ID2021 – Day Two Wrap

Its 9.00pm Monday evening, Alaska Time

Race Mile: 188

Next checkpoint: Nikolai

When we last caught up, Aliy and team were camping ten miles (about one hour) before Finger Lake checkpoint. They stayed at their camp spot four hours then continued on for 4.5 hours, passing through Finger Lake at 8.36am only stopping to grab supplies. They then travelled to Rainy Pass where they stopped for around four hours, resting in the sun. After climbing to Rainy Pass summit then descending through the Dalzell Gorge, the team arrived into the checkpoint of Rohn just after 8pm.

Earlier in the day the Insider crew caught up with Aliy at her camp spot before Finger Lake and asked her about the trail. She said it was hard and fast and that she found it interesting to be looking at the trail in a different way – imagining coming back over it from the other direction, which she won’t have had to think about before. In the video we saw her with her big insulated jacket on, showing the temperatures certainly dropped overnight as expected.

It would have been getting light as they negotiated the technical Happy River Steps and they arrived into Rainy Pass around noon – perfectly timed to give the dogs a rejuvenating rest for four hours in the heat of the day. We all know that sled dogs prefer to run when it’s colder, but the other advantage of resting in the heat of the day is the dogs can really stretch out and relax their muscles when they sleep, without having to curl up and keep themselves warm. I would have loved to have been able to watch the dog teams up close, sleeping as they were likely all sprawled out, blissfully relaxed in the sun.

I was able to watch much of the live feed from Rainy Pass while the team was there and I watched Aliy work through her checkpoint routine that I’ve seen a hundred times. After securing the team, the first thing Aliy did was offer them plain, cool water, proving it must have been quite warm during the later hours of the morning. She also shed layers of clothing herself so she could do her chores comfortably. It’s unknown what facilities for drying clothing there will be along the trail so Aliy wouldn’t have wanted to get sweaty without being able to dry off.

Next, it looked to me like Aliy was giving the team an antacid tablet – omeprazole – which has to be given three hours after the last food and half an hour before the next. Most mushers will use omeprazole or similar to guard against ulcers.

Omeprazole/Prilosec is an approved medication for the prevention of gastric ulcers. Dr Mike Davis and his team, did extensive research into this and it is now very common, and strongly advised, that mushers give omeprazole or pepcid to their teams every day they race. The tablet must be given three hours after food and half an hour before food so becomes a major consideration for mushers when planning their feeding routines.

Aliy then distributed the straw bale among the team and I think it’s always fun to see the dogs shaping their own custom-made straw mattresses. Next was removing booties, also giving her the opportunity to give a hands-on checkover of each dog. The vet team was able to move in and also do their once-over of every dog and check-in with Aliy if she had any issues. I couldn’t help but smile as one poor vet had to gently wrestle with Mismo to look at his feet – he really doesn’t like his feet being touched and today was no different.

After half an hour, Aliy gave out several different meat snacks to the dogs before they settled in for their sleep. While they rested, Aliy was warming some water to make the dogs’ meal ready for when they woke. Warm water helps soak the kibble and thaw some meat, and enables more important hydration. As the water was warming, Aliy repacked her sled and replenished supplies from her drop bags.

At the other end of their rest, Aliy added some crunchy kibble to the meal and proceeded to feed everyone, around an hour before leaving. She completed packing her sled then dressed and readied everyone to head back down the trail. I noticed she swapped some dogs around on the line but the live feed decided to go ghostly right at the wrong moment and it was really difficult to see who was in what position when they left.

The Trail Notes tell us: “The trail runs in the open on the tundra of Ptarmigan Pass from Rainy Pass Lodge to the mouth of Pass Creek, which it then follows northwest up to the summit of Rainy Pass itself. Then there are several miles of sometimes steep downhills and often tight, twisting trail through scrub willow southwest along Pass Fork to Dalzell Creek. The trail then drops into the infamous Dalzell Gorge for a few miles and finally onto the Tatina River for the last five miles to Rohn.”

In the past, Aliy has taken many “Aliy Cam” videos in this area – type ‘Rainy Pass’ or ‘Dalzell Gorge’ into the search box on the top right of our website and you will find them all. Here’s one from 2018:

If you are after some good reads, make sure you check out Terrie Hanke’s Eye on the Trail series. You can find out some history, behind the scenes details and see some great pictures!