Lance Mackey made it to Anvik. He was at least a half hour later than he would have been had he not fallen asleep on his sled. When he awoke, he knew he was off the trail so he turned around and went back to find his way. He still made it in there first, so about now he's enjoying that seven course dinner courtesy of the Millennium Hotel. The head chef from the Millennium was flown out to Anvik to prepare the meal. I heard the cash award for arriving there first is $3,500. For those few of you who know nothing about Anvik, here's a little background from the Insider Tracker.
Anvik
Course Distance 485 Mi
Latitude N 62°38.95'
Longitude W 160°10.75'
Population 82 -- The first checkpoint on the Yukon River, the longest river in Alaska, stretching 1,875 miles from its headwaters in the Yukon Territory of Canada to the Bering Sea. The church bell signals the arrival of the first musher to this picturesque village. Two stores can be found here. The checkpoint is in the lodge. limited accommodations are available. The Millennium Alaskan Hotel serves a seven course dinner to the first musher arriving at this checkpoint as well as a cash award.
The photos above are of DeeDee Jonrowe (a breast cancer survivor) departing Takotna (great shot, click on it), and Bjornar Andersen of Norway, who was forced to scratch after being seriously injured in a crash on the course, being strapped into a plane to be flown back to Anchorage. His dogs were also air lifted back.
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It now looks like a sprint to the finish by a handful of mushers: Lance Mackey, Sebastian Schnuelle, Aaron Burmeister, Mitch Seavey, Jeff King - and a few others, but anything could happen. One thing is sure: there will not be a lot of sleeping for those in contention between Anvik and Nome.
