Three left on the trail to Nome

I just received word our last cyclist on the trail to Nome has scratched at the halfway point. Billy Koitzsch has injured his knee and is in the ghost town of Iditarod waiting for a flight out. The old mining town is deserted until every other year when the Iditarod Sled dog race takes the southern route to Nome. With all the leaders of the dog race coming through it is a busy place for now. Tim Hewit and Tom Jarding were seen just beyond Iditarod cooking a meal and drying socks yesterday evening and I will hear from them next from Shageluk. Marco Bernie was seen last night about 40 miles before Iditarod moving slowly on snowshoes on the soft trail. The dogs and the human powered racers have been slowed considerably by the deep snow and soft trails. Tim and Tom will soon be on the Yukon where they will most likely face stiff headwinds and soft trail all the way to Kaltag where they leave the river to cross the Coastal Range to Unalakleet.