stretch of heavily forested hills nicknamed "Pinball Alley" for the way the rough terrain bounces sleds into trees, rocks, and other obstacles. Trees are so scarred from repeated sled impacts that they have lost their bark on one side. In 1998, racer Brenda Mackey was jolted around so much by the rough trail that her sled became wedged between two trees, forcing her to cut one down to continue. After Pinball Alley, racers briefly mush along the Yukon River before climbing the riverbank to the Carmacks checkpoint. They then follow a road for about and turn onto a firebreak trail. After departing the trail, they travel alongside and across the Yukon River to McCabe Creek, the first dog drop on the Whitehorse–Fairbanks route. Leaving McCabe Creek, the race trail parallels a driveway and the Klondike Highway for several miles before turning north to cross the Pelly Burn, an area scorched by a wildfire in 1995. Because the fire destroyed much of the forest in the area, this portion of the trail has few obstacles and is considered fast. From the McCabe Creek site it is about to Pelly Crossing. Pelly Crossing to Dawson City The stretch between Pelly Crossing and Dawson City is the greatest distance between checkpoints of any sled dog competition in the world. Between the two sites are of open trail, marked only by a dog drop at Scroggie Creek, an abandoned gold-mining site activated only during the Yukon Quest. From Pelly Crossing, mushers travel west on the frozen Pelly River, or on a road that parallels the river if ice conditions are poor. At Stepping Stone, shortly before the Pelly and Yukon rivers meet, they can rest at a hospitality stop before turning north. From Stepping Stone to Scroggie Creek the trail consists of a mining road or "cat" road, named for the Caterpillar tracked mining vehicles that use it. Before organizers coordinated schedules with the mining equipment operators, racers often had to contend with heavy machinery blocking the trail or turning it into a muddy path. The Scroggie Creek dog drop is at the confluence of the Stewart River and Scroggie Creek. After Scroggie Creek, the trail switches from a westerly direction to almost directly north. At this point, mushers enter the gold-mining district surrounding Dawson City. From the Stewart River adjacent to Scroggie, the trail climbs, crossing the Yukon Territory's Black Hills. from Dawson