(Far) North to AK report, Snowmachine Prologue

"Well, isn't this nice!", she lamented as she looked down the Monument trail from this new perspective. Her helmet (and of course her head) were covered in snow from the snowbank she found herself in. Ironically, her left hand was still attached to the brake lever on her snowmobile that she was "riding", although it was overturned in the snow bank. Ahead of her, she could see that the instructor had gone around the curve already, although she was sure he would come back at some point. He would get in trouble if they were left for dead, she supposed.

Frank on the other hand, followed her into the snowbank but had stopped short of overturning the snowmachine. He had a relatively easy time righting himself but did not seem to enjoy watching her attempts to get out from under the snowmachine and the 4 feet of snow.

The fact is, the mistake happened so suddenly that she could not figure out why she'd ended up in the snow bank in the first place. It's not like they were going very fast or in a difficult place. Somehow, she had zigged when she should have zagged, and that's probably all there was to it.

Once she got out from under the snowmachine and stumbled out of the snow onto higher ground, the hunk of metal that was once underneath her heaved one of those sighs that only an overgrown lawnmower can emit and died. This is not suprising, since the engine was covered in snow at -25F. What it did mean, though, is not only could she not get it out of the snowbank, but if she did, it was going to take strength that she did not have to get it back running.

She sighed. What a fitting beginning to a lovely, frigid Sunday in Chena Hot Springs.