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Published: February 28th 2012
Ciara
Questioning whether she should try the 20 ft snow machine jump on her back country skis. After a long January of mostly below zero degrees, I figured it was time to get out of the house and put my 0 degree bag to the test.
Since I have been up here I have raved about wanting to do a backcournty ski trip longer than just a few miles. Sherry and I had a long weekend and decided it was time to make this happen. We rented us a public use cabin out in the Nancy Lake area, just south of Willow, AK. By the time we made the reservation there was only one cabin available: Red Shirt Lake Cabin #4. Being only 3 miles from the campground, I thought this would be a good little introduction for Sherry to winter backpacking and cross country skiing. We invited a few friends along, but our group grew a few people shorter when we discovered that the road out to the campground was closed during the winter. This added an additional 5 miles to our ski out on the winter route.
A few of our friends, Ciara, Jeremy, Lydia and a few pups met us at the winter access trailhead. Here we gathered our packs, put on our
skis and hit the trail with 8 miles and 6 hours of daylight ahead of us. Within the first mile we had a few hiccups. Sherry’s skis had the wrong kick wax on them so she was either moving in place or going backwards. This was an easy fix since she brought extra wax. Shortly after, Jeremy’s water broke in his camel pack, soaking everything including his down sleeping bag. That didn’t stop him.
It was an incredibly clear and beautiful day. It was in the mid 20s and there was no sign of snow. We steadily moved along the winter access trail, which ran the length of the road out to the campground. Snow machines full of kids and dogs sped by pulling sleds full of ice fishing gear and supplies. Lydia and Jeremy went ahead of us. We caught up with them at mile 5 coming off of the summer Red Shirt Lake Trail. They had just encountered a pissed off moose that had been herded their way by a snow machiner. We cautiously moved forward on the trail through the campground. Following the moose tracks. Shortly we hit South Rolly Lake and headed across.
When
Sherry and I
Taking a rest on the road. I first moved up here I had purchased a set of 1980 classis skis, with boots and poles for $5 at a yard sale. Since then, I have tolerated the fact that they were for a 6’5 male twice my weight. This was all fine however until we hit the trees. The trails ran in waves of ridges warn through by snow machines. It was slick and challenging for all of us. With my skis being almost 2 feet long for my size, they actually bridged most of these ridges, making it difficult to maintain control and balance. There were several points I thought they were even going to snap in half. After a mile and a half we managed to make it through the narrow trails with out getting run over by snow machines or dog sled teams.
As we moved over another lake and through more trails the sun was beginning to set. We had past the 6th mile we were feeling pretty beat. Our packs were heavy, we had not come across any markers saying we were on the right track, we were hungry and the sun was setting. Jeremy and Lydia had gone ahead yet
Dog Team on South Rolly
Passed by a dog team crossing south Rolly Lake again. Being much faster than us we had hoped they would have the fire going and dinner ready for us by the time we cruised in. Just as our energy was at its lowest we saw the cabin about half a mile across the lake. That half of a mile was probably the longest stint of the trip.
We broke off trail to head towards the cabin and arrived right as it was dark. There was no sign of Jeremy or Lydia who were at least an hour ahead of us. We got the fire going, put some lights in the windows and cooked up some reindeer sausages and grilled onions. Jeremy is a pretty intense winter camper and is extremely resourceful in term of survival skills. Though I was a little concerned that the two of them only had one dry sleeping bag, I knew it wasn’t a life or death concern.
After about 30 minutes Ciara put her skiis on and said she was going just to the edge of the lake to see if she could wave them down. By the time food was ready she had not come back. I went out on the
Keeping warm
Nothing to keep you warm on a Ski like Whiskey. Mmmmm. porch and yelled and there was no sign of her or her headlamp. I called out for her and got no response. It has been over 20 minutes since I had seen her lamp outside and began to get worried. It was dark and she had ventured out on her own. This made me nervous as she could have fallen and hurt herself, been trampled by a moose, or even gotten lost and we would have no idea how or where to find her. I put my ski boots on and grabbed my poles. Sherry didn’t seem to excited to get back on her skis, so for a second I thought I would also be venturing off on my own. As I was getting ready to head out, we saw a light coming towards the cabin. It was Ciara. Alone.
She came in and we got her warmed up by the fire. Every now and then one of our cell phones would go from “Searching for Service” to having one bar. We texted them letting them know where the cabin was in mere chance it would go through. Miraculously they responded about 10 minutes later. They had gone an
Teeth brushing porch party
Ciara, Jeremy, and Lydia. (Notice the creepy window up top. No inside access....) additional 2 miles until they stopped for directions at a private cabin lit up with Christmas lights on a generator. After set in the right direction, they met up with us over an hour later. We had a fire going for them and hot reindeer dogs.
The cabin itself was fairly large. There were 5 sleeping platforms, two of which fit two people. After a few hours the wood stove heated up the place quite nice. We hung out in front of the woodstove and cooked smores. The cabin was well stocked with firewood and even had chairs, a table, a flashlight and some other goodies.
The night settled at about 10 degrees. I stayed warm in my bag cuddled up next to Sherry with a fresh pair of hot hands. Ciara slept on the top bunk and Lydia and Jeremy slept on the platforms near the fireplace. That night Jeremy survived crinkling around in an emergency foil survival blanket, curled up with a puppy and topped with a jacket.
In the morning we got up and made a feast of breakfast burritos, pancakes, oatmeal, coffee and smores. Jeremy got the fire going and by the time
Food and Fire
Jeremy warming up after a night of being curled up in an emergency foil blanket at about 10 degrees. we were packing to go the cabin was very toasty. The one good thing about winter camping in Alaska is that you have endless access to water. So, before we left we got both cooking stoves set up and boil some snow for the trek back.
The ski out was beautiful. We had another clear day. After we crossed the last lake we attempted a short cut up a hill through 5 feet of snow. Ciara and I turned back and sherry was on the race to beat us. When we came along the path where we were supposed to meet up, we found sherry in a low valley trudging in snow past her knees. Ciara went in for the rescue and grabbed her pack. About an hour later we were boiling more snow and having lunch.
Once we hit the winter route, we celebrated each mile marker with a shot of Jack Daniels and piece of left over smore chocolate. We reached the car just as it got dark and headed to the nearest Cold Stone for replenishment. I know its weird, but there is something about the cold and snow that makes Alaskans crave ice cream.
Over all it was a challenging trip for all of us. This was only Sherry’s second time on a pair of cross country skis; Jeremy slept with out a sleeping bag; and Ciara had never been camping in Alaska before (Not even in the summer!).
Lessons learned:
- Camel packs may not be the best idea for winter backpacking
- Don’t abandon your group unless you know where you are going
- Wax less Skis are where it’s at
- Don’t piss off the moose
- Sometimes it just best to stay on the trail!
In the end, the clear, fresh air, crisp open lakes, and endless trails will keep us coming back for more adventures. It’s all about the experiences. It’s why we live here.
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non-member comment
Love you
what a great tale of a cool trip thanks beka for writing this and sending it out...