Steaming

After caribou hunting for four hours Nick invited me to come steam with him and Roger. If you thought driving around a snow-go with a gun slung over your back is manly, try getting naked and sitting in a steam house!!! Anyway, I have learned a little more about steaming and how it is properly done.

When Molly and I steamed we just sat in the "hot room," it is like a sauna, to wash and relax. I now know that you are supposed to go in the hot room for a bit then back into the "cold room," this is like the entryway to the steam house and gets very steamy when the hot room door is opened. After sitting in the cold room for a few minutes, you go back into the hot room, then to the cold room, then to the hot room, and continue this for as long as you want. Each time in the hot room you may do some washing or just sit and relax. The very last time in the hot room Nick "bombed" the room by adding a lot of water to the rocks making it extremely hot. It felt kind of like pouring molten lava over my body! OK, so it wasn't that bad, but it was hot and did feel good in the end. The best part is sitting in the cold room with all the steam. It is interesting how for hours after steaming I still felt very warm and cozy, even when I went outside and my wet hair froze, I felt warm.

Last thing, if anyone has questions about steaming, school, trapping, hunting, or any other experiences we've had please add them as a comment. We try to explain anything that may be interesting, but it's easy to leave bits, pieces, and whole stories out because we see it every day.