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Tag: Denali

Trail from Rohn to Nikolai by Sanka W. Dog

Posted by Sanka in Along the Trail, Explore Alaska, News Date: November 11, 2008

Budtzen captures the Fata Morgana There was so much to share with you about the village of Nikolai, there wasn’t enough time or space to tell you about the trail between Rohn and Nikolai. Between the stories, pictures Handler has and what I’ve discovered about the trail from the Bower’s Trail Notes in Iditarod’s Guide to the Last Great Race, there’s reason to tell you a little more about this part of the trail.

Dogs Teams are unmistakable from the air in the Farewell Burn The trail between Rohn and Nikolai is beautiful and challenging. During the clear, cold daytime the mushers and dogs can see Denali and Mt. Foraker in the northeast. Try to imagine how beautiful these peaks are around sunrise and sunset when they are still brightly lit by the sun over the dark landscape below. On the other hand, challenges include areas of glare ice, overflow, open water, wind and lack of snow. I had to ask what overflow was. Handler explained that it’s water that sits on top of frozen ice. How does it get there? It comes up through cracks in the ice or around the edges. You know, I’ve done a few open water crossings – just little steams and it’s not so bad. We have to change booties pretty soon afterward.

Egypt Mountain is a stand alone peak that’s about 3,000 feet tall. The teams run low along the shoulder of this mountain as they head from Rohn toward Farewell Lake. This is where the buffalo live. Buffalo? I thought handler was making this up! Back in 1965, eighteen of the big brown beasts were moved from Canada and then a few years later another 20 were added to the herd. Now there are 200 to 300 bison that graze in the burn area. They aren’t a problem for Iditarod teams but they are curious. There are stories about mushers who decide to pull over to rest with their teams and wake up to a buffalo kissing their cheek. Now who would believe this but Don Bowers, Jr. speaks the truth in his Trail Notes!

Cessna 180 provides an aerial view of the trail through the Farewell Burn The Farewell Burn is exactly what its name implies. During the summer of 1978, one and a half million acres burned in Alaska’s largest ever forest fire. Forty miles of Iditarod Trail runs through the burned area. After the fire, the trail was covered with snags and downed trees, so for several years it was very tough sledding but in 1984 a 25 foot wide trail was cleared through the burn by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). If there is good snow, this can be a great section of trail – without snow, it’s still tough sledding.

Buffalo Camp in the Farewell Burn In the Burn, about 40 miles from Nikolai, the teams will come upon a tent camp complete with people and snowmachines. This is the Buffalo Camp. Teams are welcome to stop to rest and have some stew. The hunters sure helped Paul Gebhardt out in 2006 when he lost his team. Paul told Handler his story while they were eating Cheeseburgers and Fries at the Nikolai Community Center.

Gebhardt was coming into the burn when his sled hit a tree and the gangline snapped. The team kept going leaving Paul standing on the runners of a motionless sled. Paul yelled at his leaders to stop but they didn’t so he began to run after the team. He got hot so he took off his anorak and tossed it beside the trail – he kept running. Next he took off his coat and tossed it beside the trail – he kept jogging. Next he took off his insulated pants and tossed them beside the trail – he kept walking. Paul was in the lead when he lost his team. Doug Swingley, not too far behind, came upon the abandoned sled. He saw Paul’s footprints going down the trail and the anorak, coat and pants laying beside the trail. He knew what had happened. Pretty soon Doug caught up with Paul and gave him a ride to the Buffalo Camp. Paul borrowed a snowmachine from the hunters and finally caught up with his team a couple of miles down the trail. Gebhardt tied his team off and then raced back to his sled, picking up his anorak, coat and pants on the way. He towed his sled up to the Buffalo Camp, picked up a hunter then went on up the trail to where his team was tied off. The hunter returned to camp with the snowmachine. Paul replaced his gangline and continued down the trail, now in second place.

I’ve heard about the rule that mushers can’t receive outside assistance on the trial. Do you think Paul was penalized for riding on Doug’s sled or using a snowmachine to recover his team? The rules allow a musher to use any means available to recover a team. The Race Marshall said that Gebhardt didn’t gain any time or advantage in using these options to recover his team so there was no penalty. Lucky for Paul that the Buffalo Camp was so close and lucky that mushers are really Good Samaritans and willing to help each other out.

Well, there you have it – some stories, history and information about the trail between Rohn and Nikolai.  Thanks to Robert Bundtzen for sharing the wonderful mirage picture.  From Nikolai, the teams move on to McGrath. Stay tuned for that story and remember – in everything do your best every day and have a plan.

Born to Run,
Sanka

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Virtual Trail Journey – Willow Restart by Sanka W. Dog

Posted by Sanka in Explore Alaska, News Date: October 3, 2008

Ready and Waiting to Go! Restart? How can a race have two starts? This is more than I can wrap my young dog brain around! It’s true though; Iditarod has TWO starts – the CEREMONIAL START in Anchorage and then on the following day the RESTART in Willow. Once the teams leave Willow, it’s pretty difficult for spectators to see the race because the trail becomes very remote. So the numbers of people watching and cheering as the teams go by drops from thousands at the start and restart down to a handful in the checkpoints along the trail.

Willow Starting Line You might wonder why the Restart isn’t in Wasilla, the location of Iditarod Headquarters. That’s a good question! With all the urban development, new roads, driveways and traffic – it’s just not reasonable for the dogs to run out of Wasilla and with climate changes, Wasilla doesn’t have enough snow for a safe trail. By going 30 miles further north to hold the Restart at Willow, the teams head out across Willow Lake into the wilderness and a trail covered with plenty of snow. Willow is a community of 1600 people located at mile 69 of the Parks Highway that leads to Denali. This is the last road access to the trail. Summer high temperatures range between 70 and 90°F Winter temperatures range from 30 below to 30° above. Unlike some areas on the trail, Willow isn’t known for windy weather.

Enough about the details, here’s what Handler told us about the Restart. While the Ceremonial Start was pretty relaxed and a lot of fun, the Restart is a different story. The mushers are very focused and pretty business like. They all arrive with their dog trucks and trailers and park in designated spots on frozen Willow Lake. There are hundreds of volunteers including dog handlers, thousands of spectators and plenty of reporters and film crews. The mushers make last minute checks of their gear, sleds and gang lines. Some are even making last minute repairs and decisions as to which dogs will make the Iditarod team. Once the gang line is stretched out and the sled bag is packed, there’s time to answer reporter’s questions, give instructions to volunteer handlers, chat with other mushers, have a bite to eat, enjoy the beautiful view of Denali (if the mountain is out) or maybe take a little nap. The dogs are “dropped” (that’s musher speak for getting out of the dog trailer to go to the bathroom) then they get a nice pre-race meal and hop back into their boxes for a little nap. There is so much going on at the restart, getting back into the trailer helps to keep them relaxed and calm.

Soon enough, two o’clock rolls around and the action kicks into high gear! Mushers are keeping an eye on the time to get the team in harness soon enough but not too soon as the dogs will get too excited. Teams go off at two-minute intervals so to keep things rolling smoothly, about 20 minutes before your start time, the clerk of course comes by to tell the mushers to get ready. A short time later, the team is on the way to the starting line lead by 18 or 20 very strong handlers.

Handler told us this story about DeeDee Jonrowe. DeeDee was team 28. Team 27 was being taken to the start. DeeDee was just sitting around talking with folks, didn’t even have her anorak on. It sure seemed like she didn’t realize she was next. Time passed and the clerk called her to the start – still NO DOGS IN SIGHT. Finally, DeeDee stood up and suddenly 16 handlers appeared from out of nowhere with harness in hand. They each went to the trailer, brought out a dog, harnessed, hooked the dog onto the gang line and bootied it. DeeDee, now in her anorak, stepped onto the sled runners behind 16 cool, calm and collected dogs, pulled the snow hook and was on her way to the starting line. Honest – this all took less than a minute! Veteran mushers like DeeDee have their routine down to a science.

Well, there you have it – a little information about the Restart of Iditarod and Willow, the community that hosts the event. Next, Handler is going to tell us about the checkpoints along the trail – stay tuned for those stories and remember – in everything do your best every day.

Born to Run,

Sanka

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