Tick tock

This morning I woke up to 2 inches of snow as far as my eyes could see It’s really pretty but it does add an element of difficulty in finding the wolves. Everything is slippery, I can’t go jumping from one rock to the other like some spring hare. Now I have to step carefully because I don’t have crampons. It also makes tracking wolves difficult because the snow melts quickly and then the ground freezes. Anyway it doesn’t really matter, I have to stop looking at the ground and just start focusing on the hills, it’s now just going to be guess work. The wolves are constantly on the move so I just have to think like a wolf and position the tent where I think they’ll be, it’s going to be a gamble. At least the last 2 months have been about narrowing my options. I narrowed them down to one long stretch of the ridge line that hits the river, and I’ll just keep etching my tent higher by half a mile at a time until I hear something, that’s the best I can do right now.

I heard there had been a yak kill and so I raced down to the town where a tourist said they heard the rumour from. I got to the village but the rumours turned out false, no yak killed. It was a broken telephone story. The stories change every time someone tells it.

Last night was a long night and every night from now on is going to be identical to it, but it’s only for another month, so it’s temporary. If I think about it though, it’s amazing how I’ve grown as an explorer or an adventurer, which ever term fits better. To most people, tracking wolves in the Himalayas during winter would seem extreme and it certainly was for me the first time. Now it's become a way of life, that’s only because as a boy I went out on my horse and explored the mountains, pushing the boundaries of my comfort zones. Then I joined an anti-pouching unit where I had to embrace courage as a means to stay alive. I was just a boy running around with a gun in my hand shooting at poachers that were shooting at us. Then I later turned in my gun for a camera. I got involved in filming expeditions in the Drakensberg mountains and river rafting tours down the blyde river canyon. Then I got involved in filming wildlife films, often having to track the animals by myself. Then I went through the extreme fitness stage of lifeguard, fireman, mountain search and rescue. Then of course, there was my pilot training which was the gauntlet of mental patients, since I’ve never been good at reading or storing literal information in my brain. You would probably be able to identify that from all the spelling mistakes you'll find in this journal. Much later after relocating to the USA, I got introduced to snow in Michigan, shooting a film in the dead of winter, then there was Everest and now this. This by far outweighs all the experiences I’ve been through although Everest was a close second. This experience will eventually be put to the test when I accomplish my goal to solo climb Mount Everest unassisted, unsupported and without the use of supplemental oxygen, it’s going to pretty much be the Achilles heel of all my adventures in life.

I made it to the spot where I heard the wolves the other night and found a secluded place right by a waterhole. It’s not cloudy tonight so it’s going to be nice and cold. I'm making some oats on low heat keeping a good ear on things in case I hear a howl. I’m sick of spaghetti and soup, it always reminds me of Everest and that was not a good time but I’m running out of supplies fast so I’m going to have to stomach the pasta soon. I’m not going back to Namche again until next week so I’ll have to really ration my food, one meal a day should suffice. It’s so quiet tonight, it’s almost defining but it’s absolutely beautiful though. If I don’t hear anything tonight I think I’m going to cross the river again tomorrow just to make sure they’re not that side of the valley. There is absolutely no reason for them to be on the other side but I will have the time so I might as well make sure, I can't leave any stone unturned. That strange pain in my head has gone away thank goodness, it might have just been a high-altitude thing.

It’s going to be another long night but I hope that if I fall asleep I can wake up if the wolves howl, I’m a pretty light sleeper so I think I will. The night vision camera is pointing at the waterhole although something has to walk within 10 feet for it to be activated, but it’s better than nothing. Here goes, let’s see what tonight brings.