Iditarod trail should be in good shape despite all that snow and all those moose - but don’t bet on a record pace

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is kicking off for the 48th time. This year there seems to be an inordinate amount of snow along the trail, and mushers have been advised to use patience on the trail and have their snowshoes ready.

Snowshoes are required gear for mushers in almost every dog race. Winter, dogs and snowshoes just seem to go together, but today’s reality is that snowshoes are very rarely used. I know one musher who, in a failed attempt to meet a race requirement of having snowshoes with a 200-square-inch area, printed a pair on his office printer.

“I never use them anyway," he told race officials.

The one and only time I used snowshoes in a race was in 1986 during my rookie Yukon Quest. I was foolish enough to strap them on to break a trail up the Yukon River near the Kandik River where there was no trail. My dogs were trapline dogs who would follow me patiently. The other teams waiting at Kandik for snowmobile support let me go — shaking their heads at the dumb rookie, I’m sure. Soon enough, a bunch of teams caught and passed me to meet up with the snowmobiles coming down from Eagle.

Oh well, that is how we learn.

Iditarod drivers were told at this year’s musher meeting to keep snowshoes handy if they needed to get their team off of the trail for a break, because there were not likely to be many pullouts for teams.

[With heavy snow, moose are top of mind for Iditarod mushers]

It is true that the deep snow has caused difficulties for trailbreakers this year. However, the guys setting the trail are experienced, hard-working dudes who are not off on their first rodeo.

I found a fair amount of trail pictures taken in the last few days. The Happy River Steps, instead of being switchbacks, are mostly a straight shot. There is six feet of snow on the sides of the trail, for sure, but the dogs will be going down the trench. It should be fair going.

In the Dalzell Gorge there is enough snow that teams won’t be cutting corners and dragging the back half of the team into the creek or the musher into a protruding alder. The Post River Glacier, usually an ice fall to climb, is nonexistent. The Farewell Burn is buried in a couple feet of snow. Bison on the trail could be an issue, but my experience training in the midst of the Delta bison herd is these big animals have no need to challenge for the trail.

Moose like to hold the trail, fearing that they are vulnerable to wolves in soft snow. Bison don’t have much concern for wolves — they feel safe in herds.

There is a bit of a concern for moose on the trail near McGrath. This indeed is a legitimate fear. Living and training near Paxson during deep snow years led to a number of moose encounters. I can speak from experiences — flares don’t work and guns are useless.

Yes, I can shoot the moose. But by the time one knows the moose needs to be shot, the moose is already in the middle of the dog team creating havoc.

The only success I have had in deterring a moose attack is by making myself bigger. I always carried a large gray flag, about two feet by four feet, on a short piece of dowel. I can unroll it and wave it above my head in a hurry. That method may not be foolproof, but it has worked for me every time I used it.

Once the racers are past McGrath, the trail should improve. The Iron Dog snowmachiners and their trailbreakers put in a decent trail for most of the way. There are a couple of trappers in that area also.

The Serum Trail Expedition was in Kaltag on Wednesday, and their videos of the trail from Galena to Kaltag show a beautiful track in that section. The snow is deep on the sides of the trail and there definitely will be overflow if one gets off the trail.

The Kaltag Portage en route to the coast at Unalakleet could be a pain. Again, there is a trail now, and though the weather forecast is too far out to have much accuracy, the fact there is a good base trail should give some expectation of decent going.

Beyond Unalakleet? The coast is the coast. Wind and drifting are always to be expected. Finding the trail could be a challenge, but the trail itself should be relatively hard.

All in all, I don’t expect a record-setting Iditarod pace, but I don’t see any real trail issues either. The thanks for that will go to the trail crews — the Iditarod trailbreakers and the people from the villages who go out and volunteer their time and expertise to make certain this race happens.

John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives near Paxson with his family. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and a two-time winner of the Yukon Quest. His wife, Zoya DeNure, is running this this year’s Iditarod.