Day 1. Getting there
Got the ok.from the vet and headed out. Hit the trail by 1330 and arrived by 1845. Trail Much more smooth this time and we were able to go faster. Still heavier hauling things out though. Puppy pod and hot tub. Was definitely colder than last time. -15 coldest and the wind was blowing. Hello a few drafts. Puppies need more blankets next time too. Need to try to shore up some leaks in there. Snow gets in a bit. Will bundle them up more for the trip home. I can't find their coats either. Maybe in the car? I swear I had my hand on them before we left. Usually store inside the pod. Anyway we only passed 2 people on the trail total and of course we have one come around the corner while I'm peeing. Haha. I had to go. Lol
Was -10 inside the cabin when we got here. Lit a fire immediately and it was a long warm up. Took 3 hours at least to get up to 50-60. Fell asleep in all my clothes and slept hard..
Day 2 setting up and settling in
Woke up after 9. Coffee, breakfast and tinkering. I loaded up the .22 and did 100 rounds just getting it sighted in and having fun. Temps around 15 so not bad with sun. Got a hole drilled for water, Todd began the hot tub construction and I got after a bit of tidying in the cabin. Cleaned up the old steam kettle and stove with a wire brush to het some of that rust off. Then painted it with the black stove paint. Looks better. Will do a better job in summer. Maybe replace some of the fire brick that's having issues. Nice to keep that thing in good condition. Put the dogs booties on and they seemed to enjoy outside a bit more. Especially bree. Ranger realized they were pretty cool too I think. They went running like crazy.
Day 3 hot tub and ice fishing
Slept till 830 which was nice. Sun starting to come up with the pretty pink sky. Made a bit of coffee and breakfast and got straight to the hot tub. Todd threw it together in no time with just a touch of help from me. We then had a quickie lunch, set up my ice shanty and then moved the tub down to the dock. Once we set it up on the dock Todd put in the seats and installed the stove while I went fishing. Totally struck out fishing but oh well. It's nice and relaxing out there.
The hot tub is now heating and we are making dinner. Should be able to enjoy the tub tonight! Superexcited about that. Caribou steaks tonight. Mmmm
The caribou loin was amazing and the hit tub too. It was quite warm. We had to.throw in some snow to cool it down. All warm, just looking up at the stars was great.
Day 4 grooming and grilled cheese
Woke up before sunrise and did the morning ritual...feed dogs, let dogs out, make coffee. Settled in to wake up and watch the sun rise. After the sun was up made breakfast and cleaned up the dishes that we just didnt care about last night. Ahh, cabin life. Another blue sky, cloudless day. Decided to get out and groom in front of the cabin. Last time we were here there was overflow and it was pretty chunky. BOY does our big giant groomer work. Crazy good. Flattened all that stuff out. I also made a track all the way around the lake. Should be nice and solid by tomorrow morning for a run. I'm a little excited about that honestly although wearing all these boots with not much arch support has gotten my arch flared up a bit. We shall see how it goes. I do.habe some running shoes out here.
After my grooming and Todd working around a bit we decided to head over to see zo over at shell lake lodge. Had a couple of beers and a grilled cheese. Sweet puppies over there and one probably has some sort of tumor on its mouth. It's an old lab and it just breaks your heart. Her owner just died last year, but she is still eating and wagging her tail like crazy. Was nice to visit at shell lake again. Met another neighbor. Nice guy. I really love being out here.
Moved the ice shanty and will try my luck again tomorrow with the trout. For now i think it's back to the hot tub.
Day 5 bloody/beautiful hike
Being able to be here so long has been so nice. We woke up and wanted to find a spot to spot moose next hunting season. Since its winter all the brush and small trees are laying down so it's easier to find. We threw on rangers booties because he always wants to join us. It was relatively cold so I wanted to try to protect his paws. I put them on fully expecting them to fly off in the first few minutes as he was running through chest deep snow. Right at the beginning the tip of his tail started bleeding. It was swiping blood allover. It was wagging though so he was happy. He was wagging it so much that on both sides of his body there were blood streaks. It was a little concerning art first then funny. It clotted, wasn't that much and he is just fine today. No idea what happened.
We found the spot overlooking the swamp and marked it on GPS and with some ties in the tree so we can walk up to it again. Was a good hike. Saw lots of animal tracks of birds, bunnies, and squirrels but no animals. We saw what must have been a river other track as it was something slithering on their bellies with little feet prints too. Ranger was hot on the track whatever it was. Follow, follow follow. Made it back and bree was happy to see us. Made some lunch and hit the hot tub again. We much needed after the hike. So much fun to explore in the winter.
Day 6. bonus day
So I just didn't want to leave but I must get to my sister's baby shower in Louisiana. Today we went through some things, organized, picked up and packed up. The ride home was amazing with Denali making a great showing and before the sunrise the full moon was out in effect as well. We made it back in good time with excellent river conditions. Sub 5 hours. If we weren't pulling the dogs and 2 trailers we could definitely go faster.
Till the next trip...aloha
