A Different Kind of Photo Shoot
We wanted to make the most of the fact that our friend, photographer Katie Orlinsky, had time to take a trip with us to the Tolovana Hot Springs and do a photo shoot for murkl.com.
It turned into an amazing trip, a different kind of photo shoot, a feast for the taste buds and a great adventure! Even if, despite all our careful planning, things went rather Alaska-style...
The plan was to serve a gourmet dinner in a small cabin at the Tolovana Hot Springs – in other words, 'in the middle of nowhere' – and capture that exclusive luxury on camera. For that, we had to borrow Katie for a day from the "Iditarod". The Iditarod is a 1,000-mile sled dog race that Katie was covering for National Geographic.
Now, murkl.com obviously doesn't have National Geographic's budget... but we have good connections, and we have Katie! Katie managed to get us a "ride-along" on a small plane, pilot included. The pilot had been hired by a publisher to fly her reporters from checkpoint to checkpoint along the Iditarod. Katie knows this publisher, so she was allowed to use the pilot's services as well. Luckily, there's also a small airstrip at the Tolovana Hot Springs. So it sounds like we'd just borrow Katie for a quick shoot and then she'd be flown back to her actual assignment. But in Alaska, things often turn out differently…
First of all, I'd like to thank Katie Orlinsky and Joe and Anna of "Hardeats" for their commitment and their energy.
When I went to pick Katie up at the Iditarod checkpoint in Manley, she wasn't there. The racers were much faster than we had calculated, so Katie had already flown on to the next checkpoint.... But via satellite connection I found out that she would be there in two hours.
So we were already running late at the start. But since it was a gorgeous day, we didn't let that spoil our mood and set off with two snowmobiles, a dog sled team and a trailer loaded with more than 100 kg (220 lbs) of treats (for people and dogs) and props. Soon, though, deep snowdrifts started giving us trouble, as the heavy trailer kept sinking into the snow. At that point even the snowmobile's 80 horsepower was no help, and we had to dig it out again and again. That's how Katie and I ended up needing almost 5 hours to reach the hot springs...
Anna and the dog sled team got there in just 1.5 hours!!! That's why murkl.com only offers dog sled tours to the Tolovana Hot Springs :-) Snowmobiles can have technical problems – dog teams can't!
It was a stunningly beautiful day without a single cloud. Unfortunately, until sunset we had only one photo subject: us shoveling snow. By the time we finally reached our cabin, it was already dark. That alone would have been annoying enough. But on top of that, we were alarmed to discover that the small airstrip was covered in snowdrifts about 1.5 m (5 ft) high as well! Even if the pilot had managed to land, he'd never, ever have been able to take off again!!! So we had to find a way to get Katie to an airport the next morning. We decided that I would take her back to the road by snowmobile at 7:00 a.m. and drive her on to the airport in Fairbanks from there. To be fast enough, though, I'd have to leave the trailer behind.
So by the time we finally reached the hot springs, had figured out how to get Katie back to civilization in time, and Joe had already cooked up a superb meal, I had long since given up on the photo shoot in my head. My only priority now was to get everything done without anything going wrong. And I finally wanted to get into the hot springs and relax! After all, it was minus 40°C (-40°F)!
No sooner said than done. Anna was the first one in the warm water. And just as I was about to jump in after her, the first instructions came from Katie: where to place candles for the photos and how to hold the flash. Despite the bitter cold, Katie was only just getting warmed up. She arranged, decorated and delegated. While we'd been soaking in the hot springs for about an hour, practically cooked soft, Katie was still hunting for the perfect shot with the full moon, the northern lights and us in the pool (not allowed to move because of the long exposure). I could only admire the enthusiasm Katie brings to her work. Anyone who has ever tried taking photos at minus 40°C knows how incredibly tiring and draining it is.
After plenty of soaking and shooting, I thought once again that all that was left was to enjoy Joe's delicious food and then simply collapse into bed. Wrong again. This time it was Anna who started giving orders to give the cabin a luxurious flair. And Katie's creativity wasn't far behind. Before long, cutlery and wine glasses, vases, candles and all sorts of decorations were being arranged and rearranged over and over.
Meanwhile, Joe whipped up a fabulous menu, starting with braised bell peppers on a tomato foam (from his own greenhouse). Next came the most tender beef short ribs I've ever eaten, served with a red wine sauce and "broccoli sautéed with caramelized bacon". The second main course was salmon he'd caught himself. The highlight, though, was a very interesting combination: reindeer tenderloin with a blue cheese and blueberry sauce! For dessert there was a cheese platter, grapes, homemade bread, and brownies with whipped cream!
By now we were all so blissfully relaxed from the hot springs and so spoiled by the food that all we wanted was to sleep. And when Joe wanted to serve breakfast right away too, since we wouldn't have had time for it in the morning, we had to gratefully decline. Even though breakfast would have been classic "chicken & waffles"!
After 2 hours of sleep, we already had to head out again. And on the way back we only got stuck once. And Katie caught her pilot in time :-)
