Husky News

Under a full moon so big and bright that headlamps were unnecessary, Two Rivers musher Jessica Hendricks left the Eureka Lodge just before 11 p.m. Saturday and headed out on the trail of the Sheep Mountain Lodge 150.

A pack of superb dog drivers lurked right behind.

The race is the first of the year for distance mushers, and it attracted a full field of 48 starters from as far away as Canmore, Alberta, and Juneau.

Temperatures were expected to dip below minus-20 Saturday night, but a good snow base and abundant moonlight made the running fine.

The talented young Hendricks has finished as high as 15th in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Two years ago, she finished second at Sheep Mountain, just 21 minutes behind winner Lance Mackey.

Sebastian Schnuelle of Whitehorse, the 10th-place finisher in March’s Iditarod, left Eureka six minutes behind Hendricks.

Alan Moore, Hendricks’ neighbor in Two Rivers, was third; Hans Gatt of Whitehorse, sixth in the last Iditarod, left in fourth place while Jon Little of Kasilof, fourth in the 2002 Iditarod, was on the trail 14 minutes behind Hendricks.

Farther back lurked four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King of Denali Park.

The popular mid-distance race is expected to finish before noon today.

Poor snow conditions forced the cancellation of last year’s race, and two-time defending Iditarod champion Mackey won in 2006. He did not enter this year.

“We’ve got a bonfire going,” Lorena Knapp, a timing official with the race, said by phone from Eureka. “The weather’s great. The moon is out tonight, and it’s clear.”

Despite the favorable conditions, Knapp said the racers didn’t appear to be threatening any race records.

“Jeff King is sitting in 10th place or so — so he’s not screaming past anybody,” she said. “But it’s early. Tonight is where things will separate out.”

Starting and finishing at Sheep Mountain Lodge, the race is broken up into three legs of about 50 miles with two mandatory layovers at Eureka Lodge separating them.

Source: The Anchorage Daily News