Eklutna Winter Camping

It was a cold January weekend for a cabin camping trip!  My adventure friend Francine and I spent three days and two nights enjoying a break from regular life at a cabin down Eklutna Lake.  This is a public use cabin that you rent online.  The cabin is a shell with a wood stove and wood bunks and table.  You bring your own way to cook food, sleeping gear, lighting and firewood.  There is also an outhouse at each cabin, but be sure to bring toilet paper as they are not stocked with this necessity!

I made homemade pulks for us out of sleds we already had so that we could fill them with firewood and pull while skiing the 3 miles to the cabin.  I made arms that attached to the sleds on one end and our backpack waist belts on the other.  The arms kept the sleds from running into our ankles.  We hauled a lot of wood, we did not want to get cold!  Although it did make for a very slow slog of a ski in to the cabin.  We also had backpacks holding our camping gear.

Home sweet home for a couple of relaxing days (no cell service!!!)  It's so nice to unplug from a life that sometimes feels dominated by screens.

Thankfully there was a creek by the cabin that wasn't completely frozen over we were able to get water from.  We had planned on melting snow on the cabin wood stove for water, but it is a round stove and our pot would not balance on it.

Inside our cozy cabin, that little stove pumped out some heat!  These cabins around Alaska have wood bunks and wide wood benches for beds.  Be sure you haul in gear to make them as comfy as possible.  I also bring a sleeping pad for my pampered puppy dog... aren't huskies supposed to sleep outside in the snow?

Out enjoying an afternoon ski towards the end of the lake.  The sun only made it over the mountains for a couple of minutes each day that we were there.

Our last day, heading back.  Always sad to leave a cabin.  Some of my best memories over the past few years are cabin camping adventures around Alaska.  It's a great way to really get to know people, enjoy some gorgeous scenery, and get exercise all at the same time. 

There are federal cabins available at recreation.gov and state cabins available at dnr.alaska.gov/parks/cabins/

I would highly encourage you to get some friends or family together, book a cabin and go make some memories!