By Joe Runyan
To arrive at the highest point of the trail, musher and team have worked hard to scramble up and down the convolutions of the southern slopes of the Alaskan Range. Now the musher looks to the tops of nearby peaks, scanning for blowing veils of spindrift. The checkpoint official records the time of arrival, informs the musher of the whereabouts of the food bags, and points to the water hole. A volunteer has chipped through three feet of ice on Puntilla Lake to water, so the mushers do not have to melt snow to mix their dog food. “Is the wind blowing on the pass?” Even the rookie from Oregon or Minnesota or Norway knows to ask this question about the broad, treeless flat on top of the Range known as Rainy Pass. Tough trail, deep snow, long hills and cold can slow or delay the progress of the team. But wind can intimidate and stop the unprepared team. If the wind is howling, the cautious musher with a questionable leader may decide to travel in caravan with other teams. Even for the team with a leader who will knife through the wind, this new obstacle is foremost on the mushers mind, because it will require concentration to stay true to the trail markers in the confusion of a windstorm of blowing snow. When the leader disappears from view in white nothingness, this is the definition of trust. All the great teams have been able to negotiate through the wind.
I remember the winning teams of Susan Butcher for their ability to march through the horrific winds coming off the Bering Sea further up the trail. Although the fastest teams can negotiate the pass, descend the north side of the range via the Dalzell Gorge, and arrive at the remote Rohn River checkpoint in three and a half hours, much is compressed into this short time. After making the pass, 10 miles more or less, the trail enters a tight valley known as the Dalzell Gorge. The trail descends rapidly, often crossing the ice of Dalzell Creek, and winds precariously through the rocks and woods. In a low snow year, this can be a difficult dog-driving section. I do not have statistics to back up my view, but I would say there are more wrecks and broken sleds in the Dalzell than any other section of the Iditarod. On top of all this potential excitement, there is another feature that distinguishes the run from Rainy Pass to Rohn River. The variety of game in this area is memorable.
This is easily my favorite part of the trail, as you can regularly see herds of caribou, moose, Dall sheep, and occasionally buffalo. If you don’t see buffalo, you can probably see them on the next leg of trail, just out of Rohn. I forgot to mention - if the trail is attempted at night, with just the aid of a headlamp, add another level of tension to this run.