Part II, The Race, Days 7-16&17 Summary

On day seven, Paulsen spends some time refueling himself and his team at a checkpoint and then takes off again. The beauty changes along the way as they reach the interior of Alaska which is like another planet. The trees are gone, though the hallucinations remain. On day eight, Paulsen continues through the tundra, which threatens even the dogs (especially Wilson) with boredom, leading one of them to fall asleep while running. Paulsen has to constantly keep him awake by saying his name. Day nine is a smattering of small events, from an offer to breed his dogs with a large, dangerous female to Paulsen's sorting through his various eats. Of note is that he passed through the empty town of Iditarod, for which the race is name. He has a horrible experience...