Lanier Leaves Ophir First

Its Lanier as the first out onto the trail from Ophir on his way to the halfway mark of Cripple! Herbst has not yet left, but we can anticipate his move in the same direction soon. Meanwhile, back at Takotna, the leaders are preparing for their "restart" after a nice 24 hour rest. I am not sure of trail conditions, other than a lot of powder snow. The trail breakers are now ahead of Lanier and will not be returning. Its an 80 mile run from Ophir to Cripple.....the GPS has him running about 6.5 mph...we can anticipate his, or maybe even Herbst, stop into Cripple in about 11 to 12 hours. The Leaders out of Takotna should be running about 8 to 9 mph, covering the 100 miles to Cripple in about 11 to 12 hours IF the trail is good.....longer if not....plus you got to snack your dogs along the way. Depending upon how well rested the short stop in Ophir was for Laniers and Herbst's Teams, it could be a tight race to grab the $ 3,000 in Cripple!

And once again I have to go to work....damn!