Paul Gebhardt and Richie Diehl have both just left the checkpoint in 12th and 13th position.  Separated by only 4 minutes Richie said that he was in the same place 2 years ago, but is not more than 12 hours ahead of that schedule. It shows how hotly contested even the Top 20 places are this year.  Once again it is beautiful and calm outside. The dog yard is full of activity. Robert Sorlie, John Baker, Jessie Royer, Ken Anderson are all getting ready to go. Those are a lot of Top names right there. John showed me the inside of his seat and asked what is the most important thing in there. Spotting the can of Pringles, the answer comes easy. ” I would say the yellow can .”  Both John and I like our junk food. 

I kept on teasing Ken Anderson how sitting on a sailboat would sound right now and of course he bit the bait and said that this might be his last Iditarod. Earlier, Paul Gebhardt said that this is the last time he will put a boot on a dog this year. It’s White Mountain. Mushers are tired, dog tired. Anything sounds good, other than running dogs.

Inside the Checkpoint Kelly Maixner, Hugh Neff and Travis Beals were discussing the merits of running without necklines and how that at the same time would make leaving a checkpoint that much harder at this stage in the race.

An update on Michelle Phillips. She is at a local’s house in Golovin, is the word back from the mushers who have passed her. Brent Sass is still in the checkpoint and was sleeping at 8.30 a.m.

Here are a few morning pictures: