The Gin Gin 200 trail is in place. I rattled along for 350 miles on the Skidoo Tundra this weekend. The trail is awesome. The loop from Maclaren River Lodge, down the Susitna River and back up the Maclaren is absolutely awesome. The trail is hard and fast with no overflow and only a couple of very short icy sections—less that 50’. There is good snow almost the entire way; the only skinny section is from milepost 64-78 on the Denali Highway. The highway is snow-covered, but there is a little gravel showing here and there in this area. There are minimal spots to hook down through this area, but there are plenty of easily reached trees and heavy bushes. Teams have been training though here with no issues. The remainder of the Denali is groomed and fast with plenty of snow cover to hook down a big team. 14 and 16 dog teams are training on this section as we speak. There are caribou in the Maclaren area, Moose from milepost 2-5 and from 65-75 mile. There are a few on the lower Maclaren as well. Watch for porcupines in from Maclaren Lodge to the Sue bridge.There is a big pile of firewood for teams 58 miles out from the Maclaren checkpoint and a warm up cabin racers can use, 85 miles into that 110 mile loop. This is a GPS measured distance. You are out there……I believe this to be the longest unsupported run in dog racing today—-when you get back off the Gin Gin you will be “Qualifed.”
