Here is the story or our long awaited Denali Hwy spring break small game hunting adventure. Our adventure started off as many others, later than intended. We spent four days three nights up on the highway. We didn't get in as far as we had intended due to the late start. Traveling with small kids presented challenges and we made the best of every situation. One such challenge was the late start this put us in a race against the sun. We had stopped at Atkins air service for the last minute hunting license and a weather report. We learned that night time temps were around -25 to -30. This meant we needed tents up and stoves going well before dark. It took us awhile to get loaded and going down the trail. Getting the dogs to ride on the sleds (so we could make good time) took some doing. We towed all this with 2010 Tundra, Bearcat XT and a Bravo. All machines worked flawlessly. We had a couple different freight sleds a single Husky and two Otter Pro (large).
At our campsite the snow was about 4 ft deep with the first foot all sugar. This made putting up tents a challenge. We packed the campsite down with snowmachines as best we could. Then put everyone in snowshoes and got the tents pitched. We precut and split our firewood plus duralogs, so we had heat as soon as the tents were up. The Arctic Ovens where heated with sheet metal stoves. One was the small "Arctic Oven" and the other "The Packer". Both purchased at Alaska Tent and Tarp. We did a side by side comparison and determined that the small stove was just ok and the bigger one was just right. It was very easy to get it way to hot with the larger one. But using the dampers I was able to keep it nice and toasty. On the first night and due to the late hour we cooked hotdogs in the Jetboil, which worked great. I easily fit eight dogs in and topped it off with water and a minute later we had hot hotdogs.
At our campsite the snow was about 4 ft deep with the first foot all sugar. This made putting up tents a challenge. We packed the campsite down with snowmachines as best we could. Then put everyone in snowshoes and got the tents pitched. We precut and split our firewood plus duralogs, so we had heat as soon as the tents were up. The Arctic Ovens where heated with sheet metal stoves. One was the small "Arctic Oven" and the other "The Packer". Both purchased at Alaska Tent and Tarp. We did a side by side comparison and determined that the small stove was just ok and the bigger one was just right. It was very easy to get it way to hot with the larger one. But using the dampers I was able to keep it nice and toasty. On the first night and due to the late hour we cooked hotdogs in the Jetboil, which worked great. I easily fit eight dogs in and topped it off with water and a minute later we had hot hotdogs.
