Resting at Rohn
March 10th, 2009
Laura is resting at the Rohn checkpoint as I write this and, if I gauge correctly, will be leaving for Nikolai shortly. The rest she takes at this point is well deserved. I want to take a few moments to describe the trail she has just run and the 75-80 mile stretch in front of her. She just climbed up into the Alaska Mountain Range and is about to enter the most difficult trail the Iditarod has to offer. Today she ran through the Dalzell Gorge which is where she flipped her sled last year and received some fairly nasty bruising. Although the Dalzell Gorge is now behind her what is in front of her is nothing to laugh at. The trail will climb up nearly vertical in some areas only to drop straight down in others. She will face high winds, sometimes up to 40 mph. There will be lakes of glare ice to cross and perhaps even open water to navigate.
The weather is also considerably warmer today than yesterday. As I type the temperatures are reaching 32® and it is already 8:40pm. The light snow that was falling earlier has turned into light rain which makes everything a lot worse. Rain will water log the snow making it heavy and hard to slide through. Laura will spend much of the next part of the race running behind her sled helping to push it through the resistance. Wet snow also gets through her gear easier and can be dangerous if left to chill her. She will most likely run this part of the trail with a group of other racers. There is safety in numbers and this is definitely an area to play it safe.
This part of the trail will take a lot longer to traverse as she will also be resting part way through. I would guess she’ll be about 15 hrs from Rohn to Nikolai and that would include a 5 hr rest stop in the middle.
I do have an update on her team. She “dropped” a dog with the vets in Finger Lake before heading up into the mountains. Archer (the dog) had sore wrists and Laura would not have risked going up into these trail conditions with a sore dog. Archer was one of the dogs that ran in Laura’s team last year and will be disappointed; all sled dogs are when they’re benched. Although, the dog will most likely be fine by the time Laura’s handler picks him up from his short flight home, I know that Laura will choose to err on the side of caution rather than to risk injury to a team member.
As I go to bed tonight I will be saying a lot of prayers for my little sis’ as she presses on through what is known to be the hardest part of the Iditarod trail. I do not worry for her though. I know her enough to realize that her wits are always about her and her resourcefulness and common sense are some of her strongest attributes. I am amazed by what she can go through and still come out smiling on the other side!
As I am posting this I see that she is on the move. Here goes! I’ll give you an update as soon as I know what is happening.