From the weight of snow, presence of water, mud, wind, silt... An animal sat on it, kicked it, buried it for later...
SK's poles really blend into the landscape, and no one has suggested he tied a bright bandanna to it..
Yes, he might have thought he saw the meat pile pole, got out there, and lost sight of the pole nearer camp.... Then scrambled around looking for poles. He might not have wanted to believe he was lost.
Add the male pride to the mix... Maybe Steve, a seasoned outdorsman and hunter did not want to admit to himself that he got lost so easily, did not want to look bad in the eyes of his partner and so he tried to find his way back on his own, which ended with him venturing even deeper into tundra.
It still doesn't make any sense how Steve has not been spotted in one way or another. If sadly he has passed away then why haven't any sign of him shown up, clothes shredded by scavengers or a hat or anything, something. The backpack he used to carry meat from the cache shouldn't have been that tough for him to carry as he could have rested intermitantly for a short distance and then continued back pausing all the way back to the camp.??????
I know. A lot of questions, yet unanswered. It almost makes me ask if he could have been picked up on the Dalton Highway. Could there have been foul play?
I wonder if there is a confusion here the pole was a makeshift cache/rucksac/pack for their (both of them) stash of caribou meat, it wasn't just Steve's it was also his partners portion also if I'm getting this straight. So as I imagine it this stash was a quarter mile from their camp. I haven't been keeping up with this post lately but has this changed. Obviously they don't want to have all the caribou meat in their main camp nor the van. I would imagine only enough to cook up and eat then and there. Or phowever it is prepared but just that portion for that meal for obvious reasons like wildlife.
The other thing that seems off to me, is that the meat pack was only .6 miles from camp. How did he get lost in such a short distance. That’s almost nothing.
I can imagine however it would be difficult for an animal to bury it lik that. The antlers have to be manouvered into the position to stand & stay upright like that. An animal probably wouldn't be able to do it that perfectly. I saw the video of Chet pointing it out.
So in other words he couldn't see the second pole from where he was I would have to assume. But the thing I don't understand is apart from the rolling hills the view is not obscured. So if he got to the first pole then if his view wasn't obscured I don't understand how he couldn't see he other pole?
I get it now. But if one disregards the part about the stash being both of theirs then my points still stand and thus the questions I'm asking. Sorry. I saw the videos and am more caught up now. Thanks.
weather.com
The pole was dark coloured, not that easy to spot. I think Steve saw something dark in a distance, thought it was the near pole and went into it's direction. When he found out this something was not the pole, the first pole was already out of his sight.
Well, ok if it was a dark color I can understand that being missed. But I wonder what direction the second pole was in? Was it straight ahead or was it at another angle on the path towards the base camp that Stev and his hunting partner were staing at. I would also think if the pole was dark in color could it be that it was low to the ground and missed because it was camoflauged or was it high enough to not be camoflauged?
It doesn’t surprise me at all that searches haven’t found SK. This is true of a high percentage of wilderness missing cases.
What I think, too. He might even have come to a place where he couldn’t see either.
There was a photo ^^^^^ of the pole sticking out of the tundra. I suppose, even though they weren’t hunting when they set the pole, they only had camo with them? There wasn’t a colored bandana/shirt/rag tied to the pole in the photo.
GPS will work without cell service.
