Sleeping in an Igloo

Who would have thought I'd be adding that to the list of things I've done in my life?!

A few months ago our ward started "Sister Socials"  which is where any sister in the ward could come up with ANY activity they wanted and open it up for any sister who wanted to to attend.  We all have different interest so not everybody is going to want to do every activity the sisters of our ward come up with.

Amazingly, Julie in our ward, decided to do an igloo trip which would entail building an igloo, sleeping in it and tearing it down the next day.  I know we won't be living in this area forever so I jumped at the chance to  build an igloo.

When I finally decided to go, I let my kids know during dinner.  Lauren immediately said in her confused tone, "That does NOT sound like something you would do Mom!"  To which I replied, "That's why I'm doing it!"  We need to leave our comfort zones from time to time and do something challenging.

Anyone who knows me may remember my dislike for the cold.  I even have an allergic reaction if I get cold enough.  No worries though, I borrowed lots of warm gear.  I had also learned a thing or two from Kenny who did a snow cave trip the weekend before.  He FROZE!  Which as a mother, thoughts of Kenny's trip after my own trip and knowing how cold it can get, Kenny's trip breaks my heart.  I'm glad Kenny still had fun.

On to this trip!  We drove to Mt. Ranier early one Friday morning.  By noon, we had stamped down the area of our igloos and sat down to eat lunch.

This is where it really got fun!  How to build an igloo:  first you dig a small hole so the saw can saw off the bottom of the ice block.  You then saw ice blocks right out of the compact snow.

You let the blocks sit for a little bit before building.  One BRAVE soul starts building the igloo by standing in the center and stacking ice blocks all around her until she is completely closed in. This is not for the faint of heart. I myself would have gone into a full panic attack.  I barely made it through the sleeping in an igloo part! The rest of us saw the blocks and hand them to her.

Once the igloo is all formed and closed up (no door at this point), the person in the center digs down the floor of the igloo at the designated door side while the rest of us dig down and tunnel under to meet this hole.  Once the hole is made, the inside person shuffles all this extra dug-out ice through the hole and continues to dig about a foot and a half down and at an angle out so the igloos diameter gets bigger and the door isn't so high up from the tunnel.  It was all really fascinating.

From the inside of the igloo looking down the exit hole.  Notice the foundation blocks at the top.

Laying down in the igloo prior to sleeping bags coming in.  I wish I would have taken a picture with all our gear inside.  Not much room.

Standing room!

Who wouldn't want to sleep under this?!  Doesn't it look secure?  It took a lot of deep breathing before the lights turned off.  Once it was pitch black, I did OK.

 Another view looking down the exit hole.  We had steps leading to the outside ground level.

Sleeping...well, it didn't really happen for several reasons.

1.  Who actually gets good sleep when they are in a new place and not in their own bed?
2.  Packed ice is really HARD.
3.  It did end up being slightly cold even with all our warm provisions.
4.  It was cramped with four people packed in like sardines.
5.  It was loud as everyone tossed and turned in sleeping bags over those crinkly emergency blankets (keeps the moisture out from below).

None of us slept but it was worth it.

We had perfect conditions.  It was sunny while we were building.  The snow was hard and old not new and powdery.

It started snowing off and on as soon as the igloos were built and didn't stop until we left.  The scenery was breath taking.

 fox

We had to tear down the igloo before we left. "Leave no trace behind"

The taking down was just as fun and just as hard.  The igloo froze over during the night.  There was no way it was going to collapse on us.

Jorden decided to stand on her igloo before tearing it down.

 I guess there is a limit where it will collapse.

Tear down!

Would I do it again?  Heck yeah!  It took around 4 hours to build but the building was really fun work.  I would definitely do it again but bring better comfort and warmth for sleeping.  It was so much fun doing it with friends as well.  I can't leave out the friends.  :)

Can't leave out the cocoa either!