Previous Leg ! Back to Index ! Next Leg

This leg has been revised to include the new restart information for 2000.

You must consider the first three legs as a unit for your first day on the trail. Plan on an hour and a half to get to Knik, another five to seven hours on the trail to Yentna Station, and three to five hours from Yentna Station to Skwentna. Somewhere along the way you'll want to rest your dogs for two or three hours, preferably during the heat of the day between the Little Susitna River and the Big Susitna River. The "fast movers" will reach Skwentna about mid-evening. Tail-enders will pull in as late as five or six in the morning.

The initial segment from Wasilla to Knik runs from the restart at the Bumpus Ballfields, runs alongside Church Road, crosses the Parks Highway and the Alaska Railroad, and eventually ends up on Clapp Road before joining Knik-Goose Bay Road for the last 9 miles to Knik Bar.

You're starting with two sleds; the big difference from yesterday is that your front sled is the one you're heading to Nome with, and it will be loaded for the trail--and you're also running your full 16-dog team. This is also why you probably won't want to try running two drivers on one sled. Like yesterday, your handler on the caboose needs to be sharp on the braking. One warning: the trail down to Knik is sometimes not in very good shape and can be punchy and soft and full of bad moguls because it is a very heavily used snowmachine trail. You will have mileposts for the entire run along the road. Knik is about milepost 14.

In 1999 the restart was moved from the old Wasilla Airport in the town to the New Wasilla Airport, several miles west. During the summer of 1999, however, the airport runway was paved and the entire airport was surrounded by a chain-link security fence, so the restart for 2000 will be at the City of Wasilla's Bumpus Ballfields, about a mile and a half north of the airport. This year there will be no spectator parking at the restart site, although there will be a shuttle bus service from several parking areas around Wasilla. It will be interesting to see how many people actually show up at the restart and how many decide instead to go see the teams along the trail to Knik.

From the starting line, teams will run west along Mystery Drive for about a quarter mile, then south along the bike path on the east side of Church Road for about half a mile to the Parks Highway. The trail will be groomed for the entire distance and shouldn't present many problems. The Parks Highway crossing will be at the Church Road intersection and will undoubtedly create monstrous traffic jams in both directions. Teams will cross the highway on a continuously refreshed lane of snow and then go down the cleared right-of-way of the Church Road Extension to the Alaska Railroad tracks. There is no railroad crossing yet, but the trail will be ramped up to the tracks with snow. Don't worry--the race has coordinated with the railroad and you won't be held up by a 150-car slow freight headed to Fairbanks.

After the tracks, the trail bends right (west) along a partly completed section of the Church Road Extension, headed toward the New Wasilla Airport, the site of last year's restart. This year, however, the trail will leave the road before reaching the airport proper and will veer left (south) to Lucille Creek, making a right turn onto the creek. After a short run down the creek, the trail makes a left turn onto a section line trail headed south. You are now on the same trail as last year's restart.

The well-packed trail will climb up a 200-foot hill for the next third of a mile. On the far side of the ridge crest, you will continue southbound on a one-lane driveway. The snow berms on both sides of the driveway road are high and the surface is very icy in places. While on the driveway, you will also drop down through a sharp ravine and climb up the other side. After three-tenths of a mile, just after cresting the opposite side of the ravine on the driveway, you will come to Clapp Road, a paved road entering from your right. You will continue southbound but will jump onto the left snow berm and follow it all the way to Knik-Goose Bay Road, another four-tenths of a mile.

Once at Knik-Goose Bay (KGB) Road, you'll cross Clapp Road and head southwest along the right side of the KGB Road right-of-way. You'll come onto KGB Road at Mile 4.5 and follow it all the way to the Knik checkpoint at Mile 14. The trail follows the unofficial snowmachine highway in the right-hand ditch line. Watch for some tricky driveways and side road crossings with berms. You'll have lots of company along the road; this is a favorite place for spectators to watch the teams go by.

You'll know you're near Knik when you pass Raymie Redington's dog lot on the right, after which the road (and the trail) head down a fairly steep hill. When you pull onto Knik Lake in front of the Knik Bar, your handlers should be waiting for you; they will disconnect your second sled in a minute or so. This is your last chance to say goodbye to everyone, because from here you're basically off the road system. You didn't ship anything to Knik so you don't have any reason to stay more than a few minutes. Make sure the checker checks you in (and then right back out).

Previous Leg ! Back to Index ! Next Leg