The make-up of your party will determine what you will bring.
Some years we only had two or three of us, left camp @ 3Am never came back until well after dark if at all. Quick easy boil water food worked well.
Most years we had my Dad and his Friend who where a little older and liked to cook and keep camp.
here are a few things we would bring/do: (Keep in mind we had 6-8 in our group).
- 12-18Lb Cryovak (SP?) of ribeye, bought at Costco. Freeze really well, insulate and place in cooler. This acted as our ice, so we didn't have to pack wasted frozen water. The meat unthaws after a few days, slice thickness to your liking and grill over the fire.
- Our base camp was @ 6500', so finding a secluded snow bank was only a mile or two away if your cooler needs replenishing. Also used to keep the deer cool if unusually warm up there, and someone drops something the first day.
- Take a sharp bucksaw, spend the first day (We went in prior to opening) with everyone cutting wood. Lot's of wood! It goes fast and nothing more frustrating then to waste good hunting time cutting wood.
- You will go through a lot of water with a larger group. Finding a good water source can be tough if in high Elev. We would take (6) 5Gal. collapsible. And three short sections of PVC pipe to set in the stream. Use a 1", 3/4" and 1/2" pieces so you can fit them inside of each other and use as a spigot.
- If you are going in style
use grain alcohol instead of beer. gets the job done quicker and a lot less weight. Although my Dad had to have his homemade Irish creme in the morning coffee to ease the aches. Which reminds me - If you think you have enough coffee, double it!
- We only rode horses one time a year, during the high hunt. So after 20+ miles of riding you will feel it! the first year I went I spent 3-4 days trying to sooth the chaffing on my inner thighs. Not fun! I wore bicycle shorts under my jeans for the ride up and back after that and never had anymore problems.
Be ready to improvise, the first trip we took some of the bags were not evenly weight distributed. the packer went through the bags and found my dads hidden 6 pack of Pepsi (he was a pepsiholic) a six pack of Coors and (4) fifths of whisky. The packer set the Pepsi and Coors on the tailgait and proceeded to crack each one of the cans open. Turned to us and said "Anyone thirsty?" He turned to the whisky, put (3) of the bottles in wool socks and Said "These need to be protected" Cracked the last bottle, threw away the cap, passed it around and said "This ones for the road"
Used this packer for the next 15 Yrs.
Great guy, and always brought some packer grease for the ride in!
Have a great trip!
