Work was about to start and the freindly confines of unemployment were fading away when a co-worker brought up the idea of travelling to Arctic Man for the weekend. I thought this to be a capital idea as I had never been, but had heard much about it. Seeing as how this was to be the last weekend before work took over our lives it sounded like a good idea. So I packed the wild turkey, the fosters, and the sleeping bag; and departed.
We pulled in around 11:00 pm to Summit Lakes and there were motorhomes as far as the eye could see. Easily in excess of 10000 people had gathered to participated in the debauchery. Everywhere there were bonfires and loud music. Some brought up a video system and a giant projector showing lame movies. Others (Red Bull) Threw down for a tent and an unlimited amount of redbull. Combine that with the 4 or 5 people walking around with full bottles of shmirnoff and stoli, let the problems ensue.
Much was drunk, some firewalking was attempted. I indulged my pyromaniac status with gasoline filled beer cans and we stumbled back to the car laden with sleep/emfeeblements around 5:00 AM. I woke up at 8:00 still emfeebled to miturate, and decided that it was still too early. Slept for 2 more hours and the crew got up to walk around.
We did manage to make it to one event. The snocross. However we missed out on the actual arctic man race, much like many of the spectators. However we decided to forgo that and actually create our own arctic man. We collected come along straps and fastened them to the back of a polaris rmk, I strapped on my bros and we sped along the outskirts of our encampment. I soon found my wakeboarding skills handy as we hauled ass over the refrozen dips and whooops out to the flats. It was magical. Eventually he opened it up and I doged out across the invisible wake to avoid the spray. That is a fun way to get going.
All I can say is that next year I am going in a motorhome and staying for the whole weekend. Also bringing some kind of portable small motorized vehicle makes for fun.
HOWEVER a word of warning for those who decide to ever attend.
The state trooper/police force up there is second to none that I have ever seen in AK. There are many and they want to make sure that you aren't riding your quad, your minibike, your golf cart, or your snowmachine while impared. So be carefull and don't drink and drive.
