By Virginia Sarrazin
For my challenge, I decided on the Alligator Lake Trail because it is a Xmas tradition and it is such a beautiful route. It climbs up from the valley to an alpine plateau where the views are 360 degrees in all directions for many kilometers, so totally worth the effort ;)
I invited my friend John to come along as we are training for a 100 miler at the end of February. My sled dog Ranger, the perfect companion for this adventure, also joined. We started around 7:15 a.m., it took me a few kilometers to get into it, it was hard to regulate my temperature as it was getting colder, but I finally settled in the rhythm of the footsteps, with just the halo of my headlamp for a view. When we arrived at the plateau, we could see a pretty pink sunrise starting in the background but an hour later, it looked like a fire in the sky, so beautiful, I stopped several times to take pictures.
The day was perfect to be up there, just a slight breeze, clear sky, hard-packed trail. We continued our way to the lake but had to stop 5 km before as the trail had not been opened yet. Mushers use a turnaround to go back before the lake. So we had a quick lunch break and made our way back.
That's when I saw something moving a few hundred meters away, it was a herd of caribou making their way in the deep snow. After going to that place so many times and seeing so many caribou tracks, I finally saw them :) The sun also showed up, barely picking out from behind the mountains. I love the winter solstice light up North, so comforting.
The way back was eventless apart from meeting 3 dog teams and a snowmobiler. John, who usually fat bikes for long distances, was testing his pulk for the first time and experienced issues with his harness, so we had to stop many times, but that was a perfect day practice, especially with the temperature being warmer in the afternoon. We did not make it to the lake but I did 50 km, with the last 150 m at the parking lot without the pulk ;)
