Before first light, lead Iditarod teams pull into Finger Lake checkpoint

Sled dogs eat a snack of frozen meat at the Finger Lake checkpoint on Monday, March 7, 2022, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Finger Lake is about 125 miles into the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)

FINGER LAKE — Iditarod mushers and their dog teams started pulling into a chilly Finger Lake checkpoint early Monday.

After a too-warm start in Willow, temperatures here hovered between zero and 10 degrees, which the dogs prefer.

First in was Paige Drobny, of Cantwell, at 4:41 a.m.

Race officials met her in the dark at the checkpoint, roughly 125 miles into the 1,000-mile competition. She stopped for just three minutes before racing on to the next checkpoint: Rainy Pass.

A lighted tent glows in the dark night
Lights are on in a race officials’ tent at the Finger Lake checkpoint as they get ready for the first mushers to arrive. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)

Tim Johnson, a race official at the Finger Lake checkpoint, described Drobny’s 14-dog team as “solid.”

“She came in really looking great,” said Johnson.

He’s the lead checker here. That means he’s the first person teams see when they pull in, and the mushers tell him whether they’re staying or blasting through.

“It’s the first time she’s led coming into this checkpoint,” Johnson said of Drobny.

A musher in an orange jacket
Brent Sass and his 14-dog team pulled in third to the Finger Lake checkpoint early Monday. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
A musher with a bright headlamp
Jessie Holmes was the fourth musher into the Finger Lake checkpoint early Monday. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
A musher in a black jacket
Dallas Seavey arrived in sixth place. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)

Second into Finger Lake Monday was Richie Diehl and his 14-dog team, just two minutes behind Drobny. He rested for just over three hours before racing on.

And third into Finger Lake was Brent Sass’s team, at 5 a.m. Sass said he’d been listening to music during the first leg of the race, specifically that of Alaska’s State Balladeer, James Varsos — best known as Hobo Jim. Varsos died of cancer last year. He was a staple of the Iditarod with his famous “Iditarod Trail Song”.

“Hobo Jim’s been playing non-stop,” Sass said while loading a bale of straw in his sled. “First Iditarod without having him around — it’s kind of sad for sure, but we got his music, so that’s really nice.”

A musher loading a bale of straw
Brent Sass grabbed a bale of straw at Finger Lake and took off down the trail, stopping for just four minutes. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
A musher with a bright headlamp
Michelle Phillips was the seventh musher into the Finger Lake checkpoint. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)

Sass didn’t stop for long at Finger Lake. Within four minutes, he was off again.

The next three mushers into Finger Lake were Jessie Holmes, three-time Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey and his son, five-time champ Dallas Seavey. They pulled in around 5:30 a.m. Holmes quickly dashed out of the checkpoint, while the Seaveys stopped for a few hours.

As more teams stopped throughout the morning, a patch of snow on the lake ice in front of Winterlake Lodge turned into a dog parking lot. Mushers fed their dogs, fed themselves and rested.

Spectators were sparse for the first few mushers, but as the sun rose, guests at the lodge came down to watch the dog teams.

A man walks among resting dogs outside

Mitch Seavey was the fifth musher into the Finger Lake checkpoint early Monday. He and his team stopped for about three and a half hours. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Dogs curl up on straw outside
Sled dogs curl up to rest at the Finger Lake. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)

Johnson, the lead checker, said usually the first couple mushers are spaced an hour or two apart. Not this year.

“We got a group of about 20 mushers that are coming in basically back-to-back at the beginning,” he said.

By Monday afternoon, most mushers were either resting at Finger Lake or had forged ahead to Rainy Pass. The 30 miles between the two checkpoints are some of the most tricky of the trail, including the dreaded Happy River steps.

Musher Matthew Failor and his dog teams stop at Finger Lake. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Aaron Peck was the 12th musher into the Finger Lake checkpoint. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
A frosty musher walks in the snow carrying two containers
Joar Leifseth Ulsom prepares food for his dog team at Finger Lake. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Hugh Neff’s frosty trailer. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Dan Kaduce and his frosty dogs were the 19th team into the Finger Lake checkpoint. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Joshua McNeal was the 20th musher into the Finger Lake checkpoint. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Ramey Smyth was the 21st musher into the Finger Lake checkpoint. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)
Ramey Smyth’s dog team. (Jeff Chen/Alaska Public Media)

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