As of 8:53 PM EDT, three mushers have departed the sixth checkpoint, Nikolai: Hugh Neff, with 14 dogs, and Aaron Burmeister, with 14 dogs, left Nikolai at 8:47 PM EDT, and Sebastian Schnuelle, with 15 dogs left right behind them at 8:53 PM EDT. Rounding out the Top 10 so far (all at the Nikolai checkpoint) are: Paul Gephardt (who stopped drinking 19 months ago), Ed Iten, Hans Gatt, Lance Mackey, Bjornar Andersen, Jeff King, and Ally Zirkle (who is still way ahead of her husband, Allen Moore). There is some bad news - from the Anchorage Daily news:
PUNTILLA LAKE -- Down in the Happy River Gorge 20 miles south of here, a rescue was being organized this morning for a rookie musher reported to be stuck with a broken sled on the notorious "steps" that lead the Iditarod Trail over a cliff to a frozen river.
Nancy Yoshida, 58, has been stalled since at least midnight on the middle tier of the sharp switchbacks between big trees that cling to the gorge walls. Mushers arriving here reported she can't make it all the way down because she has lost both of the runners on her sled. Her dogs are reportedly tangled in trees or tied off there while she awaits help.
Although Lance Mackey has not yet departed Nikolai, he is still the favorite in almost everyone's mind. Above is a photo of Lance departing Rainey Pass checkpoint on Puntila Lake yesterday.
