a straw bed marks the spot where lance and Jeff briefly rested in takotna, then left the resting pack for direction Iditarod

Jodi Bailey arrived in Takotna, then whistled her team up for a run to Ophir with her twelve dog team.

10 am in the Takotna checkpoint

A desultory day in Takotna, snow falling in 30F temperatures, mushers on a 24 hour break stumbling into the kitchen area for a cup of coffee, then retreating back to a designated sleeping area for another nap, while pilots discuss weather maps on the widescreen tv.  Meanwhile, middle of the pack mushers dribble into Takotna, but the excitement of last night has evaporated.

Jodi Bailey, who incidentally has a good sense of humor, arrives about 9 50 AM, signs in and has a little conversation with a volunteer, while, at the same time another conversation begins about the number of dogs allowed in a team.  “You mean to finish, I think its six. ”  and then , “NO NO, I mean how many do you get to start with?”  The guy tallking to Jodi Bailey interjects, “I think you can start with sixteen.”  While taking a photo of Jodi, I interrupt and say to the checker, , “Then why is Jodi driving seventeen dogs?”  She actually has maybe twelve. Jodi announces she is going to Ophir and begins a conversation with one of her team dogs that seems very interested in staying in Takotna, “We have to go,” whistles up the team and in less than a minute disappears behind a white curtain of falling snow in subdued light.

Weather predictions include more snow untill early this afternoon with a possible accumulation of two or three inches.  But I have to say, walking through the snow back to the school, that it looks like three or four, and its still snowing so heavily that all Idiarod aircraft are sitting on the ground.    Visibility, however, is said to improve this afternoon so we can fly ahead of Lance Mackey and Jeff King, who are presently trotting from Ophir to Iditarod.

Flight weather calls for big winds later this afternoon in about the 30 to 40 mile an hour range for this area.   That means Lance Mackey and Jeff King could possibly be busting snow drifts as they wind their way across rolling tundra of stunted black spruce and low brush to Iditarod.

WEather and trail factors

Lance and Jeff are basically running a solo race experiment to Iditarod while most of the lead pack remains resting in Takotna, not withstanding that Martin Buser (who we will catch up with in a moment) is out of McGrath already having completed his mandator 24 hour rest.  Blowing snow could slow the pair of champs, but a far more important consideration is MeCHANICAL.

Here’s the situation.   Iditarod trail breakers try to remain 24 hours ahead of the race leader, the theory being that the RACE has promised the leader a trail.  After that, the Iditarod does no trail improvements for the following racers.  And, it should be added, 24 hours almost always guarantees that the trail is “set” so that the first musher can at least travel on a crust of solid snow.  The trail may deteriorate into a bowl of sugar snow with each passing team, but that’s the risk of travelling behind.  It could work the other way and the lead musher lays down a trail for the following competitors.

We are careful with our Insider snow machines, making sure that our guys dont rip the trail up and in practise go slow.  WE also position them so the trail is not compromised for the leaders.  Along the Yukon and coastal parts of the trail in the last half, extensive village traffic makes this caution unneccesary.  However, the trail to Iditarod is seldom used and delicate.

In 2005, for example, robert Sorlie was leading the race traversing to Iditarod.  Travelling on a trail that was crusted with about four inches of set snow, his dogs and sled were supported most of the time.  Only occassionally would a dog stuff a foot through the crust and stumble.  Otherwise, the team was trotting smoothly.  Having landed with a helicopter at a point about halfway called Don’s Cabin, I walked to the trail and discovered the crust supported my weight and I could walk.  WE waited for Sorlie to pass and filmed him trotting by smoothly.

At the same time we were aware of a mushing saavy tour operator who was leading a group of about 20 snowmachiners on a “Iditarod trail wilderness adventure.”  I waited for the group, standing on the trail. “Do you realize that you could change the outcome of this race by destroying the trail?  I walked back up the trail to several machines and demonstrated that the vibration of this mechanical train had obliterated the crust into a dust bowl of disentegrated snow.  I wallowed back in snow up to my knees, demonstrating the destruction of the first several machines, not to mention the entire train.  The paddle wheel track installed on some machines (not our Iditarod machines) is partly responsible. 

Faced with this realization, the tour operater still forged on, completely destroying 35 miles of trail into Iditarod.  Flying ahead, we saw Sorlie (a very athletic guy) behind his sled plunging helplessly into a bottomless pit of loose snow while his dogs slobbered through snow to their bellies.  It was horrible.

In telling  this story to Pete Kaiser and others in the community hall, Dee Jonrowe, who was following Sorlie in 2005, added, “I almost cried when the snowmachiners went by.  The trail was destroyed.” 

However, mushers waiting in Takotna had the advantage as night time temperatures cooled and the trail hardened again.  These following mushers mushed to Iditarod on a firm trail, a total bummer for the risk takers in front.

But what about private parties of snowmachiners using the Iditarod trail on public land?  Little is to be done in policing their travel except social pressure to make them good citizens.  The best is to either go ahead of the leader untill hitting well used trails on the Yukon, or staying behind a day so that the mushers have a fair trail to Shageluk or Anvik.

The three Theories UPDATE

Lance and Jeff King are on their way to Iditarod, likely to arrive late afternoon (maybe 5PM).  Aaron Burmeister  and Aliy and others remain resting in Takotna, to depart from their 24 hour about 10 30PM tonight with well rested teams.   Martin Buser, representing strategie theory three, will probably arrive in Takotna at 1 30 PM.

Martin, executing a very risky strategy of mushing 160 miles to Rohn with little rest and unconventionally declaring an early 24 hour mandatory, has a potential six or seven hour lead over the field—maybe more.  His strategy is astounding if he can make it work and continue to keep his team moving at race leader speed.   We are anticipating that he will continue to Ophir to rest his team, then on to Iditarod. 

Incidentally, Sebastian Schnuelle (see his blog) and I were commenting that Lance is going to the office by being first to Iditarod (which gets you some gold from GCI) and then, if he goes to Anvik, another cash award for first to the Yukon.  I like the way he is thinking “just another day in the coal mine.”