Granite Tors -trail with winter gear

Again one weekend behind us, and again a great one!

On Friday we helped Two Rivers Dog Mushers Association with its 50/100/200 miles race called the Chatanika Challenge. We helped to park the dog teams at Two Rivers Lodge checkpoint and helped to eat some cakes at Pleasant Valley store checkpoint, where Sandra and Torben worked as checkpoint managers. We couldn’t stay long since we had plans for Saturday and Sunday. Snowshoeing plans.

On Saturday we let the sun woke us up and then headed to the Granite Tors trail head. This is a trail that we did in summer; you can take a look at that story in here. This time the landscape was covered with snow and temperature was a bit lower. Though at the middle of the day the sun started to heat us up and we could have snowshoed with a t-shirt.

The beginning of the trail was relatively easy and we were happy to see someone had been there before us so we didn’t have to break the trail in.




 
 

 

After the trail started to climb and it was time to put the snowshoes on and take some layers of clothes off.

 
The climb was long and steep occasionally, but higher you go, the better the view is.




 
When we reached the top we stopped for lunch, toast with chocolate spread and tea, and enjoyed the sunshine on our face. Then the trail went on along the ridge and by the tors.







 

We stopped for some pictures and headed towards the trail shelter which we reached some time in afternoon.

 

The shelter isn’t insulated and as we later learned, doesn’t have a snow proof roof, but it still provides cover from most mountain winds.









And since it had a stove, the first thing we did was finding a dead tree and cutting some fire wood. Later we had a good fire going and our socks and shoes were drying fast. The only thing to do for the day was to relax and eat some soup dinner and chocolate.

Later at night, when we were already sleeping on the floor, we woke up with strong noises and something weird on our face. The noise was stormy winds howling outside and shaking the shelter. And on us we had a half cm of snow! We had to move away from the middle floor, and go deeper into our sleeping bags, and the night went on.

On Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast and then it was time to head home. We had still about 10 km to go, but this time it was mostly downhill. After the night storm the sky cleared up and we had sunshine on our back. We were tired and hungry but very happy when we reached the car. Again one weekend well spent!

Around the Flat Mountain

As Julien stated it, “the white spring” is here!

Meaning we still have snow on the ground so the landscape is white and beautiful, but the temperature keeps rising up during the days with about 11 hours of sunlight so it’s perfect for outdoor trips.

Last Saturday we decided to train a bit for the hiking trip we’ll do this summer, so went on a snowshoe, and later just shoe, trip around the Flat Mountain that stands on our backyard. 



We packed some homemade bread with cheese, some tea, and of course camera and headed to the trail with two dogs, Pronto and Barges, who chased squirrels, opened the trail and enjoyed the trip as well.

The trail was fun to walk. We clearly don’t have as much snow as we had last year this time, and the trail was also packed pretty well, so we didn’t actually even need snow shoes. To go around the mountain you have to climb a hill called “a wall” which describes it pretty well. It’s not a long way, but it is steep! We also climbed to the top of the mountain, just to see the view.

 

We stopped for a snack at the other side of the mountain. Barges and Pronto tried their very best... 

At the back of the mountain we faced some overflows. Luckily it was frozen under due to cold night temperatures, with just a little bit of water on the top. So we didn’t even get wet.

The trail to go around the Flat Mountain is about 10 km long. Perfect for training. And for a lazy Sunday that followed.

Holiday summary

So the two-week holiday is over and we are back at work, the fact that seems to require at least another two weeks of adaptation. We had an amazing holiday, with beautiful Christmas ambiance, an unforgettable change of the New Year, plenty of outdoor activities and of course plenty of good things to eat and drink. We started our vacation in around -35 °C but the temperature rose quickly and around the New Year it was close to 0 °C some days. 

And we also witnessed the sunrises getting a bit earlier, the sunsets getting a bit later, and the sun itself rising a bit higher on our backyard sky as the days went by. Like the sun, we kept having high holiday moments throughout the days, but also one big low moment.

Christmas and Solstice

It was lovely to spend the Christmas in our small cabin with beautiful Christmas ambiance. We had the Christmas cards that we received from our friends and family decorating the walls, we lighted candles every morning and night, listened Christmas songs from a laptop, eating chocolate and... On Saturday before Christmas Eve, Julien got a Christmas tree from the forest surrounding our cabin. We got ornaments from Scott and Kerry, and after careful decoration, for Piia the tree was the most beautiful tree in the whole world.

On Saturday we also had our pre-Christmas dinner with Scott, Kerry and the girls. Following Finnish traditions Piia made Carrot casserole for dinner and for French traditions an almond pie for dessert. We also had delicious deviled eggs, salad, different kinds of cheese and traditional pierogi from Pennsylvania. And so had the feast started, of course with plenty of wine as well! The dessert hid a surprise in it: it is a French tradition to hide something inside the pie (this time it was a piece of plastic) and whoever gets it, is the king or queen of the party. This time Scott had the honor, and he chose Kerry to be his Queen. It was a great night to start the holiday!

Then on Christmas Eve we created our own special menu combining American, French and Finnish traditions, to celebrate both Christmas and also Solstice in our own cabin. 





So for starters we had deviled eggs, baguettes and cheese. For main dish we enjoyed moose steaks with red wine sauce fried potatoes, and finally for dessert cheese cake with blueberry sauce. Of course it wasn't like back at home, but pretty damn close!

We started the Christmas day with rice porridge and cloudberry soup, like we always do in Finland. It hid an almond in it, and whoever gets that, will do the dishes. Since Piia do them anyway, it was convenient that Piia got the almond

New Year

For the New Year’s Eve we were first invited to Sandra and Todd’s house to enjoy the early evening with bonfire and good food. It was a nice outside gathering and we met our friends and also many new people there. 

We didn't spend the whole night there since we had dogs to feed, so we decided to welcome the New Year in a way we have never done before. So at 11.30 pm we prepared the dogs and the sled for a very special midnight run. And indeed, we did the countdown for the New Year 2013 while mushing on the Winter trail! 

No better way to change the year!

On New Year’s Day we accidentally found our friends’ house while driving with a snow machine looking for new trails to run with the dogs. We ended up spending the evening there, with good food, good stories and too much to drink.

Outdoor activities

You can take it for granted that we spent a lot of time outside during our holiday. Mostly we did mushing, almost every day, and the dogs were very excited to go out so often. 








Just before the holidays we had two new dogs joining our Escape Team: Cuppy and Bingo.

Cuppy

The sweet giant who gives you high five every time you go and say hi to him. And although he can’t see, he’s running in the team as everyone else, working hard, not wanting to stop. Here Cuppy running with Stella.

Bingo

Also a sweet giant, with an extra amount of energy and enthusiasm. He’s jumping up and down wherever he is, but when you go to pet him, he will roll on the ground and enjoy the attention.

With our reinforced team we did some smaller and longer runs, tried new trails and we also did one overnight trip to a Colorado Creek cabin, which it’s about 20 km run from our cabin. 








So one morning we packed the sled and one snow machine with overnight gear for the dogs and us and enjoyed the beautiful way up to the cabin, Piia with sled and Julien with a snow machine and camera. It was only fair that after leaving the easy Winter trail and climbing steadily towards the Colorado Creek cabin, Piia had to work with the dogs as well. With all the outdoor clothes that you put on you when you start mushing, it’s very sweaty business to run uphill and push the sled with you. But after that you respect your dogs even more for the hard work they do, and you are allowed to eat as much chocolate as you dragged on your sled!

The cabin was a small but cosy and we enjoyed our night there with full moon light. 

The next day Julien mushed with the dogs and it was Piia’s turn to take the snow machine and the camera. Sun was already setting on our way even though it felt like we left in the morning time. But the day was still a couple minutes longer than the previous day!

 

Other than mushing, we also spend some time running the dogs lose. Boy they enjoyed that! 

They played together, ran in the snow and clearly couldn't believe their good luck for being able to run free like that. You could really see the smile on their face!

We went also skiing around the property and driving the snow machine along the trails of Two Rivers. Due the warmer weather, there are some overflows along the creeks.

And we enjoyed the candle light and music!

Despite all the great holiday moments and adventures, we can’t say the holiday was perfect. And even though we started our new year in an amazing way, we also lost something at the same time. On the New Year’s Day morning we had to say goodbye to one of our team members, Casey, who left us peacefully while sleeping in her house. She was an amazing sled dog, small but always working hard, and yet always wagging her tail and ready to go again. We miss her very much; she left an empty place in our god yard and our hearts. 

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