Iditarod 40: The Trail. Finger Lake to Puntilla Lake (Rainy Pass Lodge)
Iditarod 40: The Trail. Finger Lake to Puntilla Lake (Rainy Pass Lodge) At Finger Lake the trail drops sharply onto Red Lake leaving the lake at the northwest corner. It climbs steeply leaving the lake at the northwest corner. It climbs steeply up a small creek bed to the benches above Finger Lake. From here […]
Iditarod 40: The Trail. Skwentna to Finger Lake 40 miles
Iditarod 40: The Trail. Skwentna to Finger Lake 40 miles From the Skwentna checkpoint the trail continues up the river for one mile and turns off on the left bank. It continues inland across Eight-Mile Swamp through spruce timber and cottonwoods to the Old Skwentna Roadhouse. The crossing is at a 45-degree angle to the […]
Iditarod 40: The Trail. Yentna Station to Skwentna
Iditarod 40: The Trail.Yentna Station to Skwentna 30 miles The mushers run the Yentna all the way to the confluence with the Skwentna River and the town of Skwentna, three miles from the mouth. These slow moving glacial rivers normally provide very good trails. They are all from one fourth to more than a mile […]
Iditarod 40: The Trail. Willow to Yentna Station
Iditarod 40: The Trail. Willow to Yentna Station 40 miles The trail begins on Willow Lake, travels across frozen lakes and swamps before the trail winds through a birch forest before dropping onto the Big Susitna River via Corral Hill. Most of the trail is flat. Once the teams drop onto the […]
Iditarod 40: The infamous Happy River Steps
The 2012 Iditarod is only about 18 hours old and some of the front runners, Hugh Neff, Lance Mackey, Paul Gebhardt, Aily Zirkle, and Ryan Redington are making very good time with most of them heading into Rainy Pass. Right around this area is a part of the trail that is a much of legend […]