 The fabricated elements are not an exaggeration of the risks involved, despite the alterations in the Disney adaptation of the tale, such as the Blizzard at the start. According to the writers of The Cruelest Miles, the trail between Nalado and Gnome was one of Alaska's most dangerous. With the majority of it following, the windswept, blizzard-brown coasts of the Norton Sound, also known to Alaskans as the Ice Factory. The 42-mile detour across the Sound was the most hazardous section of this trail. The less dangerous option was twice as far. Aside from the chance of getting caught in a storm or having a dog hurt by stepping on a piece of ice, it was also probable that the Norton Sound's ice may break up and carry the crew out to sea. Others had also experienced it. The second time the crew crosses the Norton Sound as they head back into Gnome with the serum is one of the film's most harrowing scenes. When Sopala and his team discover themselves stranded on an ice flow, cut off from land by a short but treacherous stretch of water, they're in the middle of crossing the Sound.