CARMACKS, Yukon -- The dog teams piled up one by one throughout the day, eventually spilling out of the dog yard and onto the trail's edge.
For a race known for solitude and wide-open spaces, the Yukon Quest seemed awfully crowded on Sunday.
Hugh Neff arrived at Carmacks first at 10 a.m., followed a few hours later by early leader Jeff King. By the time he departed about six hours later, Neff left King and a dozen other mushers behind at the cramped checkpoint outside Carmacks Recreation Centre.
Neff often bolts out to quick starts, a habit he said he's tried unsuccessfully to break. He blamed the claustrophobia of the early race for pushing him ahead.
"I always try to get in my little bubble, be on my own," he said.
But by Monday morning, he had company. Neff was joined by seven mushers at the Pelly Crossing checkpoint, about 70 miles down the trail. And by 6 a.m. his team was moving again, chasing Brent Sass, who'd left two hours and 35 minutes earlier to break trail for the 25-musher field headed towards the Alaska-Canada border that's still many days away. The next checkpoint of Stepping Stone is about 50 miles down the trail.
With temperatures colder than 40 below zero along the trail, mushers adopted a more deliberate pace as they lingered in Carmacks.
King spent more than seven hours at the checkpoint, even though he'd already taken his mandatory six-hour rest overnight in Braeburn. King said the weather and a rough trail could spur him to take another long rest at McCabe Creek, just 39 miles down the trail.
"It was really, really cold," he said. "I slowed down and rotated them to keep them from going too fast out there."
Two Rivers musher Matt Hall also looked weary as he picked up a plate of lasagna at the checkpoint. Two of his biggest dogs struggled during the cold run, forcing him to carry them in his sled. Not only did the extra 120 pounds of cargo slow the team's progress, but Hall also had to drop both dogs in Carmacks.
He said the conditions bogged down his team, forcing him to spend extra time clearing dogs of ice and securing booties over their feet.
"The cold weather certainly has a lot to do with it," he said. "You've just got to be a little more careful and pay more attention."
It probably isn't the only factor contributing to congestion along the trail. The first mandatory rest period this year was extended to six hours from four, contributing to the slower pace.
King said he was resting his team ahead of a rough patch of jumble ice. The pre-race trail report singled out a 3-mile portion of the Yukon River north of Carmacks as particularly troublesome.
Race Marshal Doug Grilliot said the trails crew had spent several days hacking away at problem spots.
"It's about as good as it's gonna get, and it's light years ahead of where it was 48 hours ago," he said.
It doesn't appear there will be any relief from the cold ahead, however. Environment Canada is forecasting bitter cold throughout the region today, including 49 below in Dawson City.
"I don't think we need to wait for it to be warming up," Neff said. "I think this is what we're going to be dealing with."
Jeff Richardson is a reporter for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.