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Eye On The Ball: Alaska adventure for father and son

COURTESY PHOTO | Charlie Binder, left, and dad Darrin on the move in Alaska.

When most of us talk about vacations, such as going away with our children for a couple of weeks, we expect to hear about things like cruises, skiing, sailing, boating, golfing or even Disney. When Shelter Island’s Darrin Binder, 47, and his son Charlie, 17, talk about a vacation, well … let’s say these guys are a little different.

Last August, before school started in September, Darrin and Charlie wanted to get away somewhere together. Charlie came up with the idea of a Dall sheep hunt in Alaska and pitched it to his dad. After Darrin agreed, what followed was one of the most challenging and rewarding adventures I have ever heard about. The two of them were about to venture on 11 days of hiking while climbing 2,000-foot mountains in search of their prey. Although I’d never heard of a Dall sheep, listening to this venture I’m convinced it has to be on top of the list of the most grueling and difficult of hunts.

During the hunt they were allowed one hunter (Charlie), one supporter (Darrin) and one guide. As supporter, Darrin didn’t have a gun and if there was any kind of danger, he had to have faith in his teenage son’s expertise with his Weatherby 257.

Just getting to the hunting grounds was an adventure. On August 17, 2012, father and son spent the day flying to Fairbanks, Alaska. Along with six others, they boarded a bush plane the next day and arrived at Bettles, Alaska, population 60. From there they boarded a “float plane,” a type of a seaplane, and flew in to their base camp 60 miles from the Arctic Circle. Their new home was a mess tent just large enough for four people. August in Alaska, the temperature was in the 20’s with only three hours of darkness out of 24.

On the following day, they set out on foot, encountering nothing but rain and fog, each carrying 75 pounds of gear over hilly terrain for eight hours. They arrived at their “spike” camp with a new two-person tent, called a cocoon, where they nestled in for several days while the bad weather continued. They were happy they had good sleeping bags, books and some games.

The sun finally peeped out on the fifth day. They observed a lot of sheep but none large enough to shoot. Hunters don’t shoot female sheep and in order to bag a ram, he must have a horn that curls 360 degrees in a complete circle. On that first day of sunshine, Charlie never saw a ram that had the complete circle. Five days and he still hadn’t fired a shot.

Sometimes the guys felt they were walking on the moon since the land was void of trees. The terrain was made up of rocks, mountains and moss. One difference from being on the moon was that in Alaska, you didn’t have to go far down in the moss to get water. The excellent water was perfect with the freeze-dried food they’d had packed like clam chowder, chicken a la king, beef stroganoff and what they described as some “really awful eggs and bacon.”

Day six produced a blizzard. It was 20 degrees, snowing, and even the guide was scared. There were no phones and no one could pick them up, so they hiked eight miles through the blizzard back to base camp.

When they arrived, they found a grizzly bear carcass just 80 yards from their tent. They learned later the grizzly had attacked the last group of hunters and when the fight was over, they skinned him and left the carcass. But it wasn’t bears in the area that bothered Darrin and Charlie. It was the blizzard that stuck around or three more days.

On the penultimate day, they woke to their first good sunlight hours. On top of a hill just 1,000 yards away, they spotted their first “legal” ram. When they were just about 200 yards away, it was the perfect range for Charlie and his Weatherby 257. But the ram sniffed them out and ran over to the other side of the hill. Still no shot for Charlie!

On the 11th and final day, father and son were scheduled to fly back to the metropolis of Bettles. Pictures had to be taken of the campsite before and after to confirm cleanliness. They had to get rid of all the food and threw out 95 percent of it. They were good to go but fog rolled in again and the plane was delayed six hours.

When they finally arrived at Bettles, National Geographic was filming with a full crew. This was not good news since they had rented all the available tents. Our boys were lucky enough to be invited to the airplane hangar where they were able to sleep under the wings of a plane. In this hangar they found a shower, much needed, to put it mildly, after 11 days.

Pictures of the trip are scarce since their Canon all-purpose waterproof camera died on the fifth day.

For a wimp like me, this trip would have been a nightmare. When I spoke to Charlie, he said “I did not know what to expect when I signed up for this expedition.” His dad proudly said, “At no time did Charlie complain about any part of the journey.”

Charlie’s parting words: “You make the date and I will do it again.”