November 11-12: Hutlinana Hot Springs

Saturday, 11th November

Had to be at the Outdoor Adventures Center at UAF by 7am. There were 12 of us - Patrick & Christinalena from Germany, Kari from Saskachewan, Robbie, Katy, Laine from France, Garrett, Julie, Mark (Beckham), Emilie from Quebec, myself, and then Mark and Tim from Outdoor Adventures.

We reached the trailhead about 10.30, had a spot of lunch - mainly cookies and muffins that Mark brought. I also had tea and cheese sandwiches - and then we geared up for the trail.

Although many of us were new to cross country skiiing, everyone gave it a shot, apart from Julie who decided to hike in snowshoes. The skiing turned out to be slow to begin with, as it took a while for everyone to get them on, and then within a few minutes we had to ford a frozen river, which required taking off the skis because it wasn't possible to climb the bank on the other side with them on. Even before reaching the river I'd fallen a couple of times, on my superslick skis. This was just the beginning of a day of spectacular falls!

The trail to the hot spring was estimated as 6 miles, but it seemed much much longer. Progress was slow. I found I was able to keep up with the main group on the flat trail, but as soon as there was an uphill section, I had no grip, and could lose several minutes in attempting to climb up with skis on, only to slide backwards, then fall, then have to take the pack off to get back on my feet. Then put it on again. Then put my gloves on again.

Downhill sections were even more scary. The narrow, unpacked trail provided no opportunity for a novice skiier like me on superslick skis to try to snowplough. Invariably doing so would result in being wrapped around a tree, and one or two high speed falls. It was great fun, stumbling around in the snow...for the first few miles. But as muscles tired, and hands started to freeze with all the taking off and putting on of gloves, and the darkness came (around 4pm)...there was a real desire, almost urgency, to get to camp.

Camp itself was very clear - a wide snowy bank next to the Hutlinana River. It was the first time we'd been out of the woods since leaving the road. Now the next problem - setting up camp in the dark. Earlier that day my tent partner Laine had picked the red tent. On a previous trip, we'd had an orange tent - a simple dome tent with a couple of poles, that went up in 5 minutes. But the red tent was bizarre. Strange shape. And threaded sleeves for the poles, rather than clips.

The poles were mere guesswork. We were really wishing we'd had a chance to set the tent up in the daylight before the trip began. The temperature was dropping fast (probably around -20F or -30C) and I was shivering. I was underequipped in two ways. First, I'd failed to pack my headlight, so I was working in the dark. Secondly, I didn't have any liner gloves (4 pairs of gloves, but none allowed me to do the intricate work of threading the poles through the impossibly narrow sleeves) so I had to take my gloves off to do it. And touching the metal poles at that temperature, I felt my fingers "sticking" and getting numb. I realised right then I had to be careful not to frostbite my fingers, but on the other hand I was getting cold and getting the tent up was the key to not getting hypothermic. And it didn't really seem like I could leave Laine to do it either, and she was also started to shiver. Everyone elses tents were easy to put up, so after a few minutes they were standing around making a fire and boiling up water. Both Marks came to help with our tent, with limited success and after half an hour or so, we abandoned it as it was important to help with the cooking and get some warm food and liquid inside.

Julie though was in more trouble. Normally very talkative, she had become very quiet. Later she had said that hiking she'd worked up a sweat, and then as soon as she'd stopped, the damp clothes had made her cool down really fast. When you get that cold, it takes a big effort to strip off the wet layers and get into some dry clothing, plus the thinking isn't that straight. Emilie recognised the problem, and Mark ordered 4 people to get in the "igloo" with her. This is a light tent shell - like a parachute - they takes just seconds to wrap around everyone, and with everyone huddled together, things start to heat up! Especially when others outside the igloo were passing through flasks of hot chocolate. After 40 minutes to an hour of being in the igloo, Julie emerged somewhat in better shape and talking. Emilie continued to look after her. Really important to have a buddy looking out for you in these conditions!

The funny thing was our salvation was so close at hand! On the edge of our site was the hot spring - which within a few minutes could have brought anyone back from the edge of hypothermia. The thing was that, in the dark and the cold, no-one wanted to brave it.

So we had dinner - a pasta meal. Not gourmet camping food liked we'd had at Angel Rocks a few weeks before in rather warmer conditions. But very welcome nonetheless! Afterwards, people huddled round the fire, and we boiled up snow to put in people's Nalgenes for hot water bottles. Mark gave us a hand with our tent again, commenting it was going in the trash as soon as we got back to UAF. One pole we couldn't get in place, but there was any wind, so it was perfectly ok.

People watched the fire and the stars (a very clear night - even Emilie, who had commented on the lack of stars in Alaska, was impressed - but no aurora). People randomly took off into the woods with TP so they could have an undisturbed night!

I don't think anyone slept well that night. Although we were all equipped with -20 F sleeping bags, we also all had lots of frosted up gear to thaw out in our bags. I curled up in my sleeping bag as much as I could, but the very top of my head stuck out, and outside the sleeping bag it must have stayed well below freezing all night. Also I was just recovering from a bug and really blocked up - and worried about snoring as a result, and waking up the camp, especially my tent buddy. So I tossed and turned all night.

Sunday 12th November

Early the next morning, I just wanted to get out of the tent and try out the hot spring. But when I arose, Tim and Mark we're already getting up and starting the stoves for breakfast. Soon the others were getting up too, and we had instant oatmeal. We then started to break down camp. It seemed like we were going to depart imminently, and no-one had been in the hot spring yet. I grabbed my sleeping mat and a towel, and went for it! While it was a tad cold getting the clothes off, it was FANTASTIC getting in the water!

The water was shallow - perfectly for lying in. I'm trying to think how long it was since I was last in a hot spring - it might have been Tolovana in 1999. I had 5, maybe 10, glorious minutes in the hot spring, then figured I'd better get out and help some more with packing up camp. Getting dry again wasn't a problem - my whole body was so warm, I was set for the whole day. So I was able to take my take drying off and dressing. In the event, it probably took another hour for everyone to pack their stuff, and in that time Tim also braved the hot spring, and a number of others dipped their feet in it before plunging their feet into frozen boots.

I tried my best to wax my skis before setting off, but the wax was solid, went on in lumps, and was couldn't be corked in properly. People set off sporadically, not wanting to get cold waiting for everyone else. I had a poor start, spending most of the first half hour in one place, trying to get a glove system that worked with my poles, and taking off layers as I'd gotten too hot. Grip was once again a major problem!

Garrett, Emilie and Tim made up the rear, Garrett doing the superhuman task of towing a sled. Robbie was near the back with me too. Katy, Mark, Mark, Julie, Laine and Kari were a long way ahead, Christinalena had caught them and Patrick was zooming ahead of everyone.

I was hoping for a better day of skiing, and I was getting plenty of glide on today's trail, broken from the day before. But it made the hills even more treacherous. Before long I ended up wrapping myself round a tree, sliding back downhill and bending one of my brand new poles in the process (I'd only had my equipment 8 days!).

Soon after this I was dog tired, my legs shot, and I was stumbling. Katy was with me, and I'd get a little ahead, then fall over from exhaustion, and struggle to get back to my feet. After this happened 3 or 4 times, I realised that trying to catch up with the others was stupid. I needed to stop and get some food. Luckily I had brought some trail mix which Katy and I shared. Katy took off, then Robbie caught up again. We started off again together, and Robbie told me I looked in pretty bad shape. Later (back in the van) he would comment that "I saw Glenn and told him he was in bad shape, then he just hauled ass and left me way behind". Yep, the food really help, and just a few minutes further up the trail Mark was sat down handing out Snickers bar - so a got a real good dose of calories. My stamina returned and before long I was making great speed.

Something else which helped - I'd also hit on the technique of when I fell, taking off 1 ski. That allowed me to stand, without taking off the pack. Clipping the ski back on was no trouble, so it just meant that each fall cost me much less time. I passed Mark (Beckham) heading in the opposite direction, having left his pack with food further up the trail. He was heading back to help Garrett with the sled. Indeed, the lead group had most of the food with them - which made it hard for the strugglers at the back.

I was then really surprised to meet Patrick, who had stopped for a lunch break, and he said the others were just a few minutes ahead, also having had lunch. I carried on, and Patrick took off, and I next met Julie who was hiking. It didn't seem long since I'd seen Patrick, but Julie told me Patrick had passed her first before all the others did, so I knew I couldn't be far behind them. By now we both thought there was about a mile to go.

I soon saw Katy and Kari just ahead. More or less as soon as I got close, the trail got more difficult. I fell 3 or 4 times in quick succession, including one spectacular wipeout when heading fast downhill towards a tree across the trail - and completely unable to control myself - I realised my ski tips were going to get caught under the tree, my skis would probably snap, and I could get seriously injured (as well as maybe take out Katy too). So I launched myself as a big tree and hugged it for dear life! My skis flew up into the air as I was going so fast, but it turned out to be a safe, if dramatic, way to stop. Once again I found myself losing a few minutes and out of sight with the others. 10-15 minutes later there was a staircase to ascend - and I made the smart choice of unclipping my skis to save time - which I now realised would have been the best tactic to employ all weekend on any incline. A few minutes later I caught up with the lead group (apart from Patrick who by now was probably at the trucks) crossing the river, very cautiously. Again, I unclipped my skis, hiked across, and then joined the group again, this time in front. A few minutes later, and we were back at the trucks. I had a stash of dried cranberries which were much appreciated by all!

It took a while for the others to arrive. Although it was great to get off the trail and be in the comfort of the minibus on the way home, it was also sad, as this marked the effective end of our winter camping course! Although we still had to unpack and return all our gear to Outdoor Adventures, and hang the tents and bags.

Garrett, Beckham and I went out for pizza when we got back, and we met Beckham's wife, Amelia.