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Keeping the team on the trail – Eagle Checkpoint

February 17, 2007
Editor and/or Contributors

As daylight fades from the sky around Eagle, Alaska, serveral dog teams are resting here before setting off onto the Yukon River towards Slaven’s Cabin and Circle City.The Eagle Checkpoint has been in operation for over 28 hours now as a steady flow of teams have been arriving since yesterday afternoon when Lance Mackey went through town. With the front runners now a memory, checkpoint volunteers and Yukon Quest Vets and Officials are concentrating on the teams in the middle of the 2007 pack.Brent Sass and Richie Beattie arrived together just over an hour ago, and Mike Jayne had already been in the checkpoint for about an hour and a half by the time they arrived. Dave Dalton recently departed after staying almost seven hours at the Eagle Checkpoint. John Schandelmeier is still in Eagle at the time of this report, but is expected to hit the trail soon.William Hanes, Russ Bybee and Peter Ledwidge are thought to have left the Forty Mile hospitality stop some time ago, but confirmed times have not yet been recieved. They were into Forty Mile about 5 hours behind the teams who are now in Eagle, so are expected to arrive at the Eagle Checkpoint before midnight tonight.Running times between Forty Mile and Eagle have ranged from 16 and-a-half hours to just over twenty hours for the last few teams. These times should lengthen somewhat as later teams are travelling slower than those already in Eagle.Eight teams are now still on the trail between Dawson City and Eagle at this time. Bob McAlpin has checked out after serving his mandatory layover in Dawson City, and Kyla Boivin is expected to depart from the Klondike Capital about 8:15 pm Saturday.Lance Mackey is still reported at Slaven’s Cabin Dog Drop, and is expected to be moving on to Circle City in the next few hours.Today’s cloud cover has dissipated over the past several hours, and temperatures are expected to get colder with the clear skies.