The snow-white arctic wolf suddenly appeared on a nearby sand ridge, dismissively eyeing the human intruders before raising its head and letting out a howl.
Then it disappeared, leaving the hair on the back of my neck still standing.
It was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. And perhaps just as remarkable, I was being paid by the Star Tribune to be there, in Canada's Northwest Territories, to witness and write about white wolves, musk ox, grizzlies and big trout during a 14-day wilderness river adventure.
"You have the greatest job in the world," people have told me over the years. And they were right.
But now it's time to move on and let someone else have this job of a lifetime — reporting on hunting, fishing and other outdoor news for the Star Tribune. After 20 years on the beat, I'm retiring, and soon another reporter will join outdoors columnist Dennis Anderson to continue this newspaper's coverage of topics that help define the lives and lifestyles of so many Minnesotans.
My replacement will soon learn, as I did, that even a bad day on the water, or in the field, or on the trail, beats a good day in the office every time.
After all, I was paid to fish walleyes on Lake of the Woods, hunt ducks in North Dakota, roust pheasants in South Dakota, pitch a tent in the Boundary Waters and hike countless state parks. I also was paid to chase governors and Department of Natural Resource commissioners. I followed researchers to hibernating bears, bounced in floatplanes doing aerial duck surveys, watched biologists net prehistoric paddlefish and photographed hunters feeding starving deer.
They paid me to attend deer camps. To command a sled dog team across a wilderness lake. To cross-country ski atop frozen North Shore rivers.