blog post by Corrine
We’ve done multiple winter trips into the White Mountains north of Fairbanks. It’s always special, as the area is a wonderful winter playground. But this time we had a little treat waiting for us: a stay at a new cabin!
The White Mountains National Recreation Area has more than 100 miles of trails with public use cabins every 10 to 20 miles. We love spending time there in the winter. And for the last eight years our friends, Jill and Beat (pronounced Bay-ott), have flown up from Boulder, Colorado, over the holidays to spend time with us at these cabins while they train for winter ultras. This year they are training to run the White Mountains 100 race in March. It’s always a treat to have them visit and it gives us a reason to get out of the house for human-powered adventures.
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| Jill and Beat |
And this year we scored a reservation at Yeager’s Cabin, the newest in the recreation area. We were eager to check it out.
All Day Bike Ride to a New Cabin
Yeager’s Cabin, which started renting just a month or so ago, sits 15 miles from the Wickersham trailhead, about halfway between Eleazar’s and Borealis-LeFevre cabins. Beat had already laid claim to Yeager’s. The first part of his last name, Jegerlehner, is pronounced like Yeager, so it must be his, right?! In truth, the cabin is named after Eric Yeager, a long-time outdoor recreation planner for BLM.
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| Beat claims "his" cabin |
The cabin sits on a small plateau with an expansive view. The side trail to it is only about three-quarters of a mile long, but it is all uphill. Eric and I were huffing and puffing on the climb, but we managed to get there right at sunset (2:43 PM).
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| 2:43 PM sunset |
The two of us enjoyed the view while collecting and cutting up firewood as the twilight slowly faded. Fortunately, the cabin sits on the edge of an old burn, so there’s plenty of good firewood nearby, yet another little treat!
Jill and Beat arrived a couple of hours later, after the skies had grown dark, but they enjoyed their own little treat: arriving at a warm cabin with plenty of melted snow for water!
That first night, after collecting sufficient firewood, we lazed around, talking and relaxing. We headed outside often to look at the stars and planets (lots of them!) and check for auroras (only a few, early in the morning). For those interested, the cabin has the same layout at the Moose Creek Cabin.
The Luxury of a Two-Night Stay
Typically, on our White Mountains trips we either do a single overnighter or do multiple nights at several cabins, moving to a new cabin each night. The downside is that you must pack up every morning and you often arrive at a cold cabin. But not this time. We had Yeager’s for two nights. That meant we could have a lazy morning, leave everything unpacked, head out for a day trip, then come back to a warm cabin. A nice little treat!
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| Woodstove heating up the cabin |
The second day, Saturday, was cool and crisp. We all decided to head further out the trail. Eric and I led the way on bikes. We stopped to check out Big Bend Trail. The base was firm, but it had an inch or so of new snow, which made it squirrely for bikes. We opted to head out past Borealis-LeFevre cabin on the Fossil Creek Trail. The temperature, which had been about 0F at the cabin, dropped as we descended onto Beaver Creek, which was frozen solid. Eric’s thermometer read -18F at the coldest. Not too bad for December but cold enough that we didn’t stop often. We had no set itinerary so turned around after about two hours.
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| Heading back out on the trail Saturday morning |
After turning back, we ran into our friend, Peter, on a bike. We often run into him out in the Whites, so when he saw the tire tracks he wondered if it might be us. He was right! Peter was headed to Caribou Bluff cabin. He’s training for the Iditarod Trail Invitational multi-sport race. Last year he biked 300 miles to McGrath, but this year he hopes to make it the entire 1,000 miles to Nome. It was fun little treat to see him on the trail.
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| We run into Peter Delamere |
Eric and I decided to stop at Borealis-LeFevre cabin on our way back, hoping to warm up. We would arrive a little past noon and figured the previous night’s occupants would be gone but the cabin warm. That would be a nice little treat. Alas, the Friday night renters hadn’t stayed there. A snowmachiner was there just checking out the cabin, but he said it was cold, and a quick trip inside confirmed it. I was so disappointed. Still, we stopped for a snack. I got out some handwarmers. Eric thought he would be fine without them, but by the time we got going his fingers were numb. He hightailed it across Beaver Creek, eagerly wanting to start the climb on the other side of the creek to get his heart pumping.
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| It was colder in the cabin than outside. |
About halfway up Eric finally felt the agonizingly delicious pins and needles in his fingers. That feeling was a treat for him because it meant he would get to keep his fingers! About two-thirds of the way up he was warm enough to stop and take pictures of me as I climbed past him. By the time we made it to the top, we were both hot and sweaty. One of the joys of winter biking is loving the climbs!
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| Warming up on the climb back up from Beaver Creek |
We got back to the cabin and collected more firewood. Jill and Beat were still out, having headed out Big Bend Trail. They arrived a couple of hours later. We had another quiet but pleasant evening, sharing stories, and getting to bed early.
Warm But Slow
The final morning, we woke up to temperatures close to 20F above zero. Quite the change from the prior two days. The warmth made the trails, already a bit soft on the way in, even more soft and slippery on the way out. The trails weren’t bad, but we had to air out our tires, which made for slower going.
Right after we got going, I had to stop and deal with an errant contact lens. At least it was warm which made stopping and taking off my gloves more pleasant, so I guess that’s sort of a treat.
The biking was also a bit harder for me since I couldn’t get into my lowest gear, a problem that had started the day before. I would have to take my bike to the mechanic after we got home. At least it still worked.
Then, on a downhill shortly after Wickersham Wall, I shifted to my highest gear and my chain went right off my gear cluster, ending up between the smallest gear and the frame. Not good. Eric and I fiddled with it for a while and discovered that my rear axle was loose. We tightened it and then everything worked fine, even the lowest gear. Yay, I wouldn’t have to take my bike to the mechanic. I guess that’s kind of a treat, but the treats on this day seemed a bit subdued.
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| Lots of people out enjoying the Whites |
The final six miles we started running into more and more people. Snowmachiners, skiers, snowshoers. Everybody had the same idea. Get out during those few hours of daylight and enjoy the northern winter solstice. We even ran into friends Dan and Sue and talked to them a bit. That was a nice treat.
It was great to see people out enjoying the Whites, but all the traffic on the trails made them softer, so we had to let even more air out of our tires. I pushed up some hills that I normally bike up. I was glad to get to the high point a mile from the trailhead, which meant easy riding all the way back to the trailhead. Now that was a treat.
Of course, the real treat is that we get to live so close to a wonderful wilderness area with cabins and groomed trails. Thank you to all the BLM employees for taking such good care of our recreation area!
