This year we worked out our vacation schedule to go to Canyon Creek in late November. As we would find out during this trip, this was too late in the season. However, Harry, Bud, Uncle Charlie, and I loaded up the truck with our camping equipment, and groceries. Uncle Charlie likes to take his cab-over camper so he can have a bed by himself to stretch out on because of his bad ankle. We had a place in mind, where the North Fork of Canyon Creek runs into the main creek. We camped there many years ago but slept in a tent. There was plenty of r○○m for the trailer and the camper. There had been several light snowstorms already with some snow left here and there. We knew it could snow again at any time, so we really tried to make the outside cooking area as strong as possible. The poles propping up the tarp had wide pieces of board on the ends, to keep them from punching holes through the top. We were not worried about getting too much snow on top of the trailer house. It was pretty solid and would hold up okay. The camp was s○○n set up and very comfortable. Noon time was getting close. The guys started getting hungry and since I was the cook, I broke out a package of hamburger and made sandwiches.
After eating all we wanted, we took a hike up the North Fork to look for signs of deer or elk. There were tracks in the snow, where elk had been in there, recently. This was where we would start our hunting the next day. We had high hopes of being able to find something to Shoot. We were back to camp early in afternoon, to finish the camp chores. We had not gathered enough wood to last a week. Nearby were several dead trees that would serve as firewood for the week, if we last that long. Uncle Charlie could burn a lot of wood just keeping the coffee pot hot, while we were in camp. Since it was starting to get dark, it was time to start supper. Tonight, we would have some canned stew and crackers. we were tired and didn’t want to spend so much time fixing a full course meal. As soon as supper was over, out came the Pinochle cards. Several games later, it was time for cookies and milk, then off to bed. We wanted to get up early the next morning to go hunting.
The alarm clock suddenly told us it was morning. We forced ourselves to get up. The weather was cold and with no heat in the trailer house, we dressed in a hurry. A camp lantern was hung inside to have a little heat, while we eat breakfast of bacon and eggs with hot coffee. Bud always has a cup of hot chocolate, because coffee does not agree with him. some sandwiches were made for the back packs along with some cookies and candy bars. We would be out most of the day looking for something to shoot. Before starting out we decided that we would hunt in teams on this trip. I would stay with Uncle Charlie, while Harry and Bud would hunt together. The weather was cold and there was chance of snow at any time. One person could get in big trouble out there alone, if he could not find his way back to camp because of snow or getting lost. Trying to survive in those conditions would be tough. For the next few days, we pretty much followed this same routine: up early; a quick breakfast; and up one of the hills not for all day. We just could not run anything down at all. The tracks seemed to be getting fewer. Maybe the elk had moved out because they sensed a big snowstorm was coming our way soon.
The fourth night we were awaken by a loud commotion outside the trailer. Not long after we had gone to bed, it started snowing really hard. The noise was the outside c○○king area falling in from the weight of a foot of snow and still snowing hard. Everyone put on their clothes and snow boots then spent the next couple of hours putting camp back together again. We had a foot of snow everywhere including the inside of the cooking area. The boards on top of the poles held for a while, the snow was just too heavy. Finally, we had everything back in place. We jumped back into bed to get warmed up. About six inches more snow fell after that, but the poles held. There was a total of eighteen inches of wet snow all over the place. With that much snow, that suddenly, there was no use going hunting before noon. The snowplows had already gone past, before we even made it out of bed. We knew we could get to the road at any time, so we were determined to stay the full time of our allotted stay. We would play cards and hunt when we could. We had plenty of groceries and water′ enough to stay a couple of weeks if we couldn’t get out.
The next day we had the wild idea of going to Banner Creek Summit, then follow the trail up over Bench Creek Summit and back to camp by going down the North Fork of Canyon Creek. We climbed into Bud’s truck for the ride to the top of the summit. We would leave the truck at the tum out and go back for it later in the day. The snow seemed to be a little deeper on the summit, but we were determined to make the hike anyway. The higher up the mountain we went the deeper the snow until we were wading in it up to above the knees. One person would break trail for a while, then someone else would take a turn at it. Boy′, was this tiring! We soon found out this was not a very smart thing to do. We were committed by the time we reached Bench Creek Summit, so we pushed on. The snow was almost two feet deep, there. There was not a track of any kind that we could see. Everything had moved out like we thought. Down the other side about a mile the snow was not quite so deep, and we could walk through it a little better. We made it back to camp in one piece, but we sure were tired and wet. There were more snow clouds hanging around. It was time to pack up and get out of there, while we could.
As soon as breakfast was over the next morning, we packed up all the gear we could find, hoping some wasn’t buried in a snow pile, and dug our way down to the highway. The snowplows were making regular trips to keep the road open. we had snow falling all the way home, but we made it home without any problems. At home we discussed the problem we had run into on this trip. We were too late in the season for that area. From now on, we would be going in October, sometime to be ahead of the deep snow. October could have showed some years. Our hunting plans would be worked out during the coming summer.