2026 Bear Hunt Day 9&10 - Home

 I woke a few minutes before my alarm was set for, allowing me a bit extra to get ready and triple check everything before heading to meet Dave (who graciously agreed to meet at 4:30) to get my bear.  We had a bit of a challenge finding my backstraps; once in the cooler, I hit the road.

There was a bit of fog on the road as I left.  It was never blinding for long, but I was concerned with the potential for animals on the road.  I took the gravel road route as the most direct route.  One of the turns always trips me up and it did again.  The Maverick’s traction control is not very intrusive, which is a good thing.  But this time it definitely helped.  A few minutes later I saw a large sow bear with a cub on the road.  These combined to serve as a reminder to be careful, especially in the dark, even if the cub did make me laugh a little as it bumbled down the road.

I was listening to The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything by Peter Brannen.  I had previously listened to his book The Ends of the World which was exceedingly good and made me feel blissfully small at the end.  CO2 was not quite as good, but it definitely did give me some new ways to think about energy and the timescales we should really think about when considering the situation we are in with rapidly increasing carbon dioxide amounts in the atmosphere.  I loved some of the geochemistry he laid out with practical implications.

I hit the border near daybreak.  The border guard seemed more concerned that I have the paperwork for a future bear hunting adventure than any concern with my current border cross, “That way you won’t even have to come in next time.”  After breezing through, I was back in the US.  I will miss Canada.

I continued making my way, listening to my book and occasionally letting my mind wander.  Google Maps routed me a slightly different way that got me off the interstate near my sister's house for a stretch.  I guess it wasn’t terrible, but was somehow nagged that it was adding time.  After traveling thousands of miles safely on the trip, I was oddly surrounded by a small set of Crazies who actively tried to kill me near the exit to my sister’s house.  Usually Madison is more chill than anything…

It was great getting a chance to catch up with my sister.  I wish it was for longer, but the time spent was well worth it. 

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Early the next morning, I once again headed out for the final leg.
The drive was uneventful until I got near home and realized one of the major roads was still closed in several spots due to flooding and subsequent road destruction.  Google Maps routed me through some roads that would have been wonderful to bicycle on, but the slowdown was frustrating when I was in get-home-mode.  I knew the list of things to do was going to be long and I did have to work the next day.
In reality, the rather odd route close to home probably only added 5 minutes, certainly less than 10.

Once home, it was a scramble to unpack and get the bear meat in the freezer.  S/O was incredibly helpful even though she doesn’t like the bear meat.
And while I was exhausted by the time I was finally able to get ready for the next day at work, I was filled with infinite gratitude for the time I was able to spend in Manitoba.  I went to sleep, thinking about bears and pike, both past and future.