HOT OFF THE PRESSES.....
UPDATE AS OF NOON 3/4/08 - PAUL INTO NIKOLAI IN 3RD PLACE WITH 16 DOGS
© Paul Gebhardt - Morning View Kennel - IDITAROD 2008 UPDATE #2
Update as of 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Currently in 10th place
OUT of the ROHN checkpoint
Wearing Bib # 69
After giving his team of 16 fast-charging huskies a solid rest of six and a half hours, Paul was back on the trail at 2:20am this morning. The remote checkpoint of ROHN, which is little more than a tiny log cabin nestled beneath the umbrella of towering spruce trees, was a bustling hot spot on the Iditarod Trail throughout the midnight hours. Paul had arrived here in 4th place, but elected to give his dogs a good rest before the challenging journey that lies ahead of them. A number of other teams opted to do otherwise, and either left with no downtime, or took abbreviated stops by comparison. The only exception to this, was the Norwegian musher Kjetil Backen, who had arrived first, and rested longest of any of the front runners. Notably, Kjetil and Paul's teams posted the exact same traveling speed according to the available stats. It is a speed that seems to be working well for Paul, as he departed the checkpoint with all 16 dogs in tow.
The trail leading into ROHN has taken the mushers over the Alaska Range, down the often-perilous side hill switch-backs of the steps down to Happy River, and through the infamous Dalzell Gorge. Departing ROHN, they will cross the South Fork of the Kuskokwim River and navigate a series of sharp hills and narrow tunnels that slice through the dense forest. The early trail reports indicate an angry glacier awaits them where the trail skirts the face of a towering rock canyon wall. Paul had packed ice cleats in his sled to use if he needed to help the team across the mound of frozen rock and water.
There will be rolling hills that may or may not have snow cover to cushion the ride for the teams as they head towards Farewell Lake and the area known as the Farewell Burn. Prior to the 1970's, this area was once an equal to the impressive spruce forest that surrounds the ROHN checkpoint. However, a massive wildfire transformed the area to something more akin to the face of a lunar crater. For many years, the landscape was dotted by charred black stumps and little else. Mother Nature has reclaimed the landscape over time, and now there are shrub willows and smaller spruce trees skirting the trail. The area is home to a bison herd that has successfully reproduced and flourished since being relocated here in 1965. Paul has encountered small herds of them near the trail in the past, and often sees the evidence of their passing.
Two years ago, it was on the edge of Farewell Lake that Paul had the misfortune of hitting a tree with his sled which caused his gangline to snap. He lost the lead position he had finally gained that year, after starting in the very last position. Fortunately, the story had a happy ending thanks to a pair of buffalo hunters and Paul's competitors, but it is a story Paul does not want to repeat. One of the things he really focused on leading into this year's race with his new sled design was how it would "trail" with a load. Frequently, when he is camping the team away from the checkpoints, he will carry the straw and supplies he needs to feed and care for them on his sled. Such was the case in 2006, and it was that heavy load that caused the sled to be hard to handle. The new sled that Paul is running now has a special carrying rack on the back that Paul can use to strap a bale of straw and dog food onto, rather than piling it in a top-heavy load in the basket of the sled. He tested the rig on training runs here out of our Kenai Peninsula kennel with great success, and will likely be using it now on the 75+mile run into the NIKOLAI.
As there were a number of teams that did not rest at the last checkpoint, it is likely that Paul will be passing a few of them as daylight breaks on the trail. When the mushers stop to "camp" with their team, it is a quiet period of isolation save for the media helicopters, occasional snowmachines and of course the other teams passing by. The mushers will pull out the portable cooker they are required to carry to either melt snow or warm water drawn from a creek to prepare a meal for their team. Prior to last year's race, Paul had made certain to coach a neighboring rookie musher to keep an eye out for certain landmarks to find the creeks along the trail. The absence of snow meant that finding water was critical, because it would be impossible to carry the amount needed in the sled. The team will eat and rest, during these stops, but it is unlikely the mushers themselves will get any sleep as they continue to repack their sleds or gently work on the dog's feet as their canine athletes slumber. These elements are all part of the learning process in training for the team. Paul will take them on similar runs to teach them the camping process throughout the months of November and December, as well as doing this in the mid distance races in January. By the time the Iditarod rolls around, the dogs are versed on Paul's cues that they are going to stop for either a short break or an extended rest.
In terms of extended rest, each musher is required to take one 24-hour layover during the race from Anchorage to Nome. It is not dictated where it needs to be taken, so this is one element of strategy for the mushers. During this layover, the staggered starting times of the teams will be adjusted to balance things out. The first team out of the chute will have a mandated rest of over 27 total hours when they finally declare their "24". Part of Paul's strategy in his starting order gives him an automatic bounce when he comes off this layover. The 24-hour period exact is great rest for the dogs, and anything over this has little intrinsic value. So Paul's layover of 24 hours and 56 minutes will give him an advantage of a couple of hours of lead time compared to the teams that left the starting line first.
Throughout the next three days, expect to see some dramatic fluctuations in the standings as mushers begin to declare these layovers. Depending upon the status of the team and the trail conditions, Paul has prepared his food drops to allow for this extended stop at several different locations. These options allow him to adjust his strategy to reflect what the weather or trail may throw at them. But at this point, things are exactly on par with where Paul planned to be. I normally get a phone call from him when he reaches NIKOLAI, so I will know more after that. In the absence of that, I will rely on the Iditarod Race Trail updates. For those of you that may have logged on yesterday, you will have noticed that they did not have Paul's stats updated for a very long period of time, and suddenly they caught up with him and he moved from 68th place to 4th. These are volunteers donating their time, which is very much appreciated, but it does get a little nerve wracking when this happens. Bottom line, is that what will happen will happen, and we can only pray and watch from the sidelines. Things are looking good so far. The team has traveled nearly 300 miles already, and this is just Day 2.
Until later - Life is a journey, enjoy the ride! Evy
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