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Serum Run 2007 Heads for Shaktoolik |
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Written by Theresa Daily
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Sunday, 04 March 2007 |
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 The Norman Vaughan Serum Run is a re-creation of the 1925 Serum Run to save the lives of people in Nome who had Diphtheria. Today the group is on the move to Shaktoolik traveling some 554 miles since February 19th.
The trail to Shatoolik follows the main snowmachine trail from Unalakllet to Shaktoolik. It is normally well traveled and well marked. The first 25 miles crosses a mix of woods, taiga, open areas, and exposed ridgetops. The last 12 miles are completely in the open on the barren coastline. This leg usually takes four to six hours, but can be much longer if the weather is bad.
Listen to audio update from the trail
by participant Joel Stewart
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Click map to enlarge
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The trail leaves Unalakleet northbound and runs just in from the beach, turning inland after five miles to pass behind rocky 850-foot-high Blueberry Point. It comes almost back to the shore at the fishing camp of Egavik before climbing up the Blueberry Hills, reaching the thousand-foot summit at the 18-mile point. At the top the trail turns west and makes a three-mile drop back to the beach, then follows a slough and the dune line northwestward for the last 12 miles out to Shaktoolik.
The primary concern on this leg is the weather. Shaktoolik is windy even in good weather, but under some conditions the winds can blow from the north at more than hurricane force, with temperatures well below zero and chill factors worse than minus one hundred. If the winds are howling, the trail from Unalakleet to the top of the Blueberry Hills will be relatively sheltered (except on the ridgetops), but the last 12 miles out to Shaktoolik can be extremely difficult with drifts and ground blizzards.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 March 2007 )
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