THE PEOPLES CABINS

One of the favourite things that cross-country skiers in Interior Alaska like to do, is ski in to remote cabins.



About 40-60 miles northeast of Fairbanks, lie the White mountains, a range of hills from 3000-5300 feet, clad mainly in black spruce and birch below the tree-line of 3500 feet. The Bureau of Land Management built a trail system there in 1966, and over the years, a network of cabins, which can be rented for 25.00 a night. These are just your basic dry cabin, with bunk platforms, a woodstove, and some tables to cook and eat on. They work great though, after a cold day spent skiing in or around them, having the snug and warm cabin to retreat to is very welcome. http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/sa/white_mtns/cabins.html

This past friday, my friends Eric and Deanne (along with their german shepherd Leroy and sled dog Gracie), and I skied 12 miles from the Elliott Highway, to Eleazar's cabin, while Mattie ran along, thrashing in the snow frequently. When we set out from the trailhead at 3pm, it was clear, and calm, around zero. Not too bad.

It has a great view of the valley below, since it is perched about 300 feet up the hill, on the north side. The trail getting in was in great shape, hard-packed, but not icy, so it just took Mattie and I three hours to get in, and we arrived right at dusk, as you can see. We didn't pass any snowmachiners, or dog mushing teams, surprisingly, since it was a friday.

After Eric and Deanne arrived later, the roaring fire in the woodstove heated the cabin up well past 80 degrees, so we had to open the door a few times.

Relaxing with friends over a few beers after a good ski in these quiet, warm, semi-wilderness cabins can't be beat for a nice weekend retreat.

Friday night and early saturday gusty winds at about 10F, were accompanied by a beautiful coating of 4-5 inches of fresh powder.

Saturday morning Mattie and I hit the trail, while Eric and Deanne decided to hang out at the cabin and relax. It was tough breaking trail in the new powder, so we just went 10 miles up the trail to the next cabin, Borealis-Lefevre. This is about a mile from there, in the background the first of the real craggy, rocky, White mtns. are appearing as the clouds part. It was quite windy, about 10 degrees. We reached the Borealis cabin in three hours, had a quick snack, then headed back the other 10 to Eleazar's. We had a stiff headwind all the way back, so the three hour trip back to our start, seemed longer. Most of the way, from Eleazar's cabin to the Borealis, passes through areas of black spruce that were burned in Alaska's greatest recorded fire year, 2004. Which made me think alot about fire-related issues.

Saturday evening, our friends Jim and Liz showed up, so we had a loud and fun time catching up and playing cards. Five people and three dogs, in our over-heated cabin, made for a great time.

Sunday dawned crystal clear and about 3F, with a stiff west wind. We packed up and hit the trail about 1100, for the twelve mile ski back to the trailhead at mile 28 of the Elliott Highway.

March is my favorite month in Interior Alaska, good snow, longer, warmer days, it just doesn't get any better. It took us four hours to get back, there is much more uphill on the trail back from Eleazar's. When the sun slipped out from the clouds, the newly fallen snow and rime-coated black spruce were quite beautiful.

Mattie couldn't get enough running, jumping, and thrashing around in the snow, heading back. Three days to be completely free! We did have to be careful though, snowmachiners on the way in, while not speeding, came upon us quickly around a curve, Mattie almost got hit. No one's fault, and the snowmachines pack down the trail, so it's good they're there as well. Unbroken trail is very arduous and slow.

In summer, I'm not much of a fan of black spruce. Frankly, I think they're ugly, and they indicate areas of permafrost and poor drainage, which are swampy and bug-ridden. They are also the main carrier of wild-fire in Interior Alaska, resins in their wood and needles cause them to burn very intensely, quite often in full running crown-fires. But in winter, the picture is different. Put a little coating of white on them, with some good snow to glide past on your skis while admiring them, and you've got a much nicer view.

Seeing all the burned-over areas from 2004 got me to thinking. I picked up a very good working knowledge of the climatology and ecology of southeastern Australia, while I worked there this past December and January, forecasting fire weather/danger, for their Bureau of Meteorology office in Sydney. The tragic fires of three weeks ago in their state of Victoria were heartbreaking, and also, something that needs to be examined. This we will be doing over the next week or two, and so your next A.P.R. post, will examine the greatest natural disaster ever to have befallen Australia (210 confirmed fatalities), why it occurred, and what implications this has for the rest of the planet, since global warming is starting to assert itself more strongly. Cheers.