Brock and Mason ‘19-‘20
- Thread starter brock ratcliff
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We are here. 21 hours, straight through. Gonna catch a nap in the Walmart parking lot while I wait for them to open. We need to pick up our tags and a few other items. Nice to be safely here. I almost smashed a mule deer doe in Vail, that was thankfully the only incident on the trip.
Good deal. Catch that nap, first leg of the adventure is in the books safely!
Good too hear you made it there, beautiful country out there. Enjoy....
lung buster
Senior Member
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Sadly, we are home.
Our trip was good, should have been great. We drove straight through to Rifle, about 1450 miles, arriving Sunday morning. After waiting for Walmart to open we purchased Mason's tags and a fishing license for me. Then we began the most adventurous off road drive of my life. 12 miles up a Forest service road that consisted of nothing but giant boulders to drive over and around, two creek crossings and a mudhole that cannot even being explained with written word. After that, we met up with Steve to pack in another 6 1/2 miles via ATVs. I've never ridden my ATV on anything remotely similar to that either.
Arriving at camp, it was clear that Steve is an experienced mountain hunter. His camp has been in the same patch of timber for more than two decades and he flat knows what he is doing. When I commented on it, he said, "I'm not getting run off the mountain by weather".
The thin mountain air was evident while putting our gear up. Every time I would duck in the tent, I thought I was going to pass out. Gasping for air became the new norm with the tiniest of physical effort. 11,000 feet is no joke for a Midwesterner. Even for Steve, a Colorado resident, it requires a slower approach to everything.
Sunday evening was spent telling lies and watching Mason run around like an excited nut job. He was primed for action. Steve and I told him to slow down, but that wasn't happening.
Monday morning, Steve and I took off with Mason. Walking across a high meadow, we saw a cow elk in a lower meadow a couple hundred yards away. She saw us and wondered off. We made our way downslope into the timber and set up a couple of times to call. No luck. No bulls heard. We hiked on to a meadow where Steve has killed a dozen bulls and then headed back towards camp, a mile or so to the north. I was pretty sure I was starting to feel the effects of the altitude. My head was killing me. There was not enough oxygen, and I couldn't drink enough water - thirst is something I've felt on every western hunt I've ever been on, It's just dry out there. Steve and I just eased along. By the time we made it back to camp, young and energetic Mason was 300 yards ahead of us.
I knew I needed to take it easy and get some water in me, so for the last couple of hours of daylight, I decided to ride the four wheeler 10 miles or so to an alpine lake. Mason went with me and we caught our first cutthroat trout. They are a cool fish and the scenery was absolutely amazing. Again, I've never ridden my quad through anything like that...steep does not even come close to painting an accurate picture. I drank water, lots of water, and then more water. I told Mason to do the same...
Tuesday morning we woke before sunrise to get ready to hunt. The massive amount of water had done the trick. I felt great. The headache was gone and it seemed I was finding plenty of O2 in the air. I was ready to roll! I gathered up our gear while Mason sat like a hump, claiming he had not slept. He found the motivation to get dressed and we headed downslope. We had not gone 100 yards when he stopped, gasping. This continued for half a mile, before I decided we would just stop and watch the meadow where we had seen the cow the previous morning. For the last half of that walk, I carried Mason's pack along with mine and his bow. When we got to our vantage point, he curled up and went to sleep! A dandy mule deer buck came by but Mason didn't see him as he was out like a light. I hoped it was just lack of sleep. At noon, I woke him up and asked how he felt. He said he could make it on back to the meadow. Again, I would carry his gear, and he would stop walking every 50 or 75 yards. His lips were beginning to split and had a blueish look. I was getting concerned but we made our way to the meadow edge where he promptly laid down and went back to sleep! I encouraged him to drink but he couldn't stay awake long enough to do it. Keep in mind at this point I'm feeling great and all I wanted to do was start covering ground... except I was more concerned about Mason's condition.
We made our way back to camp at dark...50 yards at a time with the old man packing all the gear. Steve explained to Mason the dangers of oxygen debt and dehydration. It was necessary as he obviously didn't want to listen to me. Steve asked him if he was starting to cramp and he said his legs were a bit. So then he said the next thing is your organs will start to fail... now drink, drink, drink. He did, thankfully, but complained that every sip made him want to puke. We spent the rest of the evening telling lies and encouraging Mason to drink. He seemed to be feeling a little better by the time we went to bed.
Wednesday morning a dandy mule deer walked through camp, we saw several actually, but this one was above average. Even with that for motivation, Mason said he just couldn't go. With that, I decided to pack our gear down the mountain and get him back to lower elevation and on home to Ohio. It took me six hours to get us and our gear back to blacktop, and once I did, we drove on to Salina KS where we got a room, a hot shower and some food. After a good nap, we drove on home yesterday.
It was one heck of an adventure but not much of a hunt do to youthful foolishness. Thirsty or not, at elevation in the west, you have to drink. You are not going to last long if you do not.
Mason learned a good lesson there. He met a great friend of mine and another fella that hunts with Steve, who also is a quality guy. We saw some wildlife, caught some trout and will never forget the vistas. Overall, an enjoyable trip though somewhat disappointing due to having to quit early.
Our trip was good, should have been great. We drove straight through to Rifle, about 1450 miles, arriving Sunday morning. After waiting for Walmart to open we purchased Mason's tags and a fishing license for me. Then we began the most adventurous off road drive of my life. 12 miles up a Forest service road that consisted of nothing but giant boulders to drive over and around, two creek crossings and a mudhole that cannot even being explained with written word. After that, we met up with Steve to pack in another 6 1/2 miles via ATVs. I've never ridden my ATV on anything remotely similar to that either.
Arriving at camp, it was clear that Steve is an experienced mountain hunter. His camp has been in the same patch of timber for more than two decades and he flat knows what he is doing. When I commented on it, he said, "I'm not getting run off the mountain by weather".
The thin mountain air was evident while putting our gear up. Every time I would duck in the tent, I thought I was going to pass out. Gasping for air became the new norm with the tiniest of physical effort. 11,000 feet is no joke for a Midwesterner. Even for Steve, a Colorado resident, it requires a slower approach to everything.
Sunday evening was spent telling lies and watching Mason run around like an excited nut job. He was primed for action. Steve and I told him to slow down, but that wasn't happening.
Monday morning, Steve and I took off with Mason. Walking across a high meadow, we saw a cow elk in a lower meadow a couple hundred yards away. She saw us and wondered off. We made our way downslope into the timber and set up a couple of times to call. No luck. No bulls heard. We hiked on to a meadow where Steve has killed a dozen bulls and then headed back towards camp, a mile or so to the north. I was pretty sure I was starting to feel the effects of the altitude. My head was killing me. There was not enough oxygen, and I couldn't drink enough water - thirst is something I've felt on every western hunt I've ever been on, It's just dry out there. Steve and I just eased along. By the time we made it back to camp, young and energetic Mason was 300 yards ahead of us.
I knew I needed to take it easy and get some water in me, so for the last couple of hours of daylight, I decided to ride the four wheeler 10 miles or so to an alpine lake. Mason went with me and we caught our first cutthroat trout. They are a cool fish and the scenery was absolutely amazing. Again, I've never ridden my quad through anything like that...steep does not even come close to painting an accurate picture. I drank water, lots of water, and then more water. I told Mason to do the same...
Tuesday morning we woke before sunrise to get ready to hunt. The massive amount of water had done the trick. I felt great. The headache was gone and it seemed I was finding plenty of O2 in the air. I was ready to roll! I gathered up our gear while Mason sat like a hump, claiming he had not slept. He found the motivation to get dressed and we headed downslope. We had not gone 100 yards when he stopped, gasping. This continued for half a mile, before I decided we would just stop and watch the meadow where we had seen the cow the previous morning. For the last half of that walk, I carried Mason's pack along with mine and his bow. When we got to our vantage point, he curled up and went to sleep! A dandy mule deer buck came by but Mason didn't see him as he was out like a light. I hoped it was just lack of sleep. At noon, I woke him up and asked how he felt. He said he could make it on back to the meadow. Again, I would carry his gear, and he would stop walking every 50 or 75 yards. His lips were beginning to split and had a blueish look. I was getting concerned but we made our way to the meadow edge where he promptly laid down and went back to sleep! I encouraged him to drink but he couldn't stay awake long enough to do it. Keep in mind at this point I'm feeling great and all I wanted to do was start covering ground... except I was more concerned about Mason's condition.
We made our way back to camp at dark...50 yards at a time with the old man packing all the gear. Steve explained to Mason the dangers of oxygen debt and dehydration. It was necessary as he obviously didn't want to listen to me. Steve asked him if he was starting to cramp and he said his legs were a bit. So then he said the next thing is your organs will start to fail... now drink, drink, drink. He did, thankfully, but complained that every sip made him want to puke. We spent the rest of the evening telling lies and encouraging Mason to drink. He seemed to be feeling a little better by the time we went to bed.
Wednesday morning a dandy mule deer walked through camp, we saw several actually, but this one was above average. Even with that for motivation, Mason said he just couldn't go. With that, I decided to pack our gear down the mountain and get him back to lower elevation and on home to Ohio. It took me six hours to get us and our gear back to blacktop, and once I did, we drove on to Salina KS where we got a room, a hot shower and some food. After a good nap, we drove on home yesterday.
It was one heck of an adventure but not much of a hunt do to youthful foolishness. Thirsty or not, at elevation in the west, you have to drink. You are not going to last long if you do not.
Mason learned a good lesson there. He met a great friend of mine and another fella that hunts with Steve, who also is a quality guy. We saw some wildlife, caught some trout and will never forget the vistas. Overall, an enjoyable trip though somewhat disappointing due to having to quit early.
- 25,227
- 261
- 25,227
- 261
- 25,227
- 261
- 25,227
- 261
- 39,145
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Dang man. Hate to hear that he got sick. I was really pulling for you guys but worried about that when you told me camp was around 11k. In the end mason had a great trip with his dad that he will never forget. Knowing mason, this is not the end of it. I am sure you will be back in Colorado elevation pills in hand trying to fill that tag before the season is out.
Great write up/recap Brock, thanks for sharing! As Joe said, it's a trip that neither of ya will forget. While I would have enjoyed seeing some success, there was still plenty on that adventure from start to stop. Mason fully recovered I hope?
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Nope, not this year. He should have drank the water. It’s partly my fault I guess. I told him when we left the house that I didn’t want to be stopping every little bit to pee... so he didn’t drink and didn’t need a pee break until we were halfway across Kansas. I should have made him start drinking sooner.
Adam- he was fine in no time once we dropped elevation, thankfully.
Great write up! This hunt wasn't about killing an animal to begin with. And even though Mason got ill, he will always remember this trip with Dad. Plus, you can razz Mason that the old man could still hang! 
Sorry to hear Mason didn't feel the greatest. I'm sure it was great learning experience...
You guys will get'em next time.
Nice write up and thanks for sharing!
You guys will get'em next time.
Nice write up and thanks for sharing!
well, rats. sorry to hear it didn't go like you planned. I guess it never really does when us flatlanders go hunt the high elevation back country. those bulls won't stand a chance next time.