Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Winter Wonderland, Alaska Style
ON FINGER LAKE, JUST
this side of Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range, a hour by Cessna 206
from Anchorage and splat in the middle of the Iditarod Trail, is a little slice of heaven
called Winterlake Lodge.
Here, world-class chef Kirsten Dixon, and her husband, Renaissance man Carl Dixon,
hold open house year round for those adventurers lusting after a wilderness experience in
the Alaskan Bush. In the summer, there is fishing, hiking, rafting, wildlife viewing. Some-
times the wildlife comes to you, as in last summer when a black bear lifted one of Winter-
lake Lodge's kitchen windows right out of the frame and came inside to graze.
In winter, Winterlake serves as the Finger Lake checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail, and
guests come to mush Carl's dogs and ride his snow machines and eat Kirsten's food. On the
once a month Culinary Weekends, you get cooking lessons.
After an hour long flight from Anchorage, we are greeted by Kirsten with an open bottle
of Veuve Cliquot champagne. “We” are me, Susie Swanson, a travel agent from Washing-
ton state doing research, and Nancy Wilkins, chemical engineer, also from Washington
state and on her first trip to Alaska. Kirsten makes us gougères, exquisite puff pastries
flavored with swiss cheese and nutmeg, the flavor of which is somewhat dimmed by the ac-
companying threat that we'll be making the gougères tomorrow. “Emergency hors
d'oeurvres, for after your outdoor activities,” Kirsten says, looking at Carl.
Carl grins. It makes us all nervous, but that first day we do nothing more strenuous than
help feed the dogs. These are bona fide sled dogs, many of whom have mushed the Iditarod
all the way to Nome. “They're retired now,” Carl says. Right.
We can hear them howling from the lodge. They are placated by being fed, but it's obvi-
ous they'd all rather be hitched up and on the trail.
