Another late breakfast/brunch meant a 12.00 departure on the ambiguously signposted "Charley Dome Trail".
What a trek this was. Eventually we found ourselves on the "Snow Monkey" tracks -a "tractor type bus" which took folk out at night - and again it seemed to be all uphill and 1 in 1 at times and I would even be tempted to say occasionally steeper than that.
After 2.5 hours walking I look at the map and the instruments we carry. We are at about 2500ft and according to the trail map we should have gone off to the right at about 2000ft. There has only been one option all the way since we hit these tracks.
Again we meet travellers on their way down. We all agree that the trail went off but where nobody could imagine, but the Snow Monkey tracks lead to a summit with wonderful views even if it does involve one of the "steeper than 1 in 1" climbs.
The summit, at 2760ft, is the turning point for the Snow Monkey aurora watching trip. The view of the mountains in the distance (possibly Alaska Range, again) really was fantastic and you probably would get good aurora view from here, too. There were observation cabins (locked) and there was a toilet (not locked).
A rule we always adopt when out is "Go to the toilet if there is one, you never know when the next one might be". Sadly the toilet is ladies only - the sign inside says "Gents go outside". Luckily the sun is blazing down and the ambient temperature is about -10C with very little wind chill, so no risk of frostbite in places where I particularly wouldn't want frostbite. The ladies toilet, incidently, is a cubic box (wooden) with a bin liner in it (presumably waterproof).
I spoke too soon on the subject of little wind chill, because on the way down the wind got up and it was pretty cool (as in cold). Persistent nose running meant a pocket full of paper handkerchiefs, which got more and more saturated with whatever it is that hankies get saturated with through continued nose blowing, but these were freezing at the same time - so no mess (what is the freezing point of snot?).
At around 2000ft on the way down saw a sign for "Charley Dome Trail" pointing nowhere in particular, but this would have been the turning off to the right if there wasn't 4ft of snow covering the route - perhaps we should have borrowed snow shoes.
We got down a lot quicker than we got up, the cold plus wind-chill being the incentive, and went into the warmth of the reception/shop to buy a few things. We were in the warmth long enough for all the saturated frozen lumps in my pocket to defrost into something quite unspeakable - Yuk.
This afternoon should have been a sightseeing aircraft flight around Chena - the concept of taking off and landing on a packed snow runway seemed interesting - but the wind was too high for the pilot to land. So that was that.
Time then for a dip in the hot springs to relieve tired muscles and have bit of relaxation before dinner.
The pool was lovely and warm and the clear blue skies above with the snow covered trees and hills made it a very picturesque soak. The air temperature of -12C plus some wind chill caused the steam from the hot springs to freeze on hair and eyebrows (hoar frost) and give a "snow covered eyebrow look". Also, wetting hair was not a good idea as it froze to a solid mass within minutes. The 25yd "walk", half-naked and wet back to the outdoor jacuzzi and changing rooms through freezing conditions was something I will remember but not necessarily cherish.
There was a good auroral display during the evening, though the temperature was about -15C and the wind was still blowing. We were out at 10.00pm as usual for a "show" which started at 11.00pm.
Lots of arcs and bright green curtains floating above the sky. Again we had a coffee break mid-viewing (reluctantly) before going out again at about 1.15am to continue watching the display. Eventually we made ourselves come in at 3.30am.
Goto Day 7: Chena Hot Springs - Nature Trail
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