Rainy Pass and Beyond

Wow...what a day into Rainy Pass (note to self...on my dream Iditarod Vacation I MUST fly to Rainy Pass for the day!) where mushers filed in one by one...starting with 4 time Iditarod Champion Lance Mackey...followed 20 minutes later by Ray Reddington Jr...two iconic names in Iditarod History. I would have loved to be there watching the dogs sleep on a bed of straw in the strong Alaskan sun. I hear it got up into the 20's today...good time to rest your Team! The leaders are back out on the trail right now...running at 8 to 10 mph...how long can they keep up this pace? Historically, it takes an average of 20 hours to get from Willow to Rainly Pass...but the first group into the check point did it about 2 hours faster!!??? Can this pace get any faster? Also, a group of Mushers took the wrong trail for a short bit, Dee Dee was one of them, and had to turn back and rest at Finger Lake Checkpoint. Poor Dee Dee!!! The next check point is Rohn...and the plot thickens!