I could feel my hands going numb in the cold. My biggest worry was frostbite. Forty below zero is a rough neighborhood, and Case and I were right in the middle of it. I know from experience that a small mistake in extreme temperatures can quickly spiral out of control, so I kept an eye out for those telltale white waxy spots that are the first sign of frostbite. The snowmobile handles were so cold they felt almost hot under my beaver mittens. I stopped frequently to warm my hands under my parka.
A big part of my business is guided trips on a wilderness trapline that I own here in the Yukon Territory. People from around the world book these trips for a variety of reasons. Some want to experience a northern trapper’s lifestyle, while others are serious trappers who wish to try their hand at trapping our northern species.
An experienced outdoorsman from Montana, Case Dewit, booked the first 10 days of February 2023. Lynx was his primary target, but wolf and wolverine were also on the bucket list. Although we didn’t know it then, it would take Case two years to accomplish his goal. The conditions we endured on that first trip in February of 2023 can only be described as brutal.
On the first day of the trip, temperatures were sitting at an average of minus 15 degrees Celsius. We planned to travel directly to the
