The Trapper

Within each of us burns a desire that drives our journey along life’s pathway. For Bert Babcock it was to be a trapper. His love for the outdoors and the wilderness drew him like a magnet to the wilderness of Northern Alberta, Canada, some two hundred miles north northwest of Lesser Slave Lake. He was a normal young man who liked to go to dances and parties. His good friend Randy and his wife would kid him all the time, asking when was he going to find him a wife so they could go out as couples. But to Bert these times were just a moment in his life. To live a solitarily life of trapping like he did, was his passion. A wife might be nice to have, but right now it was not too high on his list of priorities.

As time went by, events in his life proved his true character. Finding a native girl that was starving to death in a very crude shelter caused him to dig deep into his conscience to do the right thing. He did not have provisions for another person, but he couldn’t leave her to die. When his friend and pilot did not come back to pick him up in the spring, he had to decide what he was going to do. Nearly out of food, he had but one choice and that was to walk out. But he had not just himself to think about, but also the young girl that he learned to care for in a very special way. Was it love? He believed it was. Would she be able to make it out all the way? He had saved her life once could he do it again. He really didn’t have a choice. It was only by the skin of their teeth that they survived that long tiresome journey. They were nearly killed by a grizzly attack, and then fatigue and starvation almost done them in.

Not to give away any exciting moments, you will read of how Bert and another pilot flew over an area to look for a crash site that had been spotted. When they located it, the RCMP asked them to walk in and take pictures of the wreck to identify the plane. They were to bring any remains back with them to give closure to the wreckage and death of the pilot. Bert was nearly killed by a large grizzly on the trip. It was sheer determination that kept him going. Although he was quite seriously injured he completed the task that he was given.

As he ever so gently placed the remains found at the wreckage into the bag he said, “Randy, I would have much rather have liked to have gone fishing with you.”