(Updated at 5 p.m.)
At least five mushers have crossed the border into Canada on the trail of this year’s Yukon Quest, according to the GPS tracker.
2013 Quest champion Allen Moore continues the lead he’s held since the second day of the thousand-mile international sled dog race. In second position is Paige Drobny, who left Eagle checkpoint around 9 p.m. last night, about four and a half hours behind Moore. Matt Hall, in third position, checked out of Eagle just before midnight.
The two youngest mushers in this year’s race left Eagle within minutes of each other, in fourth and fifth position. 21-year-old Quest veteran Laura Neese rested at Eagle for nine hours, hitting the trail again at 3:16 a.m.
Vebjorn Aishana Reitan opted for a shorter break and departed just six minutes after Neese. Reitan, also 21-years-old, is currently the highest-positioned rookie.
Almost all of the 20 mushers still in the race have left Eagle and are on the 160-mile stretch to Dawson, which takes them over the 3400-foot American Summit. Race marshal Doug Harris says trail-breakers have reported good conditions along this middle portion of the race:
A nice hard trail, maybe a little slower than normal because it’s so cold out. But they had no issues. They said there was above-normal snow in some places.
According to Weather Underground, it’s 38 below in Dawson, with temperatures expected to rise to 19 below tomorrow. No snow is in the forecast.
Tune into KNOM newscasts tomorrow morning at 7, 8 and 9 a.m. for the latest from the 2018 Yukon Quest.
8 a.m.:
15 out of 20 remaining mushers have made it to Eagle, the last checkpoint on the Alaskan side of the Yukon Quest trail.
Past Quest champion, Allen Moore, is leading the pack headed towards Dawson City. After taking his four hours of mandatory rest, Moore departed Eagle around 4:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon and is currently closing in on the Clinton Creek hospitality stop.
According to the leaderboard, Paige Drobny was out of Eagle in second position last night, followed by Matt Hall, Laura Neese, and the highest positioned rookie in this year’s race, Vebjorn Aishana Reitan.
Reitan has been gaining ground in the leaderboard as this race progresses. When he left Circle he was in ninth position, then he checked in and out of Eagle in fifth position, which he currently maintains.
More than half of the field of teams is now on their way to Dawson City and a 36-hour mandatory layover.
Zoe Grueskin and Gabe Colombo contributed reporting.
