Cross-country ski trip
Carrie posted in Recreation on April 14th, 2009
At the end of March I joined this semester ACES class on a 4-day cross country ski trip down the Annie Lake road. It was approaching spring at least so the temperatures were supposed to be a little more bearable that regular winter camping in Yukon. As it was, the weather was beautiful and the warmth from the sun just perfect. There was a wind during the day that kept things a little chilly but that didn’t stop the students from laying out on their gear at camp and sun tanning.
The first night we stayed in tents after skiing in to the site. The snow was so deep that you couldn’t walk anywhere without snowshoes and all of the tents sites, “bathroom areas”, parking lot of pulks, and fire pit were connected by a series of knee deep trails that could only be walked on with snowshoes. Step off the trails and you’d flounder around like you were drowning on dry land.  We had to dig a fire pit out so that we could cook and hangout without having snowshoes on.
That night the temp dropped to 20 below and I was worried about being cold, but I think the vigorous night ski that Mr. Bell dragged us on just before got the blood flowing enough for me to make it through the night. I’m so proud of my little sleeping bag!
The next day we skied another 10 km up the trail to a set of cabins and outbuildings owned by the Department of Education. The two sleeping cabins had long Swiss style bunks at the back with a powerful little wood stove that got the place…dare I say it, almost too hot! The only problem being that the stoves did not do “simmer” very well and I had to get up several times during the night to add wood as they would burn out quickly. The camp also came with a handy little sauna of which the students took advantage for the two nights we were there. Here too, we needed to pack down trails with snowshoes and let them cinter before we could walk around anywhere but it was a cozy place with mountains all around us. The students spent the afternoon suntanning and completing their schoolwork while I relaxed with a book and a tasty bag of GORP.
On the third we took a day hike up the mountain at the end of the road following a snowmobile trail, probably used for hunting mostly. Once at the top we were nearly above the clouds and enjoyed a quick bite to eat before hurring out of the cold wind. Most students had forgotten sunscreen as well and were crisping up with the intense solar reflection off the snow. But now the best part started: we rode our pulks back down the trail all the way to the bottom! The trails was at such a perfect pitch that you didn’t really have to worry about sliding out of control or going off the trail because the deep snow mobile track kept you in line.  It was so much to just sit back and slide down the mountain as though I was being pulled by dogsled or sitting in a boat. I just sat there and crossed my feet and looked out the mountains around me.
The last day we skied 20 km back down the road to the cars. The students were eager to get home and I was getting excited about a 10 day climbing trip coming up. After a quick shower and re-pack Ryan and I hopped in the car for a long long long drive to warmer weather.
See pics of winter camping at this link.
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