IditaProject Forum

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.

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.

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.