Good friend Karl invited Zach, Sam and myself to hang out with him and his son Lochlin snow machining at Eklutna Lake. The weather today was great (for the end of December), and the boys and I decided it would be a good day to take a break from skiing/snowboarding at the local ski hill and run some gas through the snow machine.
We didn't get too early of a start (around 10p) and Karl had agreed to pick us up at the house. He has a trailer and only one snowmachine, so was nice of him to offer to drive. I hadn't had my snow machine on in over a year, so it took a few minutes of pulling on the starter cord to get the thing to turn over. I am a little surprised the fuel left in the carburetor hadn't turned to varnish! We loaded what seemed like endless amounts of gear into Karls truck, and from the look of our load we were heading out for an expedition. Both Karl and I have sleds we pull behind the snowmachines allowing for extra gear and in my case, to transport two children. We had to make a quick stop at Carr's grocery store on the way out of town for fuel for the machines and to get doughnuts and coffee for the driver and passenger (me). Eklutna Lake is about half an hour North of town, and then twelve miles up a winding narrow two lane road to the parking lot for the lake. The parking lot had only four other cars in it when we arrived at 1:00.
Despite our huge pile of gear along with redundant pairs of gloves, hats and the kitchen sink . . . I forgot my coat. I luckily had a down coat and a down vest, but I forgot my shell. Ahhh . . . its always something! I ended up staying warm enough, but I still hate forgetting something like a coat. We got everyone loaded up and headed down the trail. A guy in the parking lot
warned us that there were half a dozen people along the road "walking or skiing", and we were like . . . yeah, ok. That's pretty much what people do there if they are not riding a snowmachine. Anyway, we took off and rode. It was beautiful. Temps were good. The trail, come to find out, had only been open three days and was in great shape with no bumps. Driving along the lake gave us some spectacular views of the mountains.
Karl and I are not hardcore riders by any means. Both his and my machines are at least 18 years old (but still running good), and we had a load of kids. The posted speed limit along the lake trail is 10 mph and we were lucky if we were doing that. It was just nice to be out enjoying the scenery in relative solitude. We did run into most of the people walking or skiing (not literally), and they just waved when we drove by . . . they were enjoying the day too.
We had a couple of stops for snacks and just to let the kids run around. Zach brought his snowboard, but didn't end up using it. Despite the cold, the kids were stayed pretty warm and were comfortable riding in the sled.
A "selfie" of Karl and I along the trail. I haven't gone on any adventures with Karl in a while, so this was a nice change of pace. We really need to get out and explore more often.
The machines were doing pretty good for 18 - 22 year old machines. Karl was commenting that when I first took off, he was riding behind me and couldn't see the kids through the thick two-stroke smoke coming out of my exhaust. It was fine after it warmed up a bit, but he had initial concerns. I don't really ride enough to justify a new machine. He and I were talking in the truck on the way out that even an entry-level machine is 8 to 9 thousand dollars.
The scenery was really spectacular. I added this shot to Facebook as my new "wall" background. The sun in this valley never rises above the mountains in the winter. Wouldn't want to live there, but it makes for some impressive backdrops.
Sammy decided to ride up front with me for a while. I had to "train" him to duck every time I ducked to avoiding low lying branches along the trail. They were bad this trip. The recent snow had pushed all of the alders down along the trail. It was enough to push them horizontal, but not enough to bury the branches into the snow banks. This made for a maze of sticks and twigs ready to lash out and wack you along the cheek, nose or leg.
Our original goal was to ride back the 12 miles to the end of the trail. Due to our late start, stopping frequently to let the kids run, and the slow progress due to branches in the trail, we only made it back 8 miles to the airstrip. By the time we got to the airstrip, it was already starting to get dark, and of course on a trail like this, by the time you get to the turn-around point, you are only half-way. The kids tucked in the sled and we boogied back double time to the trailhead. The gauntlet of branches was "real fun" at our faster pace and dusk conditions. I kept turning my head back to check on the kids, and even stopped along the trail for a second to check their conditions. Each time I got the thumbs up, but they let it be know that they were ready to be at the car. It only took 30 minutes to travel the 8 miles back, but by the time we reached the parking lot, Sam was crying and wanted his Mom, because he was so cold. I was about to load him in the truck when I heard from behind me the faint realization, that the keys had been locked in the truck.
Keys locked in a truck in town is no big deal. You call a cab with a slim jim, or a spouse with keys, and someone in relatively short order shows up to help. Also in the city there are a million places to get in out of the weather and warm up while you wait for help. This however, is different when you are out on adventures. First of all, there is no
calling for help at Eklutna. Cell phones don't work out there. Help is a good hour and a half anyway. By the time an angry spouse is mobilized and finally arrives with the keys, you will probably wish you were frozen and have "gone to the light". Long story short, the back door on Karl's extended cab truck had not been closed tightly, and he and I were able to shove a large stick in a crack at the top of the door and open the truck. This was possible with him sitting on the roof, and me pulling hard on the top of the door frame to widen the gap, and using the stick, wedge it against the door handle to open the door. This process took around half an hour with several attempts to open the door using multiple implements. Where were the kids?, you ask. Well fortunately, Eklutna has a year-round camp host. We ran in to her while Karl and I were scavenging for a stick to open up the truck. She offered to watch the kids and let them warm up while we figured something out. She had them watching a Disney movie and eating popcorn in her warm cabin. By the time we got done and went to round up the kids, they were intrenched in the movie and didn't want to leave. We thanked her and went on our way. She really was great with the kids and turned a potentially bad situation into a memorable one.
We headed out at 4:58, and drove to Eagle River to have dinner at Pizza Man. Pizza was great, kids were warm and fed, we left Pizza Man and got back to the house around 7pm. No mechanical difficulties, everyone had all of their fingers and toes . . . All in all it was a good day.
