The race is about to get underway on Fourth Street in downtown Anchorage when Paulsen makes a rookie mistake. He becomes concerned that Cookie, the long-time leader of the team and his favorite dog, has never run a race. Therefore, he replaces her in the lead position with a newly acquired dog named Nelson, who had race experience, albeit very limited. The move turns out to be a disaster. Nelson leads the team off the trail and on a hell ride through an Anchorage residential neighborhood: “We went through people’s yards, ripped down fences, knocked over garbage cans” (145).

He finally manages to stop the team by hooking a stop sign. He puts Cookie back in the lead, and she saves the day, guiding the team back on the trail. They arrive at Eagle River, the first checkpoint in suburban Anchorage, four and a half hours after starting the race.

A trapper’s snowmachine track confuses Cookie, and she leads the team off the trail and into a mountain range. Twenty-seven other dog teams follow Cookie’s scent and also go astray. As the teams run into each other, dog fights ensue, and a moose attacks Paulsen.