After a busy weekend on the trails, the end of the Yukon Quest is in sight.
Race leader Allen Moore arrived in Braeburn just before noon on Feb. 12 for a mandatory eight-hour layover.
Moore and his team have to cover approximately 80 more miles to finish the Quest.
Matt Hall, Laura Neese, Paige Drobny, Ed Hopkins and Vebjorn Aishana Reitan are all on the trail between Carmacks and Braeburn.
Tim Pappas is next in the standings, just past McCabe Creek.
Berhard Schuchert, Luc Tweddell and Claudia Wickert are all in Pelly Crossing.
Alex Buetow is nearly in Pelly Crossing and Riley Dyche is at the Stepping Stone hospitality stop.
Dave Dalton, Nathaniel Hamlyn and Rob Cooke are all on the trail between Scroggie Creek and Stepping Stone.
Three mushers scratched over the weekend, leaving the field at 15.
On Feb. 9 at 10:05 p.m., Hugh Neff arrived in Dawson and officially scratched from the race. A press release from the Yukon Quest on Feb. 10 said the cause of death for Neff’s dog, five-year-old Boppy, was aspiration. Final necropsy results are expected within one month of the race finish.
Neff reported the death earlier in the day on Feb. 9. The dog died at Clinton Creek.
Swedish musher Torsten Kohnert scratched from the race at 9 a.m. on Feb 10 in Dawson. A press release from the Quest said Kohnert felt his team needed time to recover due to the cold weather.
Rookie Severin Cathry of Switzerland scratched from the race on Feb. 11 in Dawson. Cathry said poor training conditions earlier in the year meant his team did not have the stamina and endurance to continue.
The Yukon Quest said previously on Feb. 9 that Cathry activated the SOS button on his tracking device at 6:40 p.m. on Feb. 8, meaning he was required to withdraw from the race. He and his team were found in good health and continued on the trail.
During a review of the incident, race marshal Doug Harris confirmed that Cathry’s SOS button had not been activated, meaning he was allowed to stay in the race.
A Feb. 9 press release indicated Cathry was unaware of the situation.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com