Trail report and bonus story—Harrison Haviland-Longo nailed good grades and earned a sled ride with Iditarod Champ John Baker
Trail reports from the very isolated Dalzell Gorge, including photos, describe a “challenging” ride off the north slope of the Alaska Range.
But, first, big news flash. Harrison Haviland-Longo, pictured above, nailed some good scores in school, received a recommendation from his teachers, and was offered a ride in the sled with John Baker, the 2011 Champ.
I had an opportunity to visit with Harrison Wednesday night at a hospitality dinner hosted by the Baker Family at the official Iditarod Race Headquarters at the Millenium Hotel in Anchorage. According to Harrison’s teacher, Diane Hoffbauer, and his wonderful friend and guardian Petey Visnick, Harrison is now living at the Visnick home. Both his mom, Navy, and father, Army are deployed, so Harrison is away from family, but studying hard in Anchorage.
Harrison accepted the media attention with aplomb and casual cool. How did it happen? Petro Star, a John Baker sponsor, annually buys an Iditaride with John Baker, a ten our twelve mile journey in the sled basket from the Saturday start on 4th Avenue to the BLM Campbell Tract Facility. This is a ceremonial run for the benefit of thousands of spectators and although the run is mandatory, no official time is recorded. Beside the spectacle, iditariders generate major funding for Iditarod, as auctioned “rides in the sled” can bring thousands from selected bidders.
Petro Star is an enthusiastic supporter of the military community and contributed the ticket to Harrison’s school on base. Bill Haitley, a John Baker family friend, pulled twenty bucks out of his wallet and offered to buy the ride. Harrison was unrattled, and declined the offer. When Bill pulled out another twenty, Harrison maintained his hard bargaining position and retained all rights to the “ride.” Note Harrison with John, already an intimate friend and confidante of the Champ from Kotzebue, Alaska. More on his “ride” this Saturday in downtown Anchorage.
TRAIL REPORT
The trail report is probably the single biggest pre-race news item, even displacing the frantic inquiry for the “top” contenders list. I noted over 200 reporters assembled at the Iditarod media meeting yesterday, all searcing for an Iditarod story. I can claim with some confidence that none of them have the following photos of the “Dalzell.” The Dalzell, rugged and uncompromising, with the right conditions, is regarded respectfully by mushers. No one wants to break a sled or lose time in the canyon.
In some place open water has replace the ice—but it could freeze again
Generally, Mark Nordman, Race Marshal and Race Coordinator, told me that late snows have blanketed the full thousand miles of trail, and with local traffic between villages and the passing of the Iditarod traigroomers,should leave the mushers with an excellent trail to Nome.
However, one well known infamous section of trail remains under the “cautionary” and “challenging” label. After summitting the Alaska Range at Rainy Pass, the mushers follow a trail that falls off the north side of the range through the Dalzell Gorge to the confluence of the Titina River. This defile, especially in the lower reaches of the canyon has historically been tricky for mushers. The trail is serpentine, weaving back and forth across Dalzell Creek through groves of cottonwoods, in a narrow canyon. Additionally, this section of trail is very remote and is used only when the Iditarod race courses thru the canyon.
canyon walls in the Dalzell
This year, according to my informants,the Dalzell is complicated. Big winds blew this winter through the Alaska Range, downing timber. In some areas of the Dalzell, “Half the trees in a grove of cottonwoods were laid down. We have been on the trail with a chainsaw clearing the trail.”
clearing down timber in the Dalzell
As often happens on the Dalzell, very cold temperatures dammed the creek, causing overflow to back up and flood bank to bank. With low enough temperatures, the open water freezes, producing bizarre sculptures of frozen ice. Sometimes, the temporary dam will break, and the water will drain out from under the ice, leaving three, four, and even a five foot empty space to the bottom of the creek bed. This “drum ice” (sounds like a drum when you go over it), with a benign layer of snow laying on top, looks solid and safe. Covered with snow, the drum ice can appear deceivingly safe—that is untill you hit it just right with a sixteen dog team, the sled hammers the surface, and in an instant the sled drops through a trap door into an ice ringed pit.
This could happen to you if the drum ice breaks
However, it can collapse, revealing the ice cavern underneath. Riding a snowmachine and mushing a dog team across the drum ice, you can imagine the surprise when the ice suddenly gives way. This is exactly what happened to our trail breakers, who then had to spend hours chopping the ice and shoveling snow to make a passable bridge across the creek.
Andy Willis, who provided the photos, told me they have worked to fix the crossings, but it’s “challenging”, a convenient euphemism for the mushers which means “don’t screw up and miss a shot to get cleanly across the ice.”
Miss the trail and you are in the drink
The Dalzell, as temperatures rise and flow, is constantly morphing. Therefore, no one would be surprised to find the creek flooded once again when mushers traverse the Dalzell the second day of racing.
