Mushers say that being on this section of trail is like falling off the edge of the earth.  If you wanted total peace and quiet this would be the place to go provided you could hold up against the wind and severely cold temperatures.   Don reports one musher saying, “It’s like you’ve gone to the edge of the planet, fallen off and discovered that the Place Down Below really has frozen over.”  To add to the loneliness, the wolf packs howl all night to welcome and bid farewell to their domestic cousins.

Ralph Conaster is the only person living at Eagle Island.  The checkpoint used to be in his spacious cabin until it burned down a few years ago.  Ralph went back to living in his tiny old cabin which is not large enough for Iditarod to use as a checkpoint.  With no community buildings, Eagle Island is a tent checkpoint that’s located near Iditarod veteran, Ken Chase’s, summer fishing cabin.  The checkpoint is set up in a Quonset shaped tent called a Dodge Lodge.  It’s heated and has straw on the floor for sleepy mushers and volunteers to nap on.  The humans at Eagle Island checkpoint get the chance to experience the insulating or “R” value of straw.  We dogs know all about that!  Finger Lake and Cripple are two of the other “tent cities” that spring up on the Iditarod Trail as checkpoints.

Being that I’m a lead dog, Don mentioned a few things in his notes that really caught my attention.  Because there is little shelter between Grayling and Eagle Island, mushers need to have coats for their dogs, especially the lead dogs.  We leaders will experience the full force of the wind while breaking it for the swing, team and wheel dogs behind us.  He also warns about drifted sections of the trail, rough or snow-free ice and the possibility of overflow.  It’s best to stay right on the trail as the tricky Yukon can have sections of open water and thin ice.  It’s a good thing Iditarod has Trail Breakers to scout and set the trail for the teams!

With all this talk about the Yukon River, I did some research between runs with my team to learn a few things about the great river.  As it turns out, Yukonna in Athabascan means “great river” as does the Gwich’in word Yukunah.  Yupik Eskimos called it Kwiguk, meaning large stream.  A little more than half of the river flows through the U.S. while the other half is in Canada.  The head waters of the Yukon are in northern British Columbia.  It flows in a westerly arc across the Yukon Territory and then into the state of Alaska where it empties into Norton Sound of the Bering Sea.  The river is 2,300 miles long and is the fifth largest river in North America.  It’s longer than the Colorado, Columbia or the Rio Grande rivers.  During the last Ice Age, 10,000 years age, the Yukon River Valley was ice free.

Just like for Iditarod, the river has served as a transportation route throughout history.  For nomadic hunters from Asia, it was the gateway to the rest of North America.  The Eskimos and the Athabascans used it as a trade route.  In the mid 1800’s, Russian-American and Hudson’s Bay fur traders extended their Voyageur routes into the Interior by canoe and keelboat on the Yukon.  In the late 1890’s the gold rush saw grand sternwheelers like the Sarah, the Suzie and the Hannah navigating the river.  The huge powerful boats carried stampeders and supplies to the boom towns.  By the 1930’s, after the completion of the Alaska Railroad and the arrival of cargo aircraft, most sternwheelers were retired.  Smaller boats, barges and snowmachines remain plentiful today.

For the most part, the river is a slow-moving braided stream that is shallow except during spring runoff.  While narrow in some spots, it is a mile wide in other places.  For three months out of the year, the river can be navigated from is mouth all the way to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory.  The Yukon Territory took its name from the mighty Yukon River.  Surprisingly, there are only four vehicle bridges across the entire length of the river along with a couple of pedestrian only bridges.  In some places, car ferries operate during seasons of open water but in winter, cars cross on the frozen ice.

Well, there you have it, a cold forlorn description of Eagle Island and some facts about the mighty Yukon.  You can find out more about the river by checking the internet sites I used – Wikipedia and the Canadian Encyclopedia.  There’s another good resource by Harry Ritter called Alaska’s History.  Handler refers to that little book frequently.  In seventy long miles, teams will reach Kaltag and leave the Yukon behind.  Next Handler will tell us about Kaltag and a famous dog named Yukon.  Stay tuned and remember in everything do your best every day and have a plan.

Born to Run,
Sanka

 

The village has 55 residents. It’s a big deal when Iditarod comes through – everyone needs to help. Folks from the lower 48 who have relatives in Takotna head to the little village to share in the work load. The school children are on vacation so they can help. The checkpoint is manned day and night by residents, friends and relatives in 12 hour shifts. Handler worked with school children who were on the 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. cleanup crew. When a musher left, the children would rake up the left over straw, food and poop then bag it. Another crew would work from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Takotna is an amazing place and Iditarod is truly a labor of love.

Takotna is known for its cold winters and cool summers. On Average, temperatures range from -42°F to zero degrees in the winter and between 42 and 80°F in the summer. Precipitation would be very similar to McGrath with 10 inches of rainfall including around 7 feet of snow. The river is frozen from November through May. The community has electricity. The school and community center have running water and flush toilets. Water is hauled from the waterworks for home use and honey buckets and outhouses are used for sewage disposal. Travelers come and go from the village by either plane or boat. The local road system covers about 15 miles including a road that climbs to the airstrip located high above the village. Handler made the 1.5 mile trek up to the airstrip and was treated to a distant but breath taking view of Denali.

The population of the community is a mixed group of non-Natives, Ingalik Athabascans and Eskimos. Some residents have jobs with the school district, post office, health clinic or local businesses like the small grocery store or seasonal construction companies. A great majority of the area residents rely on moose, salmon, gardens and wild berry crops as food sources. Take a close look at this picture of the inside of the checkpoint. What items do you see that also appear on your table at home? Think about this – this tiny village is in the interior bush of Alaska – accessible only by plane or boat – they hunt and fish for most of their meat – yet we have many things in common.

Now for a little history that Handler and I learned from the Alaska Community Data Base. Over the years, Takotna has been known as Berry Landing, Portage City, Takotna City, Takotna Station and Tocotna. In 1908 after gold was discovered in the Innoko District, Arthur Berry was hired to bring supplies up the river. The village was founded at the spot where the river became too shallow for Berry’s sternwheeler to continue. The village prospered during the gold rush having several commercial companies and roadhouses as well as a post office, radio station and news paper. The water level changed from year to year and so it was not always possible to get supplies to Takotna thus a landing was established further down river. Later in the 1930’s mining activity declined, the Alaska Commercial Company closed the store and McGrath became the supply hub for the area.

Well, there you have it – Takotna, the friendliest little checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail. Our friend and Iditarod Champion, Joe Runyan considers Takotna an excellent choice for the 24 hour layover saying, “It’s a quiet spot for mushers to rest inside a warm dry building, dry out wet gear, eat delicious food and gather information about trail conditions and weather.” Next handler will tell us about Ophir Checkpoint. Stay tuned for that story and remember, in everything do your best everyday and have a plan.

Born to Run,
Sanka

 

Handler said that I had a good question and that I was paying very close attention to details. Before climbing high into the mountains, the dogs and mushers come to Rainy Pass Checkpoint, which is located on Puntilla Lake at Rainy Pass Lodge – elevation 1800 feet. After leaving the checkpoint, the teams climb high into the Alaska Range to a valley that cuts through the mountains and is the highest point of the Iditarod Trail. This valley is the TRUE Rainy Pass – elevation 3,160 feet.

The run to Rohn from Puntilla Lake is 48 miles and takes four or five hours. From Rainy Pass Checkpoint, it’s a steady climb to the TRUE Rainy Pass. After reaching the trail summit it’s a sharp downhill run into the cold Interior of Alaska and the Rohn Roadhouse. This is the famous and feared stretch of trail known as the Dalzell Gorge. In two miles the trail drops hundreds of feet as it jumps back and forth across Dalzell Creek on narrow ice and snow bridges that span open but shallow running water. Imagine how fast that water must be flowing to not freeze! Depending on weather and snow conditions, the Dalzell Gorge can be a nightmare or just a challenge. From where the creek meets the frozen Tatina River it’s just 5 more miles to the Rohn Roadhouse Checkpoint. I once heard Martin Buser say that it takes 2 days to climb to the top of the range and less than two hours to get down the other side. WOW!

After that run, it’s no wonder that the dogs and mushers are happy to see the one lone cabin that is called the Rohn Roadhouse Checkpoint – population zero. In the old days, there was a roadhouse near this location for the dog teams and drivers who carried mail and others supplies into the interior. After the airplane took over for the dog teams, the roadhouse wasn’t maintained and eventually fell down. In 1930, The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) built the cabin used as the checkpoint today. It’s a beautiful spot, sheltered from the wind by larger majestic spruce trees. Before the BLM made improvements on the trail that runs through the Farewell Burn, many mushers chose to take their 24-hour rest in Rohn. Now it’s likely that mushers will move further up the trail before taking their long mandatory rest. By the way, Handler says that lots of folks refer to the Rohn Roadhouse Checkpoint as the Rohn River Checkpoint – don’t be fooled, there isn’t a “Rohn River.”

If you want to read more about any section of the trail, you can do what I did – read the Trail Notes by Don Bowers, Jr. in Iditarod’s Guide to the Last Great Race. You can also find Bowers’ trail notes on www.iditarod.com. And another thing, Handler didn’t have pictures of Rohn so we got permission from Jasper Bond, Rohn Cabin Master, to share some of his pictures. You can see more of Jasper’s pictures at www.rohnroadhouse.com. Handler says it’s important to give credit where credit is due.

Well, there you have it – information about the TRUE Rainy Pass, the Dalzell Gorge and the Rohn Checkpoint. Next Handler is going to tell us about mushing through the Farewell Burn and the village of Nikolai. Stay tuned for that story and remember, in everything do your best everyday and have a plan.

Born to Run,
Sanka

It’s the Happy River steps that are equally challenging for veteran and rookie mushers. This part of the trail is very steep as it runs down to the Happy River through many hairpin turns and switchbacks. Most Iditarod mushers can tell stories about their experiences on the dreaded steps.

In 2006, one of my musher friends, K2 broke the brake on his sled coming down the steps. He was riding the brake to control the sled when it caught on something and snapped. It’s amazing that he made it to Rainy Pass Checkpoint without being able to use his brake. Once he got to Rainy, he went to work to fix the brake before going on. Good Job K2!

And then in 2007, it was unusually icy coming off the steps onto the Happy River. Really experienced humans like DeeDee Jonrowe, Doug Swingley and a few others had to scratch at Rainy Pass Checkpoint after crashing. DeeDee broke her hand and Doug broke some ribs. The dogs love that part of the trail but the humans are very happy to get through in one piece.

Rainy Pass Checkpoint on Puntilla Lake is at 1,800 feet elevation. The checkpoint is located at Rainy Pass Lodge that is run by the Perrins Family, Steve and Denise along with their five sons. Humans come to the lodge to hunt Dall Sheep, Caribou, Moose and Bear – black and grizzly. In the summer, the lodge offers horseback trips, fishing and awesome scenery. Being in the Alaska Range, humans travel to the lodge by plane, snowmachine or dog team.

Well there you have it – some information about Rainy Pass Checkpoint, Rainy Pass Lodge and the treacherous trail from Finger to Rainy. Next the mushers will be heading over the highest point on the Iditarod trail on the way to Rohn. Officially, once the mushers reach Rainy Pass, elevation 3160 feet, and begin to head down the other side of the Alaska Range, they are in the Interior of Alaska. Stay tuned for that story and remember, in everything do your best everyday and have a plan.

Born to Run,

Sanka