Posts Tagged ‘the_twins’

A family trip to Colorado Creek Cabin

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

On a wonderfully warm and sunny Saturday, the famly and I plus some friends headed out to Colorado Creek Cabin for the weekend. Colorado Creek cabin is perfect for family trips – its not a very long trip, only six miles, the cabin is fairly spacious, and the surrounding area provides lots of distractions. Trusten and his daughter Robin snowmachined, while the rest of us (the twins, Nancy, and her niece Rabiah) skied out. The twins did not actually ski, but instead rode in the comfort of the Chariot, and had a wonderful nap on the ride in.

I am always amused by the girls and how they view shortish ski trips – they get in the chariot, go to sleep, we ski to the destination, then they wake up .. Ta Da – we are there – like magic!
I pulled the twins on the way in and out. The trail into the cabin is fairly flat (besides a short climb near the beginning of the trail), and is a pretty fast ski normally. The trail winds though a valley of black spruce and crosses two small creeks, and is normally not all that exciting of a ski. Pulling the twins changed things a bit, as the extra weight made the uphills harder, and the down hills faster.. Quite a workout.
The first stream crossing normally has a bit of overflow. On the way in it was very manageable.

On the way out it was a different scene – all tore up with about a foot of water and broken ice. I had to take the skis off and tip the chariot way back, but we made it without the twins getting wet. Or in the twins case, even waking up from slumber land.
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Once we made it to the cabin the Twins where pried out of their comfortable conveyance, they helped me gather firewood, start a fire, and get the dogs situated, and other cabin chores.

There was also the lots of snacking – riding in the chariot apparently generates quite an appetite!

Soon the rest of the crowd arrived and the fun begin. Our niece Rabiah was visiting from Boston and did a great job on the ski despite rough trail conditions.

The trail continues on past the cabin, up a large hill with a huge number of switchbacks, just steep enough for good sledding. Everyone spent several hours going up and down the hill on the sled we brought..

Eventually everyone retired to the cabin, where the younger generation where taught to play go fish by Nancy ( Lizzy kept insisting on asking people for cards she did not have, much to everyones amusement) among other entertainments. Trusten wowed us all with his fantastic sandwich retaining method – rubber bands.

After a good nights sleep everyone enjoyed pancakes and bacon (no bacon for nancy though – its hard being a vegetarian). I should point out that it was a good night of sleep for me, as I slept outside with the dogs – apparently Lizzy kept throwing off her covers, waking up, and complaining she was cold – its time for the twins to use sleeping bags it appears!
The ski out was fast, except of the broken up overflow. I ended up wading around in foot deep water and having to chance my socks, but it was not the end of the world. While heading back to town we stopped at Mias – the place of the perfect hamburger, and there was much happyness!

The Twins Go Skiing

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

While Nancy and Ms Marsh where off for a day ski, the twins decided that they must join in the fun and go skiing too. I bundled the twins up, put their ski boots on, and hustled them outside for a brief ski on the local trails.

I could only locate one set of ski poles, and at first the girls took turns.

After a while some short alder branches where pressed into service as ski poles. The branches where more popular than the actual ski poles, and we where back to swapping back and forth.

Molly even braved a short patch of ice on her skis.

It took about an hour for everyone to get tired and cold, and so we headed back inside for a warmup and snacks.

Fun was had by all!

A Nap Time Ski

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

While Nancy was off helping Ms Marsh train for the White Mountains 100, the twins and I had an adventure of a different sort – I decided to take them out for a spin in the chariot on skis during their regularly scheduled nap time. I bundled them up and tucked them in with several warm water bottles, and we where off.

Polar and Remus where off with Nancy, so only Togiak joined us for the ski.

Soon after we started the twins where off in deep slumber land. They really like napping in the chariot.

The twins and I did a six mile loop, which took about a hour and a half – with a bit of stopping and goofing off. The chariot and kids combine for a bit of a heavy, slow load.

Eventually we ended back up at the house, where the girls refused to get out of the chariot, wanted to continue napping for the rest of the day.. Alas, that would generate much sadness for me in the evening when the over napped twins had to go to bed.. Eventually we reached a compromise – they could say in the chariot a little longer so long as they stayed awake. So the twins spent some time hanging out in the chariot, watching me do dog chores, before eventually getting pried out and taken inside. Some times life is so hard!

A Nap Time Ski

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

While Nancy was off helping Ms Marsh train for the White Mountains 100, the twins and I had an adventure of a different sort – I decided to take them out for a spin in the chariot on skis during their regularly scheduled nap time. I bundled them up and tucked them in with several warm water bottles, and we where off.

Polar and Remus where off with Nancy, so only Togiak joined us for the ski.

Soon after we started the twins where off in deep slumber land. They really like napping in the chariot.

The twins and I did a six mile loop, which took about a hour and a half – with a bit of stopping and goofing off. The chariot and kids combine for a bit of a heavy, slow load.

Eventually we ended back up at the house, where the girls refused to get out of the chariot, wanted to continue napping for the rest of the day.. Alas, that would generate much sadness for me in the evening when the over napped twins had to go to bed.. Eventually we reached a compromise – they could say in the chariot a little longer so long as they stayed awake. So the twins spent some time hanging out in the chariot, watching me do dog chores, before eventually getting pried out and taken inside. Some times life is so hard!

A Family Trip to Tolovana Hotsprings

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

On a sunny Saturday morning the family and I headed out to Tolovana Hot Springs for a 3 day weekend.  After a two and a half hour drive we reached the trail head, loaded up our packs and headed down the trail for the 11 mile hike to Tolovana.  Tolovana is a natural hot springs with a three cabins that can be rented.  The hot springs is a pretty wonderful place – there are several hot tubs and the water is without the sulfuric smell I normally associate with hot springs.  Its also pretty easy camping, as the cabin we had rented is quite large and includes such amenities as propane lights.  Its not a completely easy trip though, especially with the twins, as there is one large climb on the way in and two large climbs on the way out.  The trail is also quite exposed for most of its length and can be quite unpleasant when the wind is blowing.   Fortunately it was a wonderful late fall day on our way out, with little wind and temperatures in the 20s.  There was a dusting of snow at the parking lot so the girls started out in a sled but the snow quickly disappeared as the trail dropped down 1100 feet to the lowest section on the trail.

The girls took advantage of the hard frozen but relatively free of snow trail conditions and walked for a mile or so.  The lower sections of the trail wind though some fairly swampy bits that were fortunately well frozen and quite hard and dry.   This area burned several years ago and the trail now winds though a forest of standing dead spruce trees with some thickets of alder along the sides of the trail. 

The twins were quite the troopers and hiked quite a ways.  I had gotten them yactraks before the trip and they were quite proud to be putting them to use on the icer sections.

Eventually the girls tired out and then the hard part started, at least for the parents – nap time!  The girls were loaded up into the backpacks and into their “sleepy sacks” and enjoyed a warm and comfortable ride for the next hour.  One of the funny things about taking the girls on trips like this is that it has redefined pack weights for me – our packs were in the 70lbs range with the girls in them, so normal backpacking weight packs seem light in comparison.

The girls slept for the next hour and a half as we hiked over the highest section of trail and dropped down towards the hot springs.

The view from on top is quite spectacular, with a wonderful view of the Minto flats and the Tolovana river.  This was the first time I had ever been on this trail and not been on skis, and it has a completely different feel to it when you are walking.

The trail had recently received a haircut which had widened the trail considerably in sections, cutting down the willows that had been encroaching on the trail.  After we made it all the way in we learned that the trail had been trimmed by a “John Deer decked mower” according to the log book.  This led to interesting visions of someone riding the trail in a lawn tractor, which seemed unlikely.  In the section of the trail that goes along the “old runway” this was quite noticeable.  This should make the trail much more pleasant skiing in a couple of the narrower downhill sections.

While there was only a couple of inches of snow in the most snowy sections winter is definitely on the way.  We ran across a some blue berries sticking still holding on to the bushes and I tried to convince the girls these were still edible to no avail.

Eventually we dropped down from the dome and were back into the snow less area. 

By this time the girls had had enough pack time and they went back to walking.  Molly took a brief ride in the sled down the last hill and by the time we reached the stream coming out of the hot springs the snow was completely gone.

Shortly after we arrived at the cabin Tom and Marsh showed up and we all settled down for some after hike snacks (two containers of Stax, the pseudo Pringle ) and a soak.  The hot tubs at Tolovana are all fantastic.  They now have three hot tubs, including a new wooden “horse trough” looking one.  The temperatures in the tubs range from “lobster boiling” hot to just hot.   Initially the girls were a bit suspicious of the hot tubs but by the time the second day came they were big fans.

The girls had quite a bit of fun in our cabin.  There were a number of card and dice games that were quickly pressed into duty.



No back country trip is complete without the girl’s two lambs, named naturally Lamby and Fred.  The black footed and faced lamb is Fred, in case you are wondering.

On the second day Tom,Marsh, and Nancy disappeared during the middle of the day to go hiking and I hung out with the girls and read some fine escapist science fiction. Later in the afternoon I took off to explore the trails heading down the Tolovana river and the Dunbar Trail.  The last time I had been in this area was the winter after the forest fire and the trees in the area still smelled of smoke.  Things are quite a bit different now, and its w
as pretty fascinating to wander though the burn exploring.  And of course, enjoying another soak.


The next morning we all got up early in an attempt to make a quick start.  Tom managed to sleep though most of the early packing and breakfast making, and woke in time to have the last plate of pancakes and the remaining slices of bacon.

The dogs were pressed into duty as bacon frying pan cleaners –  its amazing how clean they can get a frying pan clean.  Rest assured, we also washed the pans afterwords.

Bacon powered (except for Nancy, who had her normal, vegetarian breakfast of milk and cereal) we headed off on the long walk out.  There is quite a bit more climbing on the way out and the weather was not as nice, but it was not that strenuous of a hike out.   The wind had picked up and was blowing 10 to 20 miles a hour, but otherwise it was a fine day.

The Tolovana parking lot was quite a different scene and the wind was blowing quite a bit harder.

I had a nice collection of rime ice on my truck.

All in all this was a wonderful trip and was very much enjoyed by all.  The twins in particular had a great time.  I think I will have to visit again in the fall – it was quite a mellow trip in and out.  Its often hard to get folks to make a trip out to Tolovana, as there are lots of horror stories about how its not a fun ski (too steep) and can be quite cold and windy.  The trail seems quite passable once it starts to frost up, so early-mid fall seems like a good compromise – the weather is not too harsh but its not too wet as to be unpleasant hiking. A couple of week earlier would probably have been more ideal.

Woofie and Bunny go Hiking

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

On a brisk Sunday morning the family and I set out for a day hike. We had planned on hiking to Stiles Creek Cabin for a overnighter, but Lizzy had a low fever the day prior so we turned it into a day hike instead. Lizzy and Molly started off walking and after a hour or so switched to being carried. The hike was wonderful – we did this hike in 2006 with the kids and the first mile was an utter mess – huge ruts, massive muddle puddles, and other general “Lets drive our ATVs though a muddy swamp!” madness. It had been getting worse in the last couple of years, and was getting so bad it was actually starting to make winter skiing unpleasant as the ruts where not completely filled with snow even in spring. In the last couple of years (I think last 2 years) Alaska State Parks had been in the process of doing some sort of reroute of the first 2 miles of the trail to deal with the really bad sections, and it appears they finally finished or at least reached some stage of completeness. The trail is now completely different – its dry and mostly free of killer mud holes and ruts. In fact, it would have been great mountain biking. I am going to have to come back here in the spring and try it out. Go State Parks! Its really refreshing to see the state spend money on things like trail improvements. The skiing this winter should be much improved too, as the reroute is not quite as steep. Parts of the old trail can be a bit tricky on skis – steep, fast, and a not a lot of room to snow plow.

Lizzy and Molly started off walking and carrying Bunny and Woofie in their backpacks.  After a brief stop to stick Bunny’s and Woofie’s head out (“No, no, Bunny can’t see” – Molly) we where off.

As mentioned before, the re-route has dried stuff up a lot – this is a good example of what the new section looks like.

Contrast this with the old trail, circa fall 2005.

The dogs had fun running around and exploring. Soon the “exploring” part will stop and they will have to start pulling pulks when ski season starts.

Molly outfitted herself with hiking poles for a while.  It is really rewarding to see the twins enjoy hiking.  I hope it lasts, as many adventures await.

The walk was quite beautiful, with the fall colors giving way to the winter gray, black, and white. I love this time of year, as there are constant reminders that the best season is about to arrive, Winter!

Eventually the little trekkers wore out and it was nap time. They rode for the next couple of miles in the backpacks, wrapped up in lots of layers.  Its funny – now that I have started carrying the twins, it really puts backpack weights into perspective – when I put on a normal multi-day pack for a trip without kids I am surprised how little it weighs.

After nap time came snack time, when the passengers where treated to a delightful repast, artfully served in a small zip lock bag. 

Eventually we returned to the trail head where the girls played on some left over trail hardening material (also known as a pile of rocks).  This kept them busy for almost a hour, which was truly amazing.

Just before we left Molly found a small stick that was sort of shaped like a person, and after some help from Nancy, soon became more person shaped and was christened the “Tree Man”.

All in all it was quite a fun way to spend a day.  We even made it to Mias, where Nancy and the twins had Korean food, and I was treated to a fantastic burger!   I am looking forward to skiing this in a month (or less if all goes well – bring on the snow!), and biking it next summer.