Iditarod 2009 – Paul Gebhardt Update # 4 as of Thursday, March 12 ©Evy Gebhardt
Bib #15  Paul and team are currently in 10th position

Into the TAKOTNA checkpoint

As I write this, Paul is in the final moments before he will depart the TAKOTNA checkpoint having fulfilled the first of three mandatory layovers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. He had arrived there at 4:58 yesterday (Wed.) morning, and was required to take a layover of 25 hours and 46 minutes.  (The musher start the race in two minute intervals. It is during these 24-hour layovers that the times are adjusted to compensate for this. So the last musher out of the chute would rest exactly 24 hours.)  Much in part due to his starting position, he has somewhat of a deficit reflected in his time now as he comes off of his break right in the mix of the competition that drew “high” numbers and had much shorter total layovers.

I talked to him twice over this extended stop along the trail, and here’s what I have to report.

DEEP snow along sections of the trail. Paul indicated that on the run from ROHN across the Farewell Burn and through McGRATH and onto TAKOTNA the snow was four feet high on either side of the trail.

WARM temperatures. It was almost 40degrees and the dogs were sprawled out in the sunshine yesterday afternoon.  Trail reports for the next three days suggest temperatures in the upper 30’s by day and a balmy 10 degrees overnight. (Not ideal for mushing or trail conditions) Speaking of trail conditions… as of the time Paul set the hook in TAKOTNA to declare his layover, race officials were confirming that on the challenging 90-mile run from the next checkpoints of OPHIR to the race’ official halfway point, IDITAROD, there was not a trail put in yet. Trail breakers would be going out and carving a path through the 2feet of fresh snow that blanketed the landscape. A surefire recipe for a slow, punchy trail when coupled with the warm temperatures.

A BROKEN SLED is probably the biggest news, with the most direct impact on Paul’s race at this point. I had speculated that this was the cause of his slower run into the checkpoint, and he confirmed that he had hit a stump (ironically it was in very close proximity to the tree that he hit a few years ago). The stump tore out the back supporting cross member on the sled and shattered a stanchion. He was able to bind it together, but the loss of infrastructure did more than just make the sled trail poorly. What he couldn’t tell as he made his way through the deep snow under the cloak of darkness was that the bottom of the sled, the “belly pan”, made a hammock and was dragging directly on the ground. When he carried two of the dogs over 40 miles of rolling terrain in the Burn (TINKER and WEASEL were the first two dogs he dropped), then later loading the larger male named MARSHALL before dropping him as well, the weight pushed it even further down.  Had his replacement sled made it to NIKOLAI as he originally intended, he would have definitely made better time on the 72 mile run coming into his current checkpoint.
As such, he remained optimistic and was happy to be able to switch over to not only a fully functioning sled, but also one that weighs in 25 pounds lighter than his other sled. During his break, he also went through his gear and is shipping back anything extra that he figured he would not need given the trail reports and weather forecast. Things like the heavy protective jackets that he would have for the dogs to wear if the temperatures were frigid, or extra boots all went into bags for shipping home.

As I mentioned, he had dropped three dogs at this point. Both TINKER AND WEASEL are smaller females, that have already made the trip back to our Anchorage folks.  Marshall will join them as well, and at this point, Paul is assessing SKUNK as well. He had a bit of snow that worked down into his bootie and made the edge of a toe sore when it formed a little snowball. He was walking the dogs during their layover and will make that call as to whether he drops him as well. Other than that, the rest of the team was eating very well, and he said their weights and appetites were great. He was exceptionally pleased with the performance of the leggy, and powerful male named RECON who had been a powerhouse moving the team through the deep snow. As well, a couple of the newbies to the team, FAWN and COPPER had him just smiling as well.

He figured that it was going to be a slower race than normal for much of the rest of their journey, as the trail conditions did not favor any speedy trips. Coming off of his layover, he still felt he was very much in the thick of the competition, although I know we will continue to see jockeying of positions over the next several days. Paul also expected a significant number of mushers to be spending time camping out along the trail rather than in checkpoints. Having their teams resting in the heat of the day and traveling under the full moon would be the ideal.

Once they leave TAKOTNA, the teams will travel a relatively easy route on the 25 mile run into the tiny outpost of OPHIR, from there it is into the vast unspoiled wilderness of the Yukon – Kuskokwim Delta through the swamps and rolling hills onto IDITAROD. After this checkpoint that marks the halfway point in the race, they have increasingly hilly terrain to navigate heading into SHAGELUK. 

Paul was a little concerned about the mounting of his GPS tracker on this new sled, so don’t be alarmed if all of the sudden you don’t see him. The original fixture to his sled had a harness for it, but it is settled differently on this new sled.   Other than that, it is just sit and wait for us, as the team hits the trail again.

Until later, Life is a journey, enjoy the ride…

Evy