By Joe Runyan
It is only 43 miles from Shageluk to Grayling, so most mushers blow through Anvik and continue to Grayling before bedding down the dogs. (See previous trail description for the explanation.)
The mushers arriving in Anvik leave the Yukon via a slough, and then climb a slip into the village. To avoid a mistake in the middle of the night by a tired musher, the trail out of town in the direction of Grayling is routed differently, so that the teams drop down on the Yukon again, but upriver from the incoming trail. It sounds confusing, but the villagers have everything worked out so all the mushers have to do is follow the official Iditarod trail lath, with amber reflective tape, along the north bank of the Yukon, eventually arriving in Grayling.
The 18-mile run from Anvik to Grayling is a straightforward march on the north side of the river, and should be uneventful, even for the most accident-prone. It’s flat, level, and virtually barren of any sled-busting obstacles, excepting the occasional abandoned snow machine that may have died on a trip between villages.
It is important for the musher to adopt a different state of mind on the Yukon. In contrast to the previous excitement of mushing on tight trails in the woods, mushing on the Yukon Trail is languorously, monotonously even, and the vistas so endless that it seems the next bend in the river will never end. The mushers who have lived or trapped on the Yukon understand that it takes patience to travel on the river. For others, it’s sometimes a battle to overcome the boredom of mile after mile of traveling through the very slowly changing scenery.
Regardless of how you feel about traveling on the Yukon - ranging from “somewhat boring” to “once you understand the river, it’s great” - one thing is clear. The dogs are highly mimetic, and the musher, as boss, must present an outward front of alertness and enthusiasm. If not, the dogs will fall into a lackadaisical funk.
On the outskirts of Grayling, the teams climb a slip off the Yukon and come in on Front Street to the community hall checkpoint. Grayling is a really pretty village of 200 residents, with big log homes situated in birch and spruce. Personally, I think the setting is beautiful. The village is set on a high bank overlooking the Yukon with a good view of the setting sun against the mountains far to the south.
From a practical view, the mushers appreciate Grayling because it is a good place to escape the predictable flow of cold air on the river. Some will take the opportunity to give the team a mandatory eight-hour break, as the rules require it somewhere along the Yukon. Most will spend six to eight hours resting here because the next push is a tough 60-mile sortie on the river to the Eagle Island checkpoint. The best plan for the team is to be well rested on departing Grayling because the bed of the Yukon is a poor place to take a break.