Lance has left White Mountain, the checkpoint at which every musher and team is required to rest for eight hours. With 70 miles to go, Lance told a few volunteers when departing White Mountain: "I can walk to Nome in seven hours." Seven hours is the lead he has over Sebastian Schnuelle and John Baker, both of whom arrived at White Mountain just about seven hours after Lance did. Sebastian and Johnny (as Lance calls him) have to rest for another seven hours, and by the time they leave White Mountain Lance should be arriving in Nome. This would seem to be an appropriate time to repeat the line from Henry the Fifth (used in an earlier post): "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers." These guys really are a band of brothers, and I wish I could attach the videos I get through my subscription to "The Insider," showing the manifestly sincere camaraderie they all share.
Meanwhile, I'll paste the information about Safety, the last checkpoint before Nome, and direct your attention above to the resting athletes (canine and human) at various check points along the way. Mozart wrote the perfect music (A Little Night Music) for the White Mountain checkpoint, didn't he? Oh, by the way, four time Iditarod champion Jeff King stated in an interview: "Lance Mackey is to mushing what Mozart is to music."
Safety
Course Distance 918 Mi
Latitude N 64°27'
Longitude W 164°49.02'
The last checkpoint before Nome, just 22 miles away. Here the mushers are on the coast of the Bering Sea and travel on the beach most of the way to Nome.
See you at the finish.
