Photos: Iditarod mushers travel from Nenana to Manley

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Zoya DeNure comforts her dog as veterinarian Michael Walker examines it at the Manley Hot Springs checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 10, 2015.

MANLEY HOT SPRINGS -- Clear and cool weather greeted mushers on their first night on the Iditarod Trail, though "cool" might have been an understatement.

"I don't think anyone's had cold weather (this winter) except Iditarod and the Quest," said Cantwell musher Mike Santos as he ate a thawed burrito, cramming the food between two icicles that had formed on his mustache.

Santos could only shake his head as he tried to eat. A giant bonfire where he camped near the trail had melted off an earlier 'stache-cicle, though it quickly reformed on the run to Manley.

"Some of us have gotten wimpy," he said.

But mushers were, for the most part, in good spirits as they steadily cruised into the Manley checkpoint. The trail they'd traveled from Nenana to Manley was fast and well-groomed as it traversed the hills, creeks and the nearby frozen Tanana River.

Read more: Used to a balmy Alaska winter, Iditarod mushers feel the chill of minus 30