8/29/99
Bobby Warren (from Craig) my Asst Guide arrived on the early morning ferry. It is a nice morning. After he arrived at the house we started packing our gear; picking out our freeze dried meals and went to town to pick up a few remaining items that we needed. It was such a nice day I figured we should stop by Taquan Air and see if they could schedule us in for this afternoon (we were scheduled to fly at 2 PM tomorrow). The girls in scheduling were very helpful as always and we arranged a 3:30 / 4:00 PM flight. After lunch we made our final gear arrangements and loaded up the Muskeg Mobile and headed for Taquan. Earnie Robb flew us out in the turbine Otter. After a quick buzz around the Mt tops (spotting a few Goats) we landed in the lake. It wasn't long till we had base camp set up and were regeared for the morning hike, had dinner and turned in.

8/30/99
We woke up to a foggy morning that turned out to be nice when the fog burned off. After breakfast and final preparations we were ready for the "death march" (as Pat Lefemine so aptly named it last year). By late morning we rolled into Camp # 2. Charles was very tired. His legs were talking to him. So without much discussion we decided to hold up there for the evening. Our nice morning had turned into afternoon clouds and showers. Bobby continued on to the Upper Lake Camp with a heavy load of some of our gear and food. We spotted 8 Mt Goats up in the valley (at least 1 nice Billy). Bobby returned in the early evening with a report of fresh bear sign in the valley and 3 more Goats just above the Upper Lake. It was a good evening for sitting around the camp fire talking and thinking about how the hunt will go before turning in. The clouds gave way to a star studded light frosty night.

8/31/99
We woke up to blue skies and lots of dew. Condensation in the tents was bad. After breakfast we packed it up and headed up the valley. There was a light frost in some of the muskeg meadows. Bobby went on ahead with the tents so he could dry things out before we set up at the Upper Lake Camp. In the late AM Charles and I rolled into Camp. We noticed on the way up that the Bear had tore down some of our flagging tape (like he did last hunt). After drying out and setting up Camp we took a little rest. Then it was up to the top. We went up through the East Ridge pass. There were 9 Goats bedded down just above us as we held up and waited for them to make a move. We suspected them to be all Nannies and Kids. After they got up we stalked up the mountain side. We got to within 50 yards of 2 lone Nannies. We laid low and watched. One was a jumbo. Charles passed on the shot. We continued on up to the top. We spotted at least 25 Goats in the surrounding area. The blue skies had turned into fog and rain. The fog set in. After taking a stand for awhile we headed on down to Camp in the fog. Bobby headed on down ahead of us to set up the kitchen tarp. After dinner and dessert we crawled into our tents tired.

9-1-99
After coffee and breakfast we headed for the top up the lake inlet valley. During breakfast we had noticed 2 Goats up in the top west craggies. As we topped the ridge we noticed one of the Goats had bedded on the top rocky lookout and had us made. We worked our way around the steep crag to the right to keep out of sight. After the long climb we eased up on a shelf and we came eye to eye (at 30 yards) with a large Billy. As Charles was getting prepared to take a look and possibly a shot the Goat got up and walked away, up through the craggies. No shot opportunity. Leaving our packs behind we quickly worked our way up through the crags trying to play catch up. Up on top we jumped the other goat. It was a medium Billy. Charles passes on the quick shot as it disappears over the edge. We work our way around the top trying to sight the 'big boy'. We couldn't find it. We figured they had both bailed into no man's land. We work our way back to where it was bedded down. We decided it was a good thing Charles didn't take the shot because the Goat may have slid / rolled off a 2000 ft drop! As we work our way back to our packs I notice something across the steep mountain on the snowfield. A closer look and I am surprised. I look back at Charles and say, "get that Wolf tag out, I think I see a Wolf". After a closer look I was right. Charles drops to the rocky ground, takes a rest on a rocky outcrop, and his 700 Remington (in .338 Mag - 225 grain Hornady Spire Points hand loads) echoes across the mountain top. The wolf staggers and down the very steep snowfield he goes. We glassed the snowfield. There is a blood trail. Charles had made a very good 250+ yard shot. We work our way down the and back up the steep mountain. Bobby was first up and spots the Wolf at the bottom of the snowfield. It was a well-furred southeast camo brown male.

After the photo session Bobby skinned it out. While Bobby was working on it we noticed 4 Goats had worked there way up to just below where we came from! We worked our way to the top for a better look. It turned out to be 2 Nannies and 2 Kids bedded down. We glassed from the top spotting many Goats in the surrounding area but nothing within reach. We stayed for a while glassing the area and then Charles and I worked our way back to camp through the lower craggies above the Upper Lake. Bobby packed up the Wolf and headed back the way we came up. After dinner and discussing the day's activities we turned in very tired but having those feelings that are hard to put into words after a successful hunt.

9/2/99
Bobby packed up the Wolf and some gear and headed for Base Camp after breakfast. Charles and I headed up the East slide chute toward the top. We worked our way across the ridge looking down across the 'plains'. No Goats. We took a break on top. I left Charles on top and eased down ridge to look at the lower pass area. I sighted a Nanny, Kid and 2 juveniles bedded in the lower snowfield. Then I noticed a single Goat headed down the ridge on a swift walking pace. He covered a mile in short order and soon bedded down on the same lower snowfield. It was a nice Bill. In the nice partly cloudy mid day sun I made it back up to Charles to tell him of the sightings. He was glassing another Goat that had moved just below on a snowfield at 400 yards. We watched it for a while until it got up and started to feed. Looked like a good one. We decided to put the move on. As we moved down to where I just had came from I showed him the Billy, we put on the sneak side hill. Charles said "Johnnie; look". A large Nanny, at 200 yards, had us made. Charles passed on the shot because we could not tell if she had a kid or not. She soon moved up toward the top. We continued our stalk on the Billy. Then just below another Goat had us made. It didn't size up like the one Charles had spotted earlier from up on top. It spooked and ran over the lower ridge. We didn't see another Goat. We were confused. We eased our way over to get a look at the Billy. He was gone! As we looked back the big Nanny was topping the ridge; she was a lone Goat. We decided to go back up and get a closer look. We worked our way back across the top looking over the edge as we went. We sighted each other at the same time. She was not in a shootable place, to sheer. We hurried back across the top to try to catch her in the pass. She beat us through. We stayed up on top for a while but didn't spot any more close in Goats. We worked our way slowly back down to the East Ridge Pass and down the slide chute to camp. As we were eating dinner I looked back across the lake and 3 Goats were feeding there way across the hill,where we had just came from, in the fading light. We had a desert and called it a day.

9/3/99
We woke up to fog and it started raining about 10 AM. It started raining hard southeast Alaska style. Bobby arrived back at the Lake Camp about noon with a resupply of clothes and food. He fleshed and turned the ears and split the lips and did the feet and put the wolf on the salt. He also fleshed out the skull. We had a hot lunch. We continued to hang around camp. The rain never let up and became very hard at times. As we went to bed it really pounded. I slept well with the rain on the tent.

9/4/99
The rain slacked sometime during the night. We woke up to another foggy morning. About mid morning I climbed up to the rocks just above camp to get a weather report. As I topped the ridge I noticed the fog was lifting and it looked like it was going to break up. Back down to the camp and we were climbing the East Ridge slide chute in no time. We spotted 3 Goats just above the lake but they had us spotted also. We worked our way up toward the top as the fog moved in and out. As we neared the top Bobby spotted 2 goats just below us,on the back side, in the fog. We waited as the wind kicked it up. After an hour or so as the fog cleared we made the closer to Goat it turned out to be a Nanny. Charles had her in his sights but decided to pass on the shot. We worked our way on up to the top. The heavy fog continued to drift across the mountaintop. Bobby dropped down to see what he could see in the lower pass. There were 5 Goats (Nannies and Kids) bedded on the snowfield. We just got a glimpse of the second Goat that we had spotted earlier as it moved across the 'plains' and over the ridge. The fog socked in again and stayed. The wind howled. By the time we got back to camp the rain picked up again. It rained hard into the night.

9/5/99
We woke up to continued rain and fog. It started to clear a little from time to time. We spotted the odd Goat. Some were very low in the valley across from camp. After some discussion we decided to head for base camp for our scheduled flight for mid day tomorrow. We packed it up in the rain and started off the mountain. Bobby went on ahead. Charles made a better time of it that we had figured. 7 days of Goat Mountains and Southeast Alaska jungle and he was getting better at it. I was a little sad as we worked our way down through the forest and muskegs. This was my 3rd Goat hunt in the area this season. I had been around here for 4 weeks. It is a very beautiful and rewarding place. Mostly I was a little down that Charles didn't get his Goat. He is a true sportsman. He passed on many shots at Nannies. We just didn't get on that Billy. The weather handed us some rough days. But he did get a trophy of trophies. A very well furred Southeast Alaska male Wolf.