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Rugged Alaskan terrain, rain soaked attire, bone-chilling temperatures and eight days of hopeful expectation were awaiting three men as they embarked on a trip of a lifetime.

An avid hunter, Gerald McMullin convinced his friend and Kingfisher neighbor, Brian Walter, they should go on a moose hunt with Walter’s son, Robert, who is currently stationed at Eielson Air Force Base with his wife, Kinley, in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Walter eventually agreed and early last month the two left their familiar confines of Kingfisher and met up with Robert for a week in the Alaskan wild.

For Walter, the hunt was almost secondary.

It was valuable time with his son, who lives more than 3,500 miles away.

But, also, it gave Walter the opportunity to further his friendship with his longtime neighbor.

Walter kept a journal during their trip. He collected the sights, sounds, his thoughts and daily activities of the trio as they hunted the elusive bull moose.

Following are excerpts from Walter’s journal of the adventure:

Sunday, Sept. 6 - Day 1

Arrive at trailhead to find two vehicles. Perfect! Not alone, but not a crowd either. I spot clear grizzly tracks in the soft mud at the edge of the gravel parking lot.

We 4-wheeler to the base camp. We set up our tent, make a second trip to get balance of gear, all goes well.

We eat a snack and decide to make it down to the river or at least try. Thank goodness for our chest waders… We never do make it quite to the river, because although we are very close, it is now a half hour before dark and we have a long hike back to camp.

Safely back in camp we boil some ramen noodles and call it a day.

Monday, Sept 7 - Day 2

We rise slowly…eat breakfast and get ready. We decide to go hunt the meadow of muskeg (aka Alaskan bog) we discovered lasAnother thing we cont evening. After about an hour we decide to return to camp, adjust our hunting spot and be ready to come back about 4 p.m.

Back in camp we eat snacks and then have a hatchet throwing contest. I establish the initial record of three hatchet sticks in a row.

Robert tries next but struggles.

Then Gerald’s turn; He manages several times to also get three sticks but somehow miraculously fails multiple times to get a fourth stick. Finally, he manages a new record of 6 sticks.

Ultimately Robert gets in a serious groove. Gerald’s coaching instincts kick in and with Gerald’s encouragement, Robert creates a record of 16 consecutive sticks. Good fun!

We prepare a meal of freeze dried meals…work on the tarp cover… and then we head out to hunt. On our way to our hunt site we see moose tracks and droppings.

I pack in my full-blown lawn chair and from it read, nap and write this while Gerald calls for moose and Robert waits and watches.

Tuesday, Sept. 8 - Day 3

We arrive in the field at 8:30 a.m.; light rain continues to fall.

Gerald positions himself behind Robert and does all the calling, and while I don’t know anything about it, his moose calls seem quite good to me. Robert is positioned in front as he is the shooter.

Robert and Gerald are both natural hunters and stay alert and attentive. With confidence they have it covered and with steady cold rain falling, I hunker down with my hood pulled low in my position, off to one side with a view of Gerald, Robert and the meadow, for a nice cat nap.

The sound of the rain hitting my hood is very relaxing. I look up occasionally to survey the beautiful scene of fog in the mountains, the yellow birch trees, the green silky spruce, and the amazing colors of Alaska. Moss, huckleberries, and muskeg surrounds me.

Unfortunately, noon comes and no moose yet.

We decide one more time to push an attempt to make it down to the river. We know we are close but hiking thru the wet, boggy muskeg down by the river is something you really can’t understand until you have done it. The wet muskeg is sometimes described as trying to walk on bowling balls covered with loose wet carpet. Anyway, with noonday light, light rain and our previous experience, we make it to the river this time.

Can we portage the river in our chest waders? The river is narrow, maybe only 15 yards, but it is deep, dark, cold, strong, and swift – a dangerous and perhaps deadly combination. We will have to be content with our side.

The good news is there are big, wide game trails by the river with lots of tracks and moose droppings. The decision is made; we will hunt the river.

We establish a position where we can see downstream each direction approximately 100 yards. It feels right. Let’s hope it works.

Wednesday, Sept. 9 - Day 4

We make it down to the river a little before 8 a.m. We like our spot, although I worry about our ability to get a moose down safely on the bank (our bank).

At noon we retreat to camp; it continues to rain. Ultimately, we decide to stay in camp and take care of some improvements to our base camp and repair one of the two 4-wheelers.

Now, we enter Stage 2 of the ongoing camp contest series. Robert leads after Stage 1 (hatchet throwing), Gerald follows, then me.

This next contest consists of a baseball hitting approximation. You must hit a small piece of wood over the shorter trees below the tent for a base hit or over the medium trees for a home run.

I can’t stimulate much interest because it continues to rain, but we do play. The best part was Gerald’s belly laughs as I make my attempt. After Stage 2, Gerald now leads with 5 points, followed by Robert, and yours truly still in third place.

After dinner, it is time for bed.

Thursday, Sept. 10 - Day 5

The rain has stopped. We get to our spot shortly after daybreak, perfect.

We get set up and Gerald makes his first call.

Approximately 45 minutes later we hear something big breaking branches as it moves through the woods, across the river. Everyone perks up. Then all goes silent for 30 minutes.

Gerald calls again. Fifteen minutes later a cow moose pops out on the riverbank across from us. We can’t shoot a moose across the river and we can’t shoot a cow, but this is very exciting.

Another thing we continue to see at the river is a big, beautiful Kingfisher bird who is hunting this river section. I love Kingfisher, and I love Kingfisher birds…this one does something I have never seen – at one point he hovers like a hummingbird directly in front of me. I think it’s a good omen.

Before we head back to camp, we move down river to check out an area of interest. There are many positives to the area, and we all agree we will hunt here this evening.

Back at camp we eat and warm up. The cold here in Alaska is different. It is very damp, not necessarily all that cold (45°-55°), but the dampness makes it feel very cold and it rains as often as it doesn’t.

A big, beautiful rainbow appears and appears from our camp to be anchored on, and directly above, our selected hunting spot. A good omen we think.

I insist we play another quick stage of our ongoing camp contest.

Today’s contest is to balance our handmade fir tree walking sticks. Today I manage to win this round, but not before I trip, fall, and tear my waders. Victory at last is still sweet though.

The standings are now Robert: 6.5 points, Gerald: 6 points, and me at 5.5 points. Tomorrow is the final round.

Off to the evening hunt.

Friday, Sept. 11 - Day 6

I have had a fair amount of success in hunting, but I still don’t consider myself a natural hunter, someone who thrills in the wait and is happy to pay that price of hours and hours of waiting in often difficult, cold, and/or wet conditions.

Robert and Gerald are hunters. Here is hoping today is their day.

I hunt for the camaraderie. I hunt for the experience, the scenery of the great outdoors, and other reasons. They hunt to hunt – there is a difference.

Unfortunately, our morning ends with no moose. We remind ourselves that moose are obviously present.

Back in camp we eat lunch, make a fire, talk, strategize and finish our camp contest.

The final stage of the camp contest is to take the 12-gauge pump shotgun we are carrying for backup bear protection and with your trigger hand over the stock and your other hand under the pump action stock, extend the gun straight out in front of you at shoulder height and hold it as long as you can.

I go first. I hold the shotgun out and up for 2:30 minutes.

Gerald had all but refused to participate just prior, but now with a mark to beat, the 65-year-old, former allstater can’t resist. With no further prodding, he grabs the gun and begins. I have to say I was impressed, with the only mark to shoot for set at 2:30 minutes, he holds the gun out for 6:17.

Robert is next. I am 57, Gerald is 65, and Robert is 29. We decide it is unfair for him to know Gerald’s time, so he starts in blind; sets his mind on 5 minutes and stops. Maybe he could have done 6:17, maybe not. 6:17 is a lot.

In any case, the old man wins Stage 4 and the contest.

Congratulations Gerald, you tough old coot.

Our spirits are lifted, our fingers and toes are thawed out, and our bellies are full – time to go back out in the field.

We are sitting over a grassy bend in the South Fork of the Chena River, near Fairbanks. It looks good, but we need our moose to show up – maybe he will. It’s 6:30 p.m. on our next to last evening to hunt.

Gerald stands and calls again. I keep believing Gerald will get it done. He will call a bull moose to Robert.

Time is running low though.

Saturday, Sept. 12 - Day 7

Well, here we are, last full day of hunting. We choose to stay down on the river. We set up on our side, but see prime moose hunting area on both sides. Our morning hunt wraps up with no moose but new hope. When we first began last

When we first began last Sunday the weather was beautiful. Clear blue skies, warm 60° temperature, incredible visibility. We could see two different Alaskan mountain ranges, one of which includes Mt. McKinley in Denali National Park which we see even though it is 160 miles away. But since then, we have not seen the sun one time.

As we head out for our last evening hunt, the sun shines bright….yet another good omen.

About 7 p.m. a cow moose comes out of the woods enters the river and walks right down the river towards us, as if the river were a sidewalk!

Well now 2 cows we have seen, we just need to see that bull.

One more chance tomorrow morning.

Sunday, Sept. 13 - Day 8

We awake at 5 a.m. for our final chance at a bull moose. The morning is clear for the first time in 7 days. We adjust our spot slightly and everything feels right. There is a ton of work to

There is a ton of work to do, so today we will hunt only till mid-morning, as Robert has to be back at work on base first thing tomorrow. Well in spite of all the omens, sadly our time expires and still no moose.

Why?

Why no moose, after all the good omens, after all the work and all the suffering, and all the effort?

Gerald worked so hard, Robert waited so patiently, yet no moose. I can only speculate as to why.

Maybe Gerald’s call sounded not quite exactly like a female moose. Maybe if Robert didn’t have to return to work and we could have hunted a little longer. Maybe if I was more adept to sitting still and being stealthy and quiet.

Maybe this, maybe that, who knows – nobody.

Here is my guess though. Maybe God was looking out for us.

Maybe if we shot the moose he would have landed in the river, bad news. Maybe if we shot the moose and everything started out good, but three trips uphill through that incredible bog with 100 plus pounds on my back, was more than my 57-year-old heart could take.

Maybe God knew best, and all went exactly as it should. That’s my guess and I am perfectly at peace with it – let’s hope Gerald and Robert come to feel the same.

The trio never got that bull moose, not even a sighting.

That didn’t stop the two Kingfisher men from relishing the time and experience.

“If you are ever in my position,” Walter said, “and your son lives thousands of miles away and time keeps rolling on and you get a chance to spend a week camping and hunting with him, by all means go.”

“Maybe journal your experience to share with others who could not go,” he said, adding “when any members of a family can grow closer together, it helps all members of the family to grow closer.”

And there was the other positive aspect of the trip.

“I was fortunate to be able to get to know my neighbor better and appreciate who he is,” Walter said.

Checking it off his bucket list, McMullin said he enjoyed spending time with Robert and Brian, experiencing the different climate and terrain and just finding out what it was really like in the back country of Alaska.

Being in nature and the elements tends to bring one closer to God, McMullin said.

“One of the most amazing things was when a rainbow appeared and seemed to settle right on the spot