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The Mountains Win Again

Happy River Steps Continue the Legacy of Ending Iditarod Dreams Early

by Andy Moderow

03/07/2006

As any Iditarod veteran will tell you, crossing the Alaska Range by dog team isn’t a small feat: Even those with experience can have a rough time. Yet one section of trail is notoriously bad. Yesterday, for the third time in two years, a short section of trail known as the ‘Happy River Steps’ ended a veteran musher’s trip to Nome. This serves as a reminder that both veterans and rookies alike can fall victim to the hazards of the trail.

Last year, in Iditarod XXXIII, two mushers had to end their races early because of injuries attained while traversing the ‘Happy River Steps’. Veteran Musher Jacque Philip dislocated a bone in his hand and elected to scratch. Judy Merritt, while not an Iditarod veteran, had traveled down the steps twice before in other Iditarod bids: On her third trip down the steps, she suffered a concussion and spinal injuries, ending yet another attempt to reach the burled arch in Nome. This year Lori Townsend, an Iditarod finisher, broke at least one rib while bouncing down the final descent to the Happy River, causing her to scratch at the next checkpoint, Rainy Pass.

The ‘Happy River Steps’ are comprised of, as the late Don Bowers described in his ‘Trail Notes’ (accessible here), a series of narrow ramps which traverse the face of a very steep slope: A slope so steep that the word ‘cliff’ is much more applicable than ‘hill’. In between the steps, teams practically double back on themselves, a maneuver that is never easy with a 90 foot-long dog team, even on flat terrain. Add in the large trees and small drop offs that await any musher whose sled slides off the trail, and it becomes understandable why the ‘Happy River Steps’ have proven to be such a formidable opponent.

Veteran musher Martin Buser often gives the following advice to rookies running the race under his guidance: ‘You can’t scratch unless a bone is sticking out’. While one must admire him for not only saying but living by this philosophy, as he did last year, running the Iditarod just days after cutting one of his fingers off in a wood shop accident, injuries on the trail are nothing to be taken lightly. A decision to pull out of the race after severe bodily injury is quite understandable, especially when the hazards of the Dalzell Gorge and Buffalo Tunnels lie ahead.

After the 2004 race, Judy Merritt was quoted as saying “the steps and the gorge are my dragon”. While others may choose different words to describe their relationship with the steps, many can probably relate to the struggle she has had within this rugged section of Iditarod: And it appears that the dragons she refers to continue to reside deep in the heart of the Alaska Range, challenging teams on their way to Nome.