Fan favorite DeeDee Jonrowe of Willow, who was knocked out of the race last year after hitting a tree on the tricky run up into the Alaska Range between Finger and Puntilla lakes, went through cleanly this year.

It was a decided change from last year when both Jonrowe, a two-time runnerup, and Doug Swingley, the four-time champ from Lincoln, Mont., fell to injuries on this stretch of trail.

Between Finger and Puntilla wait the notorious Happy River steps. A series of three switchbacks down the steep wall of a canyon to the snow-covered ice of the Happy River, they are famous for busting sleds and frightening mushers.

But the sidehilling trail above the Happy River as the route heads north out of the canyon is what usually gets mushers. This is where Jonrowe and Swingley ran into trouble last year, and where many serious injuries have taken place in the past.

On the sidehill trail, the dogsled tends to skid toward the downhill side, and it is easy to hit a tree.

There were no reports of any injuries going into Puntilla Monday, but expect them eventually. With the passing of each sled, the trail gets worse -- the sidehills slicker, the holes at the bottom from where mushers have crashed ever bigger.

Ironically, too, the least capable Iditarod mushers, those in the back of the pack, usually get the worst of it. The true professionals are invariably first through this stretch of trail.

They were all streaming into Puntilla by midday.

Former Iditarod champ Mitch Seavey from Sterling led the parade coming in. There were plenty of others close behind.

Seavey got in shortly after 11 a.m., and was joined by four-time champ Jeff King 15 minutes before noon. Other contenders close behind king incluced Ramey Smyth from Willow, the Norwegian Kjetil Backen, Jonrowe, Ken Anderson from Fairbanks and who is coming off a runner-up finish in the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, and former Quest champ Aliy Zirkle.

Most of them were expected to give their dogs a significant rest after the climb into the Alaska Range, but with the weather closing in, no one was expected to rest long. Wet, heavy snow was reported at Finger Lake, where the planes that follow and support the race were having trouble taking off.

And the forecast was for more snow and blowing snow.

The latter was a huge problem last year. Many of the leading teams got lost in a ground blizzard in Rainy Pass.

Race officials say the trail through the area has been marked better this year, but when the snow blows so hard it is difficult for man or beast to keep their eyes open, finding the trail can be a problem.