Our week-long hunting trip turned out to be a total flop, so Harry, Bud, and I decided to run up to Canyon Creek for the weekend, all by ourselves. Elk season was still open as was deer and we had not used any of our tags. The time of year was in mid-November in 1967 with a good chance of running into freezing weather and maybe some deep snow.
We left home very early on Saturday morning, because the trip would take about three hours under good conditions. We planned to sleep in a tent for the one night we camped. Harry took his dodge pickup to haul all the gear we would need. This was to be a quick trip; therefore, we went as light as possible. The tent was an old one with lots of ventilation, even the door flap would not close tight. We would put an extra tarp over the door, to keep some of the freezing air out. There was not much snow on Canyon Creek, because it was so late in the season. Most of the snow that was there was under the trees in the shade. We hunted mostly near the mouth of the North Fork of Canyon Creek since we were familiar with the area. It looked like the best place to find some elk in a brief time. We covered many miles on the east side of the main creek, but all we found was a few tracks. There was a herd of elk roving around somewhere, but we could not chase them out of hiding. We knew they were close enough to watch us then they would move out ahead of us. In the late afternoon, a snow cloud drifted over us.
We thought it may be a bad storm coming in, with the temperature dropping down drastically to downright cold. We decided to go down near Lowman, where we thought it would be warmer for the night. The snow came in fast and was falling harder all the time. By the time we found a campground to stay. There was about six inches on the ground. We had chosen to camp at a place called Jordan Bridge Campground, a few miles from Lowman. There were some other hunters camped there for the same reason, they wanted to get out of the snowstorm. This was a large camping area, so no one was crowded. The first thing to do was to scrape the snow off the ground for a place to set up the tent. The tent has a floor in it, but with the snow underneath it, it would be much colder. The sleeping bags were spread out on pads as close together as possible. All our coats and clothes were piled on top of the bags for more warmth.
We fixed a good supper of steak and potatoes. We were hungry by this time; lunch time was a long time ago. A gas lantern was used for lighting, but since it was still snowing lightly. We turned in early just to get warm. During the night the storm blew over, the clouds moved out, the temperature dropped with the clearing sky. We were snuggled down in sleeping bags like hibernating squirrels. We could not even roll over for the weight of all the other stuff piled on us.
By morning, the mercury was down to 15 to 20 degrees below zero. The alarm clock said it was time to get up. The lantern was hung in the tent to try to warm it up a little bit, so we could get up and get dressed, but it would not even melt the frost on the inside of the tent. We managed to get up after much grumbling. The water jug was frozen solid sitting on the table along with everything in the ice box, eggs, and all. We held lit matches under the stove generator to warm it up enough to get the gas to run through it. River water was all we had to wash in and for making coffee. It was so cold that water poured from a cup would hang in an icicle from the edge. We finally managed to get some bacon and eggs to eat, hot coffee and cocoa helped warm our insides. The first thing to do was to see if the truck would start before going up the hill hunting for a while. The old dodge fired off the first turnover. We were relieved about not being stranded with a dead truck. There were a number of other campers scattered around the campground. One other truck started so we went around to all the others and made sure they were started. There seemed to be an air of immediate friendship in the camp, in the brief time we were there. With everyone’s vehicles running, we went back to our camp to get everything cleaned up from having breakfast. With rifles in hand, we headed up the hill near camp hoping to find a deer. The air was so cold that we could not take a deep breath without our lungs hurting.
After a couple of hours of hunting with no success, back to camp we went. All the other campers had left by this time; they must have had all the cold that they could stand also.
We loaded our gear and headed home ourselves. A vow was made, right then and there among the three of us, we would never again use a tent on a late November elk hunting trip. The plan was to buy a small trailer house from Bud’s Dad to be used for future hunting and fishing trips. This was the last time for this foolishness. The trailer was the best idea if we could swing the deal. We would need to remodel it to make it suitable for our needs. All the way home the main subject was to find a better way to stay out overnight where we could survive real freezing weather. The three of us plan to hunt together for many more years to come. The small trailer house was the best way to go. We would get together during the next summer to work out trying to buy it. We may have to borrow it a few times to see how it works out. The equipment was cleaned up and stored away to be ready for the next trip. We always try to be prepared when the notion strikes us to go camping.