On Saturday, I loaded up the sled with firewood and candy and headed out with Sol, Mygga, Ajax, Bike, Faktor, Svidd, Princess, and Cama to practice camping/checkpoint routine. We ran our regular loop up in the mountains with spectacular northern lights overhead before dropping down to Gampvannet and setting up camp for the evening. After dinner and a snack, the dogs snuggled up on beds of straw. Everyone except Bike had camped before during Alta 2-Dagers. I lounged on a reindeer skin in front of the fire... eating candy and reading a Kate Shugak novel. We stayed for about 10 hours before we packed up, ran the regular loop again, and headed home.
Campsite at night. A goal this winter is to take a clear, crisp picture of the northern lights. I've been reading up and found these articles helpful: http://www.alaskaphotographyblog.com/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights-with-a-digital-camera/ and http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/tips-and-tricks-how-photograph-aurora-borealis?page=0,1
Campsite in the morning.
Blueberry soup and chocolate-covered raisins for breakfast.
Ajax, Mygga, and Sol resting (Mygga's the lump in the middle).