YQ Update

Aliy and the Red Team finished the YQ300 in second place, behind Michelle Phillips, another fine lady musher. The Yukon is Michelle's home and she knows that area well. She deserved a win and I can't begrudge her!! Her husband, like Aliy's, is running the full YQ and the men have the best, toughest dogs for their teams. Aliy was running some young and less experienced dogs but they did an awesome job with a couple of veterans to help them stay on track. This was one tough race, temperatures well below zero the entire time, a lot of ice, and just generally a hard course. Congrats to both ladies! Women mushers rock!!

Meanwhile Allen and Ed Hopkins, Michelle's hubby, are trucking along not too far from the Alaska/International Border in the top ten pack which seem to be running a pretty tight grouping and probably yelling a lot of "on by" as they ask for the trail to pass one another. Near the halfway point and the race could be anyone's in that group when they reach Fairbanks later in the week. Right now Brent Sass is in the lead; he was ahead when he had to scratch due to an accident last year. But Allen and Ed are close behind as are Hugh Neff and Jeff King. Must be pretty exciting! Five racers have scratched so far. I expect unless there are accidents most now running will finish the race.

This is a photo by Aliy's support team (copyrighted I know but it's too pretty not to share).  She and the Red Team were leaving Pelly, the "final" turnaround YQ300 checkpoint, at midday yesterday. Like the old Johnny Horton song said, "When it's springtime in Alaska it's 40 below." Yukon Territory too. It might have been just -30 about this time...but it looks like a Christmas card!! I  notice Aliy is not ski-poling here as she usually does in the Iditarod. I think because it is icy and fast.