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Winter Wonderland
A friend and I set out on a journey to this cabin via snowmachine (aka snowmobile) on the 20th of January 2011. It was in hopes of capturing the northern lights. The trail to the cabin wasn't long in distance but it was long in time. It was a mixture of fun and misery as our sleds lacked suspension to absorb the jolting bumps along hard packed trail. At one point my friend had the nasty luck of running into overflow only realizing it when he got a boot full of wet slush. We were north of Fairbanks, by at least 20 miles in the middle of winter. The temperature was 40 below, meaning we had to work hard to quickly retrieve his snowmachine before the track would completely freeze. Using a come-along (a hand like winch), we slowly pulled it from the deep slush. Once free and clear we pinned our throttles, pushing our sleds as fast as they could, a whopping top speed of 40 mph. Upon reaching the cabin we quickly got a fire going and relaxed in the warmth. The moon, if not full was very close and illuminated the surrounding trees and snow. From inside it was much easier to enjoy the view. Almost reluctantly I grabbed my camera and made my way back outside into the cold in search of a good composition. Upon rounding the backside of the cabin seeing warm yellow light spilling out onto the moonlit snow, I knew I found something special.
Over time I have come to realize that when I find it hard to motivate myself, to wake before daybreak, to stay up past bedtime, to make that u-turn - it's only when I push through these hesitating, lazy, comfortable feelings that the reward often ends far more satisfactory.
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