Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

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Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby mira » Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:45 am

Finally, the field are a bit stretched out making it easier to get a grip. Ray and Mitch are already in Rainy Pass, with several others on their way in.

Population 0 -- This area is tied with Rainy Pass as having the most spectacular scenery. The gateway to the interior, Rohn Roadhouse marks the transition point where the mushers start to venture into the flatlands of the interior, along with dropping temperatures. Situated near the confluence of the South Fork of the Kuskokwim and Tatina Rivers, the area served as one of the original Iditarod Trail Roadhouses for the dog teams carrying mail, etc. The actual roadhouse is gone, so the checkpoint is a cabin built in the 1930’s.


Population 125 -- This is the first of many Native villages along the Iditarod Trail. There is a village store at the far end of town across from the airstrip and limited lodging is available through advanced booking. The checkpoint is located in the Community Hall.
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Re: Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby elsietee » Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:03 pm

Go Ritchie!!!

(Rainy Pass ringed in red)

Tracker2-00_03-05-18.JPG
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Re: Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby elsietee » Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:52 pm

Karen Ramstead was checking mushers into RP.



Nic Petit in RP:

"Trail was soft after Skwentna for a bit - had some friends visiting on snow machines to watch me mush..." and after they passed a couple of times, the trail was messed up. "My dad was at Shell Lake [just after Skwentna] - that was cool".

"On the way to Rainy, normally the way we come is a little shorter, ... I guess glaciation is an issue, but I've never had a problem with it, but this time they added a couple of miles and they were pretty steep miles".



Ray Redington's dogs were barking to keep going at RP.

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The guy checking in the dogs at Finger Lake was great - so soothing and welcoming:

"How was your run in? ...Oh, very nice...

So will you be staying with us?... oh excellent, great to hear..." in his best hospitality voice.



Joar's dogs at Finger Lake were screaming and squeaking to keep going. He stayed to rest.

Wade chuckling at FL: "They don't want to go any faster than 3 mph, but they don't want to stop either"... (dogs jumping in harness)
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Re: Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby elsietee » Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:07 pm

Ritchie has come to rest on the flat part before Rainey Pass. Looks like he rested four hours, ran four... and will go up the pass with a nice fresh team.
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Re: Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby elsietee » Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:18 pm

Parade up Rainy Pass - Wade in the lead, with good speed:

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Re: Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby Eggs » Mon Mar 05, 2018 7:04 pm

Iditarod Trail Committee 20 mins ·
https://www.facebook.com/IditarodTrailC ... 7728824859
After visiting with the mushers in Finger Lake this morning Greg Heister and myself( Bruce Lee) flew the trail from Finger Lake to Nklolai. The trail looked wind packed for the most part up in Rainy Pass itself so that should make for great traveling conditions for the teams that are now making their way to Rohn. The challenging run down gorge into Rohn had good snow cover and the ice on the creekbed looked better than average so we shouldn’t see too many musher coming in Rohn check point with wet feet. Leaving Rohn heading towards Nikolai the snow cover grew thinner but it was the best snow cover we’ve see in that area for years which will delight the musher to travel over. Every thing changed about 20 miles north of Rohn around Egypt Mountain, a major landmark for mushers along the Iditarod trail, which marks the end of the run through the mountains. At that point we hit snow storms which we flew through on our way to the village of Nikolai. Here it has snow several inches of fresh snow and I would expect the travel speeds to here in Nikolai to be slowed as they hit this fresh few inches of fresh snow. Forecast are for more small snow storms moving through this areas for the next couple of days according to the pilots flying the trail. Locals from here also tell me that the trail down river to McGrath is good in the forested areas of the trail but soft and punchy in the open swamps and river areas of the trail. For those that have never traveled the Iditarod trail, a fair percentage of the trail to McGrath is in these open areas and along the river.
If you want to see images of the snow conditions here in Nikolai go to the Insider videos and we will be posting updates from here.
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Re: Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby Moose » Mon Mar 05, 2018 7:42 pm

I see Mitch has dropped two dogs. I wonder if that's a strategic move on his part--though it seems early--or if it will prove to be significant.
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Re: Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby Heidi » Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:05 pm

Moose wrote:I see Mitch has dropped two dogs. I wonder if that's a strategic move on his part--though it seems early--or if it will prove to be significant.


Didn't hear about the second dog, but I was sorry to hear about Pilot.

https://ididaride.com/pilot-out-for-the-race/
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Re: Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby braider » Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:07 pm

In the past, I think mushers dropped big dogs once they made it up to Rainy. Mitch dropped one at Rainy and the other before that. Royer dropped one at Rainy and last year she finished with 16.
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Re: Rainy Pass-Rohn-Nikolai

Postby flowerpower » Mon Mar 05, 2018 9:10 pm

Mitch and Dallas really looked/sounded alike in that clip. I thought Mitch looked really good. Interesting about his mood being tied to Pilot.
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