After our initial plans for a fly in sheep hunting trip were thwarted by a crooked deal from Copper Valley Air out of
Glennallen we were able to regroup and turn some lemons into lemonade. A little brainstorming and some previous scouting landed us out near the old
Nebesna Mine site for base camp. We stayed at the mine site the first night in the field and just enjoyed the history of a place that almost seems frozen in time.
When we walked through the different buildings and cabins it was
amazing how good the condition of everything was. There was original material there from the 1930's as well as other dated goods from squatters, explorers and researchers. One thing that remained consistent throughout the decades of use is that when people left the facility, they felt no need to bring anything out with them.
A fiscal report from the
Nebesna mine company in 1934.
After our stay at the mine we hiked out and found an area for a spike camp and started glassing for some legal rams.
We found a pair of
legal rams the following day, but had to wait them out in some interesting mountain weather. Mother Nature served up sunshine, rain, sleet and snow over a matter of four hours.
Once the rams came back out to feed a couple of accurate shots was all that it took to dispatch the noble critters. Recovering the animals took hours of difficult climbing, but after another long day we were able to get back to base camp and enjoy some sheep loin over an open fire.
A couple nice sets of ram horns back at the mine. Lady luck was on our side after all!
After we got everything taken care of from our trip into the Wrangell's we turned right around and and headed out to the Tangle Lakes/Delta River for a nice three day float, some blueberry pancakes and some good arctic grayling fishing.
The fishing at our first campsite was quite slow but there were some great blueberries for pancakes in the morning. That evening we soaked up scenery and a little whiskey around the campfire.
Once we got through the Tangle Lakes the paddling was a blast, there was lots of class II water to keep us interested.
I finally was able to use my new packraft on this trip. I think that I will have many fun trips with this little craft in the future.
Our last campsite provided us with some good grayling fishing...and ultimatly some great grayling eating!
