Last year, that moment for Kotzebue's John Baker came in the flat, desolate terrain pockmarked with scrub spruce between the abandoned villages of Ophir and Cripple in the heart of the Interior.

Baker, winner of the Kuskokwim 300 just six weeks earlier, was running a superb race. He'd left Ophir just hours behind frontrunners Hans Gatt and Cim Smyth after resting 10 hours longer than either musher.

He swiftly passed both mushers. Lance Mackey, aiming for a fourth consecutive Iditarod title, was 19 hours back, in the middle of his 24-hour layover.

Might Baker finally deliver on the promise that had yielded 11 top-10 finishes in his 15 years of racing -- but never an Iditarod title?

On the 60-mile push to the race's halfway point in Cripple, a ruthless combination of exhaustion, darkness, cold and confusion teamed up. Baker started seeing landmarks he didn't recognize. Slowly but inevitably, doubt crept in.

"I thought I would be there," he said during last year's race, wondering why he hadn't reached Cripple. "I was running slower than I expected, I think. And then, of course, you're tired. I convinced myself I wasn't on the right trail."

Hours passed as temperatures plummeted to minus-50. Suddenly a man on foot appeared.

It was Tim Hewitt of Greensburg, Pa., one of the few competitors in the Iditarod Invitational human-powered race to Nome.

"When he went by, he barely even nodded his head," Hewitt said by e-mail. "About an hour or so later, I saw a headlamp coming toward me on the trail. It was Baker, sans dogs or sled.

"I asked if he was OK and he said he was.

"I asked where his dogs were and why he left them.

"He said they were anchored up the trail and that he had thought he was on the Iditarod Trail, but now he was pretty sure he wasn't.

"I wondered if he was delirious or just wasn't thinking.

"It was a clear and very cold night. Northern lights were firing in the distance. I told him he was on the trail. He wanted proof. I pointed to a trail marker, but he said it did not have a blue ribbon affixed. I explained that all of the markers did not have those wind indicator ribbons and there was no need for them in the woods. He wasn't convinced.

"I pointed to an Iditarod reflector marker in a tree permanently marking the trail. He wasn't convinced.

"I told him this was my fifth trip to Nome and I was confident that I was on the trail. He said this was his 15th, and he did not remember this stretch of woods.

"I told him the Iditarod trail breakers had gone by me the night before and that I had not left their tracks. Still not buying.

"I pulled out my frozen GPS and although I did not have a map or waypoint for the Cripple checkpoint I did have a waypoint for the Ruby-Poorman road (Ruby is the next checkpoint past Cripple) and it was dead ahead 15 miles. No sale.

"As I was talking with him, I realized that it was REALLY cold. In fact, I chuckled to myself because as I was talking with John I was snowing. I had never snowed before. Every time I spoke a column of snow came from my mouth and fell straight to the ground.

"I could not stay stopped any longer without losing my core temperature, so I told him he would have to decide what he wanted to do but that I could not continue the debate.

"As I passed his dogs, they watched with curiosity. I was equally curious about the fate of their master until an hour later when he went flying by, chasing the dog team in front of him. He was the second musher into Cripple."

Baker got there 11 minutes after young Dallas Seavey, losing the $3,000 halfway prize, but, more importantly, losing the confidence and swagger that characterized his team much of that season.

The 60-mile journey had taken nearly 19 hours; Mackey covered the same stretch in 10 hours.

By the time Baker reached Ruby, the next checkpoint, he was in 18th place, about 10 hours behind race leader Jeff King, with Mackey close behind in second.

Despite the setback that cost him hours, Baker and his team regrouped to finish fifth and record his second fastest trip to Nome. He wound up only eight hours behind Mackey.

"When I left Cripple, I was just hoping we'd get an opportunity to get back near the top," Baker said. "When you're competing with those types of people, there's no room for mistakes."

He left the Yukon River town of Nulato in 13th place. By the time he reached the Norton Sound coast at Unalakleet, he was up to sixth.

"Last year, we had a team definitely capable of doing it," said Baker, who predicts perhaps a dozen of last year's dogs will be in harness once again this year. "This year's team is experienced, and they really work well together.

A pair of females -- Velvet, 4, and Snickers, 5 -- should lead Baker's team once again.

"He's always top-five," longtime race analyst Joe Runyan, the 1989 champion, said of Baker. "He just hasn't hit the right combo yet. But he's always to the front with a heck of a good team."

And if Baker is in contention once the leaders reach Norton Sound, expect towns and villages from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik to Koyuk to be rooting for the home team.

"I have friends and relatives from along the coast that I don't get to see during the year," Baker said. "To win, I think it would be incredible for Nome and Kotzebue and all the people of the area."

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Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.