There And Back Again

There And Back Again
An Alaskan Tale
By Kate Aras

Concerning Alaskans

Alaskans are queer folk....Okay I guess that is enough of me copying Tolkien and the beginning of the Fellowship of the Rings. That being said, I will now tell my tale of the weekend, and it is quite a tale. And this paragraph should forewarn you for the many mentions from the Lord of the Rings.

Our story begins on a normal Friday afternoon in January. The weather wasn't too cold, staying in the teens and single digits all day. Our fellowship of seven came from several different corners of Fairbanks. Tim, Jackie and I were packing all day Friday as we waited for the others to be ready. Then Amy arrived, bring with her more gear to pack into the truck. Finally Brandon arrived, still dressed in his BDUs but ready for a weekend in the wilderness. We packed up the trucks and headed out. Our first stop, Hilltop, for some much needed sustenance. Amy and Brandon picked up the two others, Daniel and Robin, on the way and met us at Hilltop.

The fellowship came together at Hilltop around 430 p.m. Hilltop is a well known trucker stop about 20 miles northwest of Fairbanks. It is known for its greasy trucker food and excellent pie. We filled up on food and coffee, some more than others, before heading out for our intended destination. Tim was pulling the trailer but we decided to switch to Brandon's truck in case the snow was too much and we needed his chains to pull the trailer out.

Around 6 p.m., we continued our trip. However, we ran into some trouble about a half hour later. The transmission on Brandon's truck began to go. Deciding to err on the side of caution, we turned around and headed back to Fairbanks. At this point, the hopes of a good weekend in Tolovanna seemed to be in doubt. However, our hopes were rallied when we decided to switch everything into Daniel's Impala (Impy) and headed back towards Tolovanna.

It is now 830 and we are already tired from a trip that has not even begun. We stopped again at Hilltop for gas, the final indoor bathroom for a few days, and some sugar sustenance. The rest of the drive went by without issue. We were able to see a little bit of the aurora and that would be all I saw for the trip. :( Sorry, no pictures.

We finally reached the trailhead. The men unloaded the snow machines while the women got dressed in the trucks. Dressed and ready to go, the seven of us boarded the machines and got onto the trail. However, we hit another stumbling block when we realized that that trail was not broken. There had been a lot of snow and it was hiding the trail. We went about 100 yards, at the most, but could not get anywhere. Now the real dismay set in. Had we driven all the way up here for naught? Was there no way for us to get to Tolovanna when it was only 11 miles away?

After getting the machines turned around and out of the woods, an effort that took about an hour, Brandon and Tim went on a short recon to find the trail. Then Daniel had the idea that the trailhead might be a bit farther north. He got into the Impy and was not gone two minutes before he returned to give us the good news: we were in overflow parking and the real trailhead was just up the road.

With our excitement renewed, we hopped on the snow machines, drove a little way up the road and got onto the trail. The ride was beautiful. It was truly awesome to experience in the Alaskan wilderness in the stillness and darkness of the night. It took us about an hour to get to the cabin, finally arriving at 3 am. We unpacked, had some chili, toasted to our ridiculous 12-hour trip and then went to bed. It had been a long day.

Six short hours later, the sun rose and woke us from our slumber. After a quick breakfast, we headed to the hot springs. And they are hot. I actually had to sit outside of the pool at times. We stayed for a bit and then returned to the cabin to dry off and have some lunch. Then we went out to partake in some cold-weather activities.

Quick mention: the outhouse had no doors. It turned out to be quite refreshing and the view was just splendid. Even the cold was bearable with such a view. Now to return to my tale..

Jackie, Amy and I stayed together, the first two going cross-country skiing while I snow-shoed. Tim, Brandon, Daniel and Robin went off on the snow machines to a lake nearby. We did this for about an hour and even saw two moose! Around 330, the boys and Robin returned and we all headed back to the cabin.

Another quick dip in the hot springs, this time under the cover of darkness, relaxed us before dinner. We had dinner of sausage, peppers, rice, chicken and guacamole dip. We played Cranium, Bananagrams and Toss the Hog. (I learned later that it is actually called Pass the Pig. Oops!) Some went back to the hot springs while others stayed to make s'mores in the Dragonmaster 3000 (aka stove).

We went to bed at 11, still exhausted from the night before, and slept until 9. Alas, our trip was coming to and end but not before another trip to the hot springs. We loaded up the snow machines, cleaned the cabin and headed back to the trailhead. The trip back, if possible, was even more beautiful in the daylight. We stopped a few times to take pictures (I will load them later).

We got back to the parking lot, loaded up the trucks and headed out around 1 p.m. We stopped yet to partake in Hilltop, this time seeing some truckers with truly epic mullets. They really don't make them like they do here. Our waitress was the same as Friday and this time we learned her name: Stacee. However, I still think she looks more like a Cassie.

We arrived back in Fairbanks around 430, unloaded the trucks and said goodbye. Despite all the problems on Friday, the trip was all together awesome. I had a true Alaskan adventure, met some amazing people, and had a time I will never forget. I fell in love with Alaska once more, and am now pondering, more than ever, the idea of moving here one day.

Alas, it is time for my trip to end. I will load pictures in a few days, once I return to the east coast. And hopefully I don't get stuck because of the weather. Til then, thanks for reading.