Tusday, March 6

Rohn to Nikolai

Sitting on a 5 gallon bucket I was able to "sleep" for about 1 1/2 hours in Rohn. The cabin is very little and since it was so darn cold everybody was in that cabin - like sardines in a can. Besides the not so fresh smell and the snoring and talking I was surprised to get any rest at all.
I had a hard time keeping my eyes open - not because of fatigue, but rather because they were so swollen from the storm a few hours earlier in the Pass. I looked pretty bad.

The trail over to Nikolai was rough - as expected and I still didn't have time to pull out my camera and take pictures. I was just too busy haning onto my sled. A lot of the trail was bare ground - very bumpy tundra and I was just bouncing along for what seemed endless hours.

I didn't have any major problems, but made a Rookie mistake that cost me probably 2 hours. I was looking for a shelter cabin that I was told would be a little bit passed half way to Nikolai. After 6 hours of running I still hadn't seen any cabin, and started getting worried about running my dogs too hard. I decided to pull over and rest the team for 2 hours. Later on I found out that cabin was not visible from trail at all and I was very close to Nikolai when I decided to rest. Had I know that I would have kept going.

Trailbrakers in comparison to the rest this was a "smooth" section of the trail

I arrived in Nikolai with a good looking team, but I was frustrated about loosing valuble time. Seeing my friend Al was a surprise and cheered me up.
I stayed a little over 6 hours in Nikolai and I got 2 hours of good quality sleep. I still had a terribly swollen face from the storm, but was in good spirits.

busted snowmachine sled Iditarod ended up with 7 broken snowmachine sled due to terrible trail and snow conditions.

At half past midnight I pulled out of Nikolai and don't remember much of the trail - probably because it's such a boring trail. I remember rivers and lakes and in the dark it all looked the same to me.
I remember being confused about what trail to take on the river. I didn't know that, but appearantly there were several different ways to get to McGrath and they were all marked with trail markers- very confusing to a Rookie. I came to an intersection, took a right and ran on that trail for about 20 minutes until I got uncomfortable and decided to turn the team around and go the other way. I didn't know at that time, but both ways did lead to McGrath. I guess I just lost about another 45 minutes.
I didn't stay in McGrath. I had shipped out a spare sled to McGrath in case I would brake my start sled in the mountains. Since my start sled was in tip top shape I just grabbed a seat that Bernie made for me and would attache to my sled, snacked my dogs and kept on going.
Another 2 hours and I would arrive in Tokatna where I would take my 24hr. layover.

Nikolai reheating my precooked Ribeye steak - what a feast!