Gnarly Dan goes trapping with Scurvy Al

I originally wrote this article as a stress reliever when I was serving on the Alaska Board of Fisheries. I believe I wrote this while attending a board meeting in Cordova in 2009. Since we’re in trapping season, I thought folks might enjoy seeing this again. The entire story will take about two-and-a-half columns, so bear with me.

Gnarly Dan guided his snowmachine over to the edge of the wilderness trail, coasted to a stop, and turned off the key. He hopped off, stretched his legs, and checked the lashings on the sled he was towing behind his machine. He didn’t want anything to fall off or be lost since the sled load of supplies had to see his trapping partner, Scurvy Al, and himself through the next month on the trapline. Scurvy was scheduled to come in the next day with more groceries and trapping gear.

The trail Gnarly Dan was following took him fifty miles back off the highway and into an area he had discovered the year before while ptarmigan hunting. He had found old snowmachine trails crisscrossing the ridges and valleys with leaning-pole, marten trap sets every quarter mile or so. Every so often, an old, rusty trap still hung from a nail in the tree truck at the set.

He also located a deserted trapper cabin nestled in a clearing near a small lake that, with a little cleanup and roof repair, would be habitable if he wanted to spend some time in the area. A quick check with Fish and Game and DNR after returning from his hunting trip confirmed no one was trapping the area and the cabin was, in fact, available for his use. Gnarly began planning a trapping adventure for the next winter season.

Gnarly’s friend and fishing partner, Sweet William, a man of delicate sensitivities, had a real job and couldn’t get the necessary time off to go trapping. That’s where Scurvy Al enters the picture.

Seems Gnarly had met Scurvy when he picked him up hitchhiking one day during the summer following his trapping area discovery. Scurvy Al lived not far from Gnarly and, while he was a little “seedy” in appearance, proved to be a knowledgeable, but slightly “peculiar” woodsman. Scurvy had his own views about life and ways to do things but was trustworthy and hardworking. However, because of these “character traits,” he had trouble holding a steady job, so, over the course of time, when Gnarly floated the idea of trapping in the wilderness for a month or so, Scurvy was good to go.

Gnarly climbed back on the snowmachine and resumed his trip to the cabin. After arriving in mid-afternoon, Gnarly hauled the supplies inside and promptly installed the brand-new sheet-metal Yukon stove and stovepipe he had lashed to the top of the pile on the sled. He soon had a fire going to warm the cabin and heat some water for a cup of hot chocolate. Gnarly spent the rest of the day stowing supplies and finishing up the few chores he hadn’t finished during a weekend trip into the cabin the previous fall.

Tucked back in the “pantry,” Gnarly found a box of almost new mouse traps. He set them out near the front door while stacking groceries and forgot they were there. After a hearty meal of canned stew and pilot bread that evening, Gnarly turned the AM radio dial to the one station with good reception and listened to the “Trapline Chatter” announcements before turning in. Tomorrow promised to be just as busy with Scurvy’s expected arrival with a second sled load of supplies.

The next morning found Gnarly out chopping a larger hole through the lake ice for easier access to the crystal-clear liquid. A five-gallon bucket of freezing cold water accompanied Gnarly back to the cabin. The sun had just settled below the treetops when Gnarly heard the unmistakable sound of a snowmachine coming down the trail. Scurvy was right on time!

After exchanging greetings, the two fledgling trappers hauled the groceries inside and organized the trapping gear, splitting it between the two sleds. Scurvy brought in an extra armload of wood after parking his snowmachine and sled back behind the cabin next to Gnarly’s. The temperatures were already near zero and the forecast Gnarly had heard on the radio the night before called for a possible low of thirty below overnight….

Continued next week.