Photos: Jaimee and Justin High mush on after fire

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 9

Sled dogs Ripple, left, and Zinny show their affection for musher Jaimee High on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, in the dog yard in Willow.

Willow musher Jaimee High was training for the Iditarod when the fire hit just days before Christmas, gutting the handcrafted cabin and shop she and her husband Justin built from the ground up.

Within a few weeks, the 32-year-old forced herself back on sled runners for a few hours at a time on the spruce-studded flats near her Willow home.

What for some mushers would be a dream ride was for High more like a nightmare.

The memories rose, unbidden, with nothing but the whoosh of runners and the steady trot-trot-trot of her team for company. She'd see the charred, melted ruins of the hand-built cabin, like a jagged snow-covered scar. More than $15,000 in sewing equipment destroyed, a livelihood gone. Every photograph and wedding keepsake lost along with nearly all her mushing gear.

Read more: After fire, Willow couple puts Iditarod dreams on hold to rebuild