Or, perhaps the “coup”….

The BBC reports the breaking news: Egypt’s Mubarak resigns as leader

In an announcement on state TV, Vice-President Omar Suleiman said Mr Mubarak had handed power to the military.

It came as thousands massed in Cairo and other Egyptian cities for an 18th day of protest to demand Mr Mubarak’s resignation.

Protesters responded by cheering, waving flags, embracing and sounding car horns. “The people have brought down the regime,” they chanted.

Mr Suleiman said Mr Mubarak had handed power to the high command of the armed forces.

“In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate, citizens, during these very difficult circumstances Egypt is going through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down from the office of president of the republic and has charged the high council of the armed forces to administer the affairs of the country,” he said.

“May God help everybody.”

Like I said yesterday, the military was put in the position of having to “do something” about Mubarak. I wonder if anyone has told him that he resigned? Well, they’ll take care of the details later, after they get their next check from the US.

The military needs to understand that the people who gathered have already lost their fear of death, so if it doesn’t start delivering some real changes, especially labor reforms and lifting the state of emergency, the protesters will be back, and the strikes are a certainty. The people won a big one, so they are ready and willing to do this again.

Hugh Neff is getting to sleep in after reaching Eagle just after midnight. Snow, plunging temperatures, and gusty winds on the American Summit will stop pursuit.

From the Weather Underground forecast:

Periods of snow from Chicken south with snow accumulation 2 to 5 inches…highest amounts near the Alaska Range. A chance of snow north of Chicken. Areas of blowing snow with poor visibility near the Alaska Range. Highs 5 to 10 above. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Gusts to 35 mph near the Alaska Range.

The American Summit is part of the Alaskan Range. With conditions like that and a mandatory 4-hour stop at Eagle for the border paperwork, Hugh can wait in Eagle until the next team arrives, and then leave with comfortable lead and a well-rested team.

Christine Roalofs (9) is making slow progress according to the GPS tracker. She apparently missed a trail marker and had to back-track about five miles yesterday.

Update: 2PM CST- Running tenth out of Dawson, Wade Marrs (15) returned and scratched. He was down to 9 puppies, and the weather has turned very nasty. Still no word on Christine Roalofs.

Update: 4:30PM CST – Finally, Christine Roalofs hit her “HELP” button on the GPS. She was running low on supplies after getting lost and spending a great deal more time on the trail than anticipated. Help was sent, and she was disqualified from the race for accepting it. Her disqualified status won’t be posted until she arrives in Dawson. No idea why the race officials didn’t tell people what was going on hours ago. [Note: Disqualified has been changed to Withdrawn.]

To give you some idea of the conditions on the trail out of Dawson, Jodi Bailey (17) got turned around in the blowing snow during the night, and didn’t realize it until she got back to Dawson. I hope her puppies have a sense of humor, because they are re-running the trail out.

Update: 7PM CST- Although Clint Warnke (25) and Tamara Rose (12) could be on the trail out of Dawson, the Iditarod veterans are choosing to stay in Dawson until the late group of mushers leave. They want to finish the race, and with weather like today, it is better to travel together.

From the YQ Facebook page: Eagle, Alaska – Quote of the day, “One minute you’re running a race and the next, you’re in a survival situation – that’s the Yukon Quest.” Sebastian Schnuelle

Hugh Neff has an almost 10 hour lead because he made it to Eagle just before the front hit and the wind and snow lashed American Summit. Those behind him had to stop and create shelters for themselves and their dogs.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Current standing below the fold [Read more →]

Adapting

Zzz … zzz … zzz

[Editor: Froggie was looking for dry, not comfortable, and a trash can under the eaves of a neighbor’s house, fit the bill.]

Friday Ark