light one with only a few inches of the white stuff falling. Hopefully the snow will help us in finding an elk or at least a deer. The first couple of days we hunted up the North Fork and on the nearby hills. There was not much game around, but from the tracks in the snow, they had not moved out yet. From the top of one hill, some tracks of a herd of elk could be seen on a far hill. Harry, Bud and LeRoy thought they would go back into that area to look for them.
After a good breakfast and making some lunch to take along, away they Went. It would be an all-day walk. Uncle Charlie and I stayed down on the flat ground along the North Fork, we could walk a lot easier there. We gave them the g○○d news about our getting a couple of deer that they could pack out for us tomorrow. They did not mind a bit, since the donkeys needed some exercise anyway. This would be done right after breakfast. I fixed a good supper of steak and potatoes with a vegetable and also made up a large pot of mushroom gravy to be put on everything. Even though we were tired, everything edible was cleaned up. Nothing was left over to throw out. After a few games of Pinochle and some cookies and milk, we turned in for the night. There was no need to get up early, the deer were not going anywhere. After a good breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs, the donkeys were saddled up to go for the deer. Bud and I went with Harry and LeRoy, while Uncle Charlie stayed at camp. Walking in the snow is hard on his ankle. The air felt like more snow was coming in, so we hurried right along. The deer was not hard to find, because we hung them beside the trail. The donkeys found them first, because they stopped right beside them. The round trip took a couple of hours. We wanted to get back to camp before it started snowing again. We would skin them out and put them in meat sacks to keep them clean. They were cooled out as much as they were going to get. We would have some liver and onions the next day.
The snow came in as we predicted, and it put down another six inches before it quit. We did not get much done the rest of the day, because of the snow coming down. It had to be brushed off the lean-to every once in a while. We did get a lot of Pinochle played, however. The area we were camped in was just on the edge of the main storm. Very little more snow fell that night, but we had enough anyway. The next morning, we went out hunting again, but the snow was t○○ deep to go very far from camp. The elk and deer had all moved out in front of the snowstorms, where they went, we did not have a clue. After hunting for most of the day with no luck, we headed back to camp to plan to go home in a day or so. We were tired of fighting the snow for nothing. That night I cooked up liver and onions. Harry likes the heart better than liver, so I cooked up a large pan of it. Liver is hard to cook on a camp stove for some reason, but finally all was ready to eat. Everyone eats all they want. I was tired, so I went to the camper to lay down for a while.
Suddenly a car came coasting down the highway. They saw our Camp and stopped. It was three hunters from Bear Valley, where they had been hunting when the storm hit. They were out of gas and could not get any heat in the car. They were almost frozen to death right there in their car. The snow had gotten so deep in Bear Valley that they had to leave the horses in the horse truck where it would be warmer for them, then try to get out with the car. They shoveled through deep snow to get out to the highway. Somewhere they had run out of gas and had somehow pushed the car by hand to the top of Banner Creek Summit. From there they coasted downhill until they spotted our lights. They were given some hot coffee and something to eat, they had not eaten all day. We had an extra five gallons of gas for the car. It started and s○○n it was nice and warm inside, this gas would be enough to get them to Lowman where they could get more. The guys introduced themselves to us and one was Dave Grant from Grant’s Truck Stop in Boise. Without the gas they would not have made it much farther and would have gone off into the canyon for sure. He wanted us to come out to the station for gas fill-ups on him, but no one ever did. We felt good that we were able to help, and we are sure we saved their lives. Someday this good deed will return to us twofold. We went to bed knowing they would be all right. We heard through the hunter grapevine, a couple of days later; that they returned with help and four wheelers to get out the truck and horses. The horses were fine and had survived in good shape. Because of the deep snow, we packed up for the trip home. Hunting was useless and a waste of time. Everything was cleaned up to be ready for the next trip. Uncle Charlie would cut up his deer and I would do the same with mine.