by Donald Bowers, Jr.
You must consider the first three legs as a unit for your first day on the trail. Plan on an hour and a half to get to Knik, another five to seven hours on the trail to Yentna Station, and three to five hours from Yentna Station to Skwentna. Somewhere along the way you’ll want to rest your dogs for two or three hours, preferably during the heat of the day between the Little Susitna River and the Big Susitna River. The “fast movers” will reach Skwentna about mid-evening. Tail-enders will pull in as late as five or six in the morning.
The initial segment from Wasilla to Knik runs from the restart at the Old Wasilla Airport across the Parks Highway, over Lake Lucille, down a series of power lines to Knik-Goose Bay Road (passing Iditarod Headquarters on the way), and then along the side of the road for the last 11 miles to Knik Bar.
You’re starting with two sleds; the big difference from yesterday is that your front sled is the one you’re heading to Nome with, and it will be loaded for the trail—and you’re also running your full 16-dog team. This is also why you probably won’t want to try running two drivers on one sled. Like yesterday, your handler on the caboose needs to be sharp on the braking. One warning: the trail down to Knik is often not in very good shape and can be punchy and soft and full of bad moguls because most of it is a very heavily used snowmachine trail. Plus, the last eleven miles or so runs alongside a busy highway with lots of side roads and driveways, some with tricky, icy berms.
From the restart at the old airport in Wasilla, you will exit the starting chute via a left turn (south) through the drive-through lanes of the National Bank of Alaska branch office (you won’t have time to make a deposit as you whiz by), then zoom across the Parks Highway, over the Alaska Railroad tracks, and then down a quarter-mile driveway. There will be plenty of people to make sure you don’t get off the trail, and road guards will stop traffic for you as your dogs rocket across the always clogged five-lane highway. (Nobody knows about the trains; you’ll just have to take your chances.)
At the end of the driveway, you’ll jump a berm (can be nasty), cut through someone’s back yard, and pop out onto Lake Lucille. Watch for the trail markers on the third-of-a-mile lake crossing; it can get confusing with hordes of spectators, snowmachiners, skiers, and even other dog teams out there. On the far side you’ll get onto a trail headed south alongside a road; you’ll be following some power lines on the right side of the road for the next half-mile or so to the Iditarod Trail Committee Headquarters parking lot. Wave at the ITC folks if you have time, but hang on tightly as you lurch sharply right onto a broad power line right-of-way abeam the entrance to the ITC parking lot.
You’ll follow the powerline west up a hill for part of a mile and then make a 90-degree left turn down a hill. At the bottom of the hill you’ll come out on the Knik-Goose Bay road. The trail follows the unofficial snowmachine highway in the right-hand ditch line for the next 11 miles to Knik. Watch for some tricky driveways and side road crossings with berms have lots of company along the road; this is a favorite place for spectators to watch the teams go by.
You’ll know you’re near Knik when you pass Raymie Redington’s dog lot on the right, after which the road (and the trail) head down a fairly steep hill. When you pull onto Knik Lake in front of the Knik Bar, your handlers should be waiting for you; they will disconnect your second sled in a minute or so. This is your last chance to say goodbye to everyone, because from here you’re basically off the road system. You didn’t ship anything to Knik so you don’t have any reason to stay more than a few minutes. Make sure the checker checks you in (and then right back out).