We heard about the ski train shortly after we first moved up here. It is an all day event run by the Nordic Skiing Association up here that charters a trip up to Curry, AK via the Alaskan Railways once a year. We had been through Curry once before when we did the Hurricane Train trip - it's a ghost town a little bit north of Talkeetna. There's not much there, but that also means it has a ton of undisturbed snow. And luckily for us, there was even new snow on the ground - woo!
Last year was the first year in a long time that a group of people from work didn't go on the train. Luckily for us, it picked back up again this year! And it was spearheaded by the most enthusiastic person I know. She (and others I'm sure, but the emails were from her) picked a theme, organized food sign-up and bought a huge vat of cheesy puffs for the train ride.
There was a ton of orange in our section. We even had orange tablecloths! Heather (the planner) is the one standing to the left. But pretty much anyone in orange was with us. Unfortunately the train started boarding at 6 am (too early!), so the morning photos are all a bit dark, because it was still dark outside!
Luckily that meant I got to sign up to make breakfast food (my favorite!). I watched a video from a previous year's ski train and saw someone with a waffle on a plate. Well, if there is the option to make waffles on a train, I am going to take it! Haha - the smell of waffles cooking drew so much attention and we quickly became known as the Waffle car! Yay! Also note the whipped cream, maple syrup and sliced strawberries in the background - I didn't leave anything out. :)
A plate of waffle goodness! Funny story - there was a film crew on the train and one of the camera women thought it was amazing that we had waffles and wanted to film us making them. Sure - no big deal, we figured it would be a good promotion for the ski train next year.
Except it turns out the film crew wasn't from the skiing association. No, the film crew was from the Discovery Channel and they are doing a series on Life Across America (or something) and this segment was all about the Alaska Railroad. She said it was mostly for freight hauling, but the ski train was way more exciting! So my waffles might be on the Discovery Channel. That would be pretty awesome...!
The sun finally came up in time for us to see some gorgeous sunrises over the mountains around Wasilla. But honestly, my favorite part about this photo is Brittney's bobbly headband. Too cute!
But then, there was a flurry of excitement and people standing up to stare out the train windows! What could be getting everyone so aflutter??
Haha - it was moose! Several moose, actually. You would think we would get used to seeing them all the time, but it's still exciting to see them out and about. I had to turn this image B&W because several of us were wearing bright orange leis and the reflection from the train windows was pretty bad. But it makes it easier to see the moose!
Speaking of getting photos from the train. PJ told me that Denali would be just around the corner and he thought there might be places between the cars where I could get a better view. Well there weren't any open spots - which was probably a good thing since it was currently -16F. I did find a window without much glare, but it was covered in frost. So I used my hand to wipe away a big enough section of frost to get a photo through and saw.... trees. Lots and lots of trees. After repeating this for a few minutes I gave up and went back to our car.
Where I had apparently missed the Polka band's arrival. The party was going without me! Everyone was clapping and dancing along!
Matt was even getting into the groove with his improvised cheesy puff drum. (Also notice the nice glare on the window...)
Heather was jamming along in her nicely color coordinated maraca!
PJ apologized for sending me for photos of Denali too early and made up for it by managing to alert me the next time it was visible. Denali always looks so impressive in person and less so in photos. It's just hard to capture the sheer awesomeness of first seeing it when you get a break in the trees. Trust me, it's breath-taking!
We finally arrive in Curry after the slight scary safety briefing (Watch out for frostbite on each other's noses! Don't be left behind!) and geared up for a short trek away from the train. We supposedly had to leave the train for long enough for it to turn around, so at minimum we would be out and about for 45 minutes. In the end, the train didn't leave and we were gone for much longer because we had so much fun!
A few people in our group were cross country skiing, but the seven of us that headed out together were all snowshoeing. Matt, Brittney and I were novices and rented snowshoes at REI the day before. So after getting some help putting them on, we headed up the hill!
We made much faster progress than I was expecting and it wasn't nearly as challenging as I was worried it was going to be. Wearing the snowshoes affects your stride a little bit because they are so big, but you catch on pretty quick to not step on the other snow shoe (I fell quite a few times doing just that) and they really do a great job of keeping you from sinking in too much.
Matt and I both had this idea that you would be floating on the snow as you walked, but that wasn't quite the case. If you were blazing the trail, you were definitely sinking in. If you were the fourth or so person in line, you had pretty easy going. But blazing the trail was actually pretty fun, you feel like a pioneer!
We paused to stop and enjoy the scenery and stay hydrated. Plus Heather and I* both kept pulling out our cameras for photos. Something about it didn't happen if there aren't photos for proof? Luckily everyone was a good sport about all of the photos. Tiffany and Alex don't look like they mind smiling, do they?? Plus they are pretty much adorable!
*Brittney brought her camera as well, but we got worried about how fast the batteries would die, so she put her battery inside her coat to keep it warm. We luckily can share batteries, so we figured that way we would have pictures throughout the day!
PJ was by far the most excited to be outside! Whenever we would stop, he would run up or down the nearest hill just because. It was pretty funny trying to keep tabs on him. Plus he was all in black, so he looked like a snowshoeing ninja - ha!
Brittney, Tiffany and Heather walking up the hill. I power walked up the hill to get far enough ahead of them to get photos. Don't they all look so colorful?? There were several tracks up the hill - the widest and flattest was the one that the cross country skiers were using. It was much easier to walk up, but we were super aware of when a skier was coming and would let them pass us. They definitely got up the hill much faster than we did!
I am so not colorful... I look like one of the guys - all of the other females I saw were in some sort of bright color. Pffft! Ironically, I have to thank my parents for keeping me warm. My gloves got lost a week or so ago and my back-up pair was missing a glove! I was in a panic last night of what to wear. Then I happened to go in our guest room closet and find the stash of cold weather gear that my mom keeps here. Which includes a really good pair of gloves! I figured she wasn't using them, so I borrowed them and my dad's ear flap hat I bought him last year. It didn't end up being cold enough to need his hat, but I figured he would appreciate the photo - and I definitely needed the gloves. Thanks mom and dad!
When we all started getting hungry, we deviated off the beaten path and found a nice spot to eat lunch. The train looked so far away - what a sense of accomplishment! It was an amazingly nice day and it didn't feel anywhere near as cold as it was. Until we stopped moving to eat lunch... Our drinks froze into slush as soon as we opened them and we all got pretty chilly after sitting for a few minutes. So we got back to trailblazing pretty quick!
The best part of being out in untouched snow? The chance to make snow angels! It was a little challenging with snowshoes on, but Heather and I gave it our best attempt!
I kinda destroyed the base of my angel trying to get up... It's really hard to stand back up when your feet are an extra foot or so longer. But look at how awesome the wings look! I was so proud of them! And you can kinda tell how deep my back went in when I fell backwards. I went a little bit further than I expected, but the snow was so soft and cozy!
Brittney was the first one back to train level and she was pretty proud of herself! She didn't fall once, so she deserved to be proud of herself. I think I fell more than enough for the two of us. I kept looking around instead of where I was going. But can you blame me, it was a beautiful day in the Alaskan woods!
See? There's the train! It's pretty hard to miss. Going off trail meant a little more negotiating of hills and such, but it was actually pretty easy to navigate down with all the fluffy snow. :)
The clearing we came down had some pretty large piles of snow on the side that opened up perfectly to a view of the engine. We, of course, all had to take photos in front of it (because otherwise it didn't happen - ha!).
Brittney in her "I did it!" pose. Duncan was originally supposed to be on the ski train with us, but thanks to well schedules, he had to be in town for the drilling activities. There was definitely no cell service in Curry and that's not really a good thing when you are on call. Luckily that same well hasn't hit the section that needs a geologist or I would have missed it too. Sorry Duncan - next year! And Heather and I would like to reassure you that we kept our promise to make sure Brittney had a blast (and didn't get hurt)!
See? PJ, the Snowshoeing Ninja! But what is he crafting out of snow with his ninja-abilities??
He made a snow heart! Awwww!!!! Aren't these two are the cutest couple ever? (They are!)
The train patiently waiting for everyone to be done having fun for the day. I just love the bright colors the railroad uses. It stands out so well against the snow. Although honestly, it looks good in the autumn colors as well. It's just a good color combination!
I should have gotten a photo on arrival when all of the gear was lined up on the ground - it was impressive how many skis and snowshoes there were. Even more impressive is that this whole thing is all run by volunteers - a huge thanks to all of them!
Everyone was playing around on the hill next to the train to kill time. And this guy in a dinosaur head made out of duct tape walked by right when we were getting photos of Heather and PJ up on the hill. He was my favorite of the crazy outfits. :)
Although buffalo/hot dog guy was a close second...
Look how graceful PJ looks sliding down the hill - like a swan! Haha - looks are super deceiving in this case, he has the right form, but kept getting stuck every few feet on the snow pile building up in front of him. The people on sleds were much more successful...
Heather tried going down on her butt to see if that was any better. You can see how far she made it... ;)
Back on the train to Anchorage. Part of the safety briefing was a worst case scenario - if you get left out here, do not try to ski out. They left two large duffels full of emergency gear to help you survive the night and someone would come get you the next day. Yikes! But awesome that they left the gear. As far as I know, everyone made it...!
Best part of the ride home was all of the delicious food people had made. There were crock pots cooking all day and all kinds of sides and desserts that people brought along. Don't these three look super colorful? We all gorged ourselves on food after working up big appetites all day.
Of course I signed up to bring dessert as well. It was actually the birthday of someone in the Cheesy Puffs group, so I made him the most chocolatey cupcakes I could. He loved them - and everyone was pretty impressed with the adorable dinosaurs on top. I have gotten more use out of that chocolate dinosaur mold than I thought I would. (They were a little wet because they were cold - no one seemed to mind.)
Everyone was super stuffed by the time I brought the cupcakes out, but I managed to convince Ted to try one since it as his birthday. Most people were trying to get rid of food at this point in the train ride. I, on the other hand, told people I didn't care if they took them because I would happily take the rest home and eat them. Yet somehow, I only came home with two... Guess they looked too good to resist. ;)
All-in-all it was a great trip and I am so glad we were able to go (a huge thanks to both of the babysitters for the boys, a teacher from school and their Aunt Heather - it wouldn't have been possible without you two!). It was the first time this winter that I've really been able to go out and do something that felt Alaskan, so it was extra awesome in my case. Glad I didn't have to go all winter without so snow play time. (Goodness knows there is no snow in Anchorage for the foreseeable future!) Looking forward to doing it again next year!