Photos: Rohn and the Farewell Burn

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Musher Marcelle Fressineau in the Rohn checkpoint. March 4, 2014

The Iditarod trail is meting out early punishment for all of the teams. Extremely rough trail conditions due to lack of snow are adding a level of difficulty not seen in recent years. Mushers who make it through the worst sections between Rainy Pass and Nikolai are feeling more like survivors rather than competitors. The last real "low" snow year over this stretch of trail was 2007, but conditions that year were better than what teams are traveling over today.

The snow-covered hard-pack ice encountered in the first 100 miles has been replaced with frozen dirt, rock, and ice. Amazingly, the sled dogs tend to fare well over such treacherous trail conditions. Besides a few minor injuries to their feet caused by the wear of frozen earth on their pads and the occasional sprained wrist or shoulder from slipping on the ice -- as humans do all the time -- most of the dogs will make it through this challenge unscathed.

READ MORE: Buser's lead not as big as it appears in bruising I-dirt-arod

See all of our slideshows from the trail and more on our Iditarod page. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, for more great images from The Last Great Race. Contact Alaska Dispatch photojournalist Loren Holmes at loren(at)alaskadispatch.com.