Dashing through the dirt

Resslin' Around, by Casey Ressler

Dashing through the snow, on a four-stroke snowmachine, over the burms we go, laughing all the way.

Or at least that's what my grandfather, my dad and I were singing before last weekend, as snow came to the Valley and a trip to the cabin in Petersville was in order. My grandpa is from Pennsylvania, so it was a great chance to show him the cabin and take him on an Alaska winter weekend that he'd remember forever.

The only problem was that we ended up singing, "Trudging through the dirt, overheating a four-stroke machine, over the boulders we go, complaining all the way." It was 10 days before Christmas, and that snowmachiner's paradise known as Petersville more resembled Pensacola.

A couple of inches of snow in the core area surely means a couple feet up the road, we thought. And so we got on the road early Saturday, loaded down with two snowmachines and a six-wheeler. A friend of my dad's brought his four-wheeler as well, just in case the snow wasn't deep enough.

Consider that forethought for the ages. As we pulled into the Petersville parking lot -- still thinking that a couple feet of snow just had to be around the next bed -- the scene was almost surreal. It was us, and that's it, except for a truck that appeared to have been sitting there since last winter. Welcome to winter.

The quick trip back into the cabin took a half hour because we had to stop to let the snowmachines cool down -- with no snow and temperatures in the 20s, overheating was a problem.

We finally got into the cabin, parked the machines and unloaded the goods -- beer, burgers and hot dogs -- knowing full well the next time we would be riding would be on the way back to the truck.

All of the roadhouses in the area were closed. Some had done extensive renovations throughout the summer, in preparation of the busy winter season. Instead, they are sitting empty, with the owners left wondering how they are going to get through the next year with nearly a third of their income gone.

Instead of cooking up a burger for the snowmachiners, the owners were left cutting firewood for another cold night by themselves.

There are a lot of people whose Christmas won't be green -- as in money lost -- because the winter has been so unpredictable and out of the ordinary.

Snowmachine shops, lodge owners, tour operators and snow plowers are just a few of the people who have had their living impacted by the lack of snow this year. But at least change is coming.

The winter has been an odd one, but at least it's white for Christmas. Take that Pensacola.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor. He admits Pensacola has better fishing in December than Petersville.