PUNTILLA LAKE — It was almost another doozy for DeeDee. Call it a near miss, a lucky break.
Jonrowe was very relaxed and alert, unlike a few of her competitors, as she applied ointment between the toes of her dogs Monday afternoon while they napped on balmy Puntilla Lake. Yes, she was relieved to be here on one piece this year, recalling the pain and disappointment of having to scratch a year ago after smashing her hand so hard that it dislocated her pinky finger. She was also relieved because she’d lost her team on the way up from Finger Lake, but able to get them back without any problems.
She was seven miles out of Finger Lake when her sled was sucked into a gully that wrenched the handlebar out of her hands. She fell, and the string of 16 powerful dogs kept on rolling. Sled dogs rarely stop when a musher falls off, which is the reason for the mantra: Never let go of your sled.
She walked 20 minutes, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. “I was thinking, ‘Oh good, here she goes, Miss Disaster, Calamity Dee,’ ” Jonrowe said. Then she stumbled on her lucky break. Another big divot in the trail, just like the one that knocked her off her feet, had come to the rescue. Her sled plowed into the side of it and the brush bow stuck; her team balled up in a knot but didn’t go on. It took her a while to untangle the mess but Jonrowe was grateful the situation wasn’t worse.
Jonrowe wasn’t in a mood to hurry out of Rainy Pass checkpoint. She’d run nonstop from Skwentna and it had taken her a little over eight hours.
Another musher who looked extremely relieved was Rick Casillo. He’s been trying to field a competitive team for a couple of years now. Last year, he got held up for 12 hours by the blizzard that reduced visibility to nothing. The gentle flakes falling Monday afternoon were nothing by comparison. “I had to start laughing,” he said. “Snow started falling at Finbear Lake (also known as Helicopter Lake, about halfway between Finger Lake and Rainy Pass checkpoints) and I’m like, ‘Here we go again.’ ”
Reports from those who flew to Rohn and back Monday indicated the run should be better for Casillo this year. The trail was white, not icy; and the only hazards visible from the air were some creek crossings. The first team through, Kjetil Backen, had to lead his team through them.
This checkpoint was a veritable train station for the afternoon as mushers vying for the front of the pack either blew through or pulled their hooks after a six-hour pit stop. Kjetil Backen led the pack, running from Finger Lake to Rohn in about seven and a half hours. Aaron Burmeister was the next one out, at 3:12 p.m., but he grabbed a bale of straw for the road, indicating he’d pull over before Rohn. Then came the swarm of mushers who’d camped before Rainy Pass and were running straight to Rohn. There were eight of them between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., led by Gerry Willomitzer and Paul Gebhardt. All of those teams looked strong, with standouts being Lance Mackey, Zack Steer and Warren Palfrey.
About then, the teams that had pulled in at 11 a.m. began to take off: Jim Lanier, Mitch Seavey, Jeff King and Sigrid Ekran. They all left by 5 p.m., trailing Ed Iten and Martin Buser by just a few minutes. Seavey actually left ahead of the pack, but doubled back after about a half mile at the end of Puntilla Lake. He quickly pointed out a team dog that he said was stiff and may have a sore shoulder, and handed it over to race veterinarians before doubling back and heading back out; this time, right behind King and Ekran.
Notable for moving extremely well just after 5 p.m. were Rohn Buser, Ryan and Ray Redington and Jessie Royer.
The trail may have been a bit slow, but the teams leaving here were large and strong. Race officials and veterinarians had only seen about half the dog teams by 7 p.m., with only a handful of dropped dogs. But they wondered if the trail here softened by the passing teams would be more difficult for the back of the pack.
It was softer, said Karen Ramstead, running her team of purebred Siberian huskies. The trail was still better than it has been in the past, she said, while feeding the 16 playful dogs. But, sure enough, big trenches of bottomless powder snow were gouged out by forty-something dog teams that passed through ahead of her.