March 7, 2005
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Bison in the Gorge
Pilots flying over the Iditarod Trail have reported seeing bison in
Dalzell Gorge. Lying between the Rainy Pass and Rohn checkpoints,
the Gorge is one of the trickiest parts of the trail. This is how
it is described in the official trail information:After half a mile you’ll see a “Watch Your Ass” sign; immediately
beyond is a steep 200-foot hill down into Dalzell Gorge. Depending on
conditions, the Gorge can be nothing more than a very scenic exercise
in sled driving, or it can be your worst nightmare come true. The
worst-case scenario is minimal snow and lots of glare ice and open
water. Hopefully you’ll have some warning if it’s really bad.Doesn’t say anything about wildlife hazards, does it? Mushers
have had painful and destructive encounters with moose just about every
year. I haven’t heard anything about bison before.Nobody has gotten the right answer to question #1 in my Iditarod trivia
quiz yet, so everyone still has a chance at the collectable 1985 race
pin, from the year that Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the
Iditarod. Here’s a hint: the start and finish are not considered checkpoints, so how many checkpoints are there?.
Comments (9)
Oh be-poop. I’ve started, I’ve counted, my dog and I would just be wandering along… I will now count… 28. Man. I just… *keeps re-checking. I know know it’s and adjusted route because it’s actualy warmer this year. Man.
Hi again. I called Silky at 1:00 pm, no answer. And I put a box under the cabin and cut down one side a little to make ingress/egress easier and put in some t-shirts. Frankie was watching me as I did it, maybe she will nest there.
Talk to you tonight.
I’m saying 25 checkpoints. This assumes that Eagle River & Wasilla are considered checkpoints. If they are not, then it’s 23.
Ok, then I guess 24! Or 23, if the re-start isn’t a checkpoint.
mmmmm… Bison burgers…
Ok… changing my mind….re-evaluating…Official restart is Willow, so Wasilla and Knik are no longer in the picture…ummm trail? And perhaps Yentna may not be either. So we’re looking at 21 or 22, depends on status of Yentna.
bison are not too aggressive…from my experience with them..but i am very respectful of their presence
beautiful creatures …i would love to see their return…sad what we have become.
Well, I finally got a chance to go look. Looks like 23 to me. I don’t see Wasilla in there, so I’m a bit confused by some of the comments ….
Bison, huh? I didn’t know there were any up there. Not too sure if we have any herds left uncontrolled down here. Sure makes for an interesting race, but hopefully they don’t have the tempers of moose
Hi again.
New symptoms suggest infection, I’ve only been up for an hour and feeling as weak as a kitchen, plan to go home after this, do some paperwork, skip the meeting tonight, winds will make driving maybe hazardous anyway. Meh.
Hope you have a good day–moon is V of C all day, BTW. Toodles.
I forgot to mention–did you hear, Dee Dee wrecked her sled, some moron parked his snowmachine on the trail.