Current leaders and location [> indicates beyond that checkpoint]:

1 Lance Mackey (6) Ruby>
2 Jeff King (11) Ruby>
3 Kjetil Backen (42) Ruby
4 Mitch Seavey (33) Ruby
5 Hans Gatt (38) Ruby
6 John Baker (67) Ruby
7 Rick Swenson (61) Ruby
8 Jim Lanier (4) Ruby
9 Ramey Smyth (48) Ruby
10 Jessie Royer (3) Ruby
11 Paul Gebhardt (69) Ruby
12 DeeDee Jonrowe (39) Ruby
13 Sigrid Ekran (24) Ruby
14 Martin Buser (13) Ruby
15 Zack Steer (26) Ruby
16 Ed Iten (32) Ruby
17 Aaron Burmeister (14) Cripple>
18 Sebastian Schnuelle (68) Cripple>
19 Gerry Willomitzer (7) Cripple>
20 William Kleedehn (66) Cripple> [rookie]

[Read more →]

The Anchorage Daily News provides some more information on two earlier scratches:

… Jason Barron of Lincoln, Mont., scratched Thursday morning in McGrath because some of his 14 dogs were sick. Barron, 36, has finished seven Iditarods with a best of eighth place in 2006. He was 14th last year.

… Cliff Roberson scratched in Rohn after injuring himself lighting a propane stove. “The cooker blew up in his face, and burned both of his eyes. He said it blasted so hard it almost knocked him over,” said Suzanne Roberson, who spoke to her husband by satellite phone Wednesday afternoon. “If he went back out and completed the race, he’d probably end up with permanent damage to his eyes.”

I had assumed Jason Barron’s dogs had gotten sick, because that has been the pattern. Dogs are ailing because of the temperature, rather than the strains and injuries of last year.

They reported earlier that Roberson had eye injuries, and I assumed that he had gotten whacked by a tree limb while he was moving along the trail. Having a propane stove explode in your face is fairly scary, even if you weren’t alone in the middle of a whole lot of nothing and nowhere.

Via McClatchy in DC, Marc Caputo of the Miami Herald notes in his article, Crist: State should oversee revote:

…But Republican House rules chairman David Rivera said he likes the idea of a mail election if the Democrats pay for it. Meanwhile, he has asked the House elections committee to research a bill that would ban the Democratic nominee from the Florida ballot if the national party refuses to seat the state’s delegates.

State Senate Republican leader Dan Webster came up with the idea, but said he’s not wedded to it.

When I said this people thought I was kidding, but they haven’t dealt with the Florida Republican Party of JEB and Katherine Harris. The primary date was changed to get Amendment 1 passed and to screw the Democrats in Florida. Thanks to the DNC, they succeeded.

Following on the heels of Warren Buffet, Paul Krugman says It has begun: “it’s a very good guess that we will eventually be told that the second recession of the Bush administration began in December 2007 or January 2008”.

I’ll stay with November, 2007, although it may turn out that the rules are only applied to complete quarters, which would technically push the start to January, 2008 although the pain had been occurring for most of the final quarter of 2007.

Naturally the Hedgemony is still talking about a “economic slowdown”, as if it will go away if you don’t say the name aloud. Like many similar social groups, Republicans are superstitious and believe in magic.

Lance Mackey eats well today and can afford a big tip as his is the first team to Ruby and the Yukon River, winning the First to the Yukon Award.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, Mackey will be taking the required Yukon 8-hour layover to rest his dogs during the heat of the day, and to eat the meal.

I wondered what happened to her, and the Anchorage Daily News finally explains the problem:

Rookie musher Kim Franklin of Britain was withdrawn from the race Thursday after two dogs became separated from her team. Franklin reported that one of her dogs chewed through the gangline and race officials said Franklin couldn’t find the dogs and continued to Rohn. It’s against Iditarod rules to arrive at a checkpoint without the same number of dogs.

Officials said the two dogs were found and released to their handler in Anchorage.

A tough break for the English farmer, but she did get to compete.

Things will get easier from this point as the leaders really will be the leaders in the overall race. Here are the standings this morning with the top ten all having completed their layover and on the trail to Ruby from Cripple, the longest leg in the race:

1 Lance Mackey (6)
2 Hans Gatt (38)
3 Jeff King (11)
4 Rick Swenson (61)
5 Kjetil Backen (42)
6 Aaron Burmeister (14)
7 Mitch Seavey (33)
8 John Baker (67)
9 Jim Lanier (4)
10 Sebastian Schnuelle (68)

The back of the pack is laying over in McGrath.

The leading woman, Jessie Royer (3), is in 11^th place and back on the trail. The leading rookie, William Kleedehn (66), is in 28^th place.

In 75^th place, Rachael Scdoris (55) should finish her layover in McGrath this morning.

Josh Rogers at IditaBlog updates on the First to the Yukon Award indicating that the sponsor, Millennium Hotel in Anchorage, has increased the cash to 5,000 one-dollar bills. While Lance Mackey is in a good spot to collect it, but it’s a long run to Ruby.

A little cooler today, but not the frozen conditions that make it much easier for the teams to run.

The first 11 are in Cripple, the rest are on the trail between Ophir and Cripple. Those in bold have completed their mandatory 24-hour stop.

1 DeeDee Jonrowe (39)
2 Paul Gebhardt (69)
3 Zack Steer (26)
4 Martin Buser (13)
5 Ed Iten (32)
6 Ken Anderson (9)
7 Silvia Willis (40)
8 Hugh Neff (16)
9 Aliy Zirkle (17)
10 Rohn Buser (37) [rookie]

11 Jeff King (11)
12 Cim Smyth (2)
13 Jon Korta (71)
14 Jason Mackey (36)
15 Kjetil Backen (42)
16 Lance Mackey (6)
17 Hans Gatt (38)
18 William Kleedehn (66) [rookie]
19 Rick Swenson (61)
20 Gerry Willomitzer (7)
21 Sebastian Schnuelle (68)
22 Jim Lanier (4)
23 Aaron Burmeister (14)
24 John Baker (67)

[Read more →]

Trust?

I’m on to you, and your “gifts”.

[Editor: This is Pavlova’s brother, Petrov, who is not nearly as trusting as his sister. It was taken with the optical zoom, because like most ferals he regards me as an ax murderer who might at any time poison him. The small flashes of white on his nose and ready flight are the easiest way of telling him from his sister.]

Friday Ark

In Memoriam

Laura Rozen of War and Piece has been forced to say goodbye to Sophie.