2007 Yukon Quest

EAGLE — Lance Mackey crossed the American border Friday and arrived in this Yukon River town with plenty of time for dog chores, a nap and a beef stew dinner.

As Mackey bootied up his dogs, Germans Gerry Willomitzer and William Kleedehn finally pulled up 6 1/2 hours behind. On his way out 10 minutes later, the Fairbanks musher, who’s in commanding position for a third straight Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race title, crossed paths with an arriving Hans Gatt, the event’s only three-time champion.

Mackey would be happy not to see any of them again until the finish line in Fairbanks 400 miles away.

“I’m still looking over my shoulder,” Mackey said in the cozy Eagle schoolhouse, where he relaxed on a folding chair in front of a wood barrel stove. “It sounds real nice, but there’s plenty of room for error so I’m not going to get too confident quite yet.

“Anything can happen and we have a long … ways to go yet.”

Mackey continued his torrid pace, making the 147-mile run from Dawson that included a climb of American Summit, in 26 1/2 hours, a full three hours faster than his journey on the same stretch two years ago.

The stretch provided some frigid weather in the Fortymile River area, where Mackey rested uncomfortably twice for a total of nine hours.

“Last night was 40 below and I had four hand warmers in each mitt,” said Mackey, who continues to struggle with a damaged nerve condition in his hands. “There’s sacrifices you gotta make in this sport and one of them is being uncomfortable. I’m willing to accept that for now.”

Mackey felt better Friday evening, as the temperature had warmed considerably and he’d soaked in the welcoming atmosphere of Eagle, a town at the end of the Taylor Highway reachable in winter only by snowmachine, small plane or dog team.

“I like Eagle; it’s one of my favorite checkpoints. It’s really hospitable,” said Mackey, who arrived here at 1:55 p.m. “I love the surroundings too. I always said if I was single, I’d be in Eagle.”

Mackey has singled himself out in the 24th annual race, extending his lead by more than two hours since Dawson City; barring some unforeseen complications, Mackey may be traveling solo for awhile, or can choose to take lengthy rest stops and depart right when his pursuers arrive.

Those pursuers are Willomitzer (who arrived in Eagle at 8:24 p.m.), Kleedehn (8:25 p.m.), Gatt (8:35 p.m.), Sebastian Schnuelle (9:48 p.m.) and Hugh Neff (10:48 p.m.) in what could develop into a fascinating race for second place.

Willomitzer was the first to enter the schoolhouse, hang his gear for drying and answer questions from the media. He has been traveling with Kleedehn and Gatt for much of the past two days.

“You always wonder where friendship ends and competition starts,” said Willomitzer, who got his mushing start as Kleedehn’s handler. “I see these guys all year. It’s not that exciting (to travel with them).”

Willomitzer would prefer to have a comfortable gap, but with the margins so close, no one is especially eager to lead the pack and leave a scent for those just behind.

Willomitzer and company are monitoring one another, but not the guy ahead.

“(Mackey’s) got a pretty good lead and he’s not going to let it go,” said Willomitzer. “There’s nobody in our group that’s talking about Lance and trying to close in.”

News from the back

Traveling at least a couple days behind the leaders is the back of the pack, which provided plenty of news on Friday.

North Pole’s Bob McAlpin surprised the Dawson City checkpoint Friday morning by arriving well before expected at 3:28 a.m. Although McAlpin, who was in the Red Lantern position for several days, rested for almost 14 hours leading into it, his remarkable run of 17 hours and 10 minutes was the third fastest from the Stewart River checkpoint, slower only than Mackey’s and Sebastian Schnuelle’s trips.

Then at 6:36 p.m., Yuka Honda finally reached Dawson City after a nearly 34-hour trip from Stewart River, much to the relief of Bill Cotter — her handler and the owner of her dog team — and others, including officials who had sent a snowmachine to look for her. Honda was slowed by having to carry a dog in her sled bag for much of the way.

“I expected her in (Friday) morning,” said Cotter, the 1987 Yukon Quest champion, early in the afternoon.

Honda also had a dog die last Sunday after her team got away from her, a tragedy that could adversely affect both musher and dog team.

“I just need to talk to her when she gets in,” said Cotter, adding that Honda was doing ‘pretty good’ in the days following the accident. “It can be hard on the dogs’ heads, their confidence level. It takes a few days to come back, I think.”

But after Honda’s arrival, concern shifted solely to Greg Parvin, a Two Rivers musher who is well overdue in Dawson City. Parvin left Stewart River late Wednesday afternoon, returned there for unexplained reasons after eight hours, then departed again at 9:50 a.m. Thursday morning with McAlpin, Honda and Boivin. At some point, Parvin was isolated from the others.

When Parvin didn’t show up by Friday afternoon, Quest officials had two planes do a “cursory flyover” of a portion of the trail between Stewart River and Dawson City.

Parvin and his team were found early Saturday, in good condition, about 20 miles outside of Stewart River and 80 miles from Dawson. Officials gave him the choice of being resupplied by Canadian Rangers or being flown off the trail. Either choice means the end of the race for Parvin.