Fri Jan 7th
Jason worked until 5:30pm, then we shoved down some dinner, jumped in the car and drove South. No border issues - just had to explain that our Chariot ski sled was not a dog carrier. Rachel did not seem to enjoy the car ride, and did not fall asleep as usual (actually she cried for over an hour), so she had a late night. Our room at the Mt Gardner Inn was lovely - talk about a great deal! We arrived at about 9:45pm and promptly went to bed.
This was Rachel's first night in a hotel room.
Sat Jan 8th (am)
Woke up to a beautiful view of sunshine, snow, and mountains! Yipeeeee! Connected with our friends, Dave and Stacey Cleveland, and packed up for the trail head. They told us of a sneakier trail head that cut our distance from an expected 14.5 km to a mere 7km from car to hut - SWEET!
So we parked the car and got organized. Meggan donned the backpack while Jason strapped on the chariot (full of stuff) and a smaller daypack. Dave and Stacey left a little later and would meet us at the hut.
And we were off!
... And we were huffing and puffing! ... And we felt like falling over! Skiing with all that weight and climbing up and up and up was even harder than I'd imagined. Jason pulled Rachel and extra gear in the Chariot and I lagged behind carrying the big pack.
In my head I heard voices of people who questioned our sanity when we told them about this adventure. I skied 25metres, then rested and caught my breath over and over. I thought 'I've never skate skied with a backpack before. This is our first time camping with Rachel. I've never been to these trails before. I've never had to feed Rachel in the snow before. What an adventure!'
The trail flattened out a little and I started to enjoy myself much more.
Dave and Stacey (who had started out later than us) zoomed by at Cleveland-speed (for those of you who don't know, Dave and Stacey are both incredibly fit individuals). We stopped for a snack break and let them go ahead. Rachel had slept the whole time and we had been out nearly 2 hours. I was sure she would wake at any minute screaming for food, but our snack break came and went and she continued to sleep.
Off we went, assuming we were getting close to the hut. Dave and Stacey appeared, having returned to us to warn us of steep hills ahead on our last ascent to the hut. They helped carry some gear as we pulled and pushed the Chariot up the incline and arrived at the hut.
Sat Jan 8th (pm)
We unpacked, started the fire, and had lunch as the group schemed about the afternoon. Since we had skied only 2 hours, it was generally felt by the group that a glorious afternoon outside awaited us. Do we go out as a group, split into couples, or does someone stay in the lodge with Rachel? I stayed in the lodge with Rachel while Jason, Stacey, and Dave punished themselves climbing up toward Rendezvous Pass to check out two other huts (Gardner and Rendezvous). Rachel napped and I worked on a jigsaw puzzle and enjoyed the view while I stretched out my sore legs. There was no way I could keep up with those other energetic folks and I was pretty proud of what I'd accomplished already that day. Plus, Rachel was just finishing off a growth spurt - meaning that after 3pm she might become physically attached to me for several hours.
The gang returned back to the hut before dark (amazing if you know Dave) and we finished the puzzle, made dinner, melted snow, played cribbage, and had an intense match of Phase 10. Rachel went to sleep without much trouble although she became quite congested and raspy. The only real consequence to this was that she made loud noises breathing all night and woke several times for extra snacks from Mom.
Sun Jan 9th
Sunday morning we awoke to a beautiful view and planned out a morning adventure. The families split up and the Cleveland family took off since the Oliver family was a little slow going. We like to blame Rachel and the Chariot for this, even though only one of us has to pull her. So after Rachel had a few breakfasts, we sought out to explore. We rolled our way toward the Cassal Hut, and ran into Dave and Stacey at a turn off. They warned us of a steep climb ahead that they had come down - a black run leading up to the hut. I felt good skiing with no extra weight and encouraged Jason to go up with me. Thank goodness he was the one pulling Rachel because it was a very long, steep climb! A great workout! The turn-off to the hut rewarded us with beautiful views. We had a snack break and headed home - a morning 2hr ski covering about 15km. Despite being prepared (again) with bottled milk, Rachel slept through the entire adventure and still slept while we started lunch and packed up. Wish she slept this much at home!!!
We left the hut and pulled our gear back down to the car. We knew most of the way home was downhill, which was fantastic because all of our legs were feeling the burn by this time. We made it back to the car in about 45 minutes, and Rachel was content the whole time.
We packed the car, changed in Winthrop, and headed to Omak. Dinner at Pizza Hut allowed us to feed and change Rachel a few more times before we continued our drive North. Rachel started complaining here and continued to complain (ie. cried and screamed) about being in the car as we headed home. We think this sped up the border crossing, but slowed our progress home as we stopped to feed and snuggle her several times trying to decide why she was so upset.
We made it home, tired but happy, in time for normal bedtime as we parents fell asleep hard and fast with exhausted bodies but happy hearts.
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