Hello,
Just had Kevin Keeler, BLM Iditarod National Historical Trail manager and member of this forum, on the IditaProject broadcast today.
He mentioned that the 77 mile frequently used in calculating finishing times, and which is on the ITC's race stats is inaccurate. It was ACTUALLY 70 miles when they surveyed the route for the tripod trail markers.
Why? Many squiggles on old maps were ironed out when doing the routes, but a major contributing factor is that the original route went around Cape Nome, and the race trail goes over a headland.
As the users of this forum know so well, that 6 or 7 mile difference could result in an error of an hour
He also shared some shots of this area you may enjoy:
The Trail tripod looking toward Cape Nome:
The segment in question with both tripod markers, and the "stakes" most parts of the race use:
And, finally, a shot Kevin took of Lance Mackey poling up the Cape Nome hill in 2005:
And, finally, what Jeff may see if he is chasing Lance up the hill on the way into Nome!
Going to be a great finish. Thanks, Kevin.
Regards,
Johncn