BRAEBURN – The 2022 Yukon Quest is resembling a convoy so far as the mushers make their way down the trail.

Early this afternoon, all nine mushers entered in the Quest 300 had been grouped together at Braeburn on their way back to Whitehorse. They are expected to arrive sometime in the early morning hours of Tuesday.

They started the YQ 300 at 3 p.m. Saturday and raced from Whitehorse through Braeburn to Mandanna Lake, then turned around and went back to Braeburn.

The Star was in Braeburn Sunday covering the Quest while the racers took off to head up north to Mandanna Lake.

Sebastien Dos Santos Borges, 49, of France, is one of the mushers now back in Braeburn resting.

“The first part, it was very difficult to arrive to time station 1 because a lot of overflow,” said Borges.

“It was crazy, as the dogs going into overflow, but the second part, it was very nice. It’s a French dog, you know, and so it’s difficult – we don’t have overflow in France, so – but my dog are amazing and all are very happy, so I’m happy.”

Borges said his dogs are doing well.

“No worries. I have 12 dogs and it’s OK.”

“It’s a long way to come here, but I’m very glad, very happy to stay here and to start to Whitehorse and it’s funny because the finish is Whitehorse too, so it’s very nice for me.”

Mayla Hill is an 18-year-old musher racing in the Quest for the first time, and the youngest in the race. She, too, was resting back at Braeburn at press time this afternoon after taking off from Braeburn Sunday afternoon, when she said the going was good so far.

“The trail was easy. The bumps were draining on the back, but, other than that, the trail’s awesome, the dogs are doing great, weather is perfect – clear night (Saturday) night and clear morning (Sunday), so it’s awesome.”

Asked about what challenges the trail has had, Hill chuckled “all this rest.

“The bumps were endless, but, other than that, just the rest and the bumps. That’s about it. Everything else was pretty smooth.”

“The overflow was – I didn’t have a problem with that. Just hopped up on the cooler, kept my boots dry, swamped her a little bit, got her deep near the end, but I just pulled off to the side, cleaned all the slush out before it froze, and we were on our way again, and didn’t have any mishaps in there, so that was good.”

Hill said the dogs were doing “awesome.”

“They’re really killing it ... keeping their weight up. They’re happy and excited.”

Hill was even running up front for a while.

“I was. I was in first place, I was in last place, I was in the middle, I was everywhere. We were quite the convoy there for a while, so there was a lot of leapfrogging and going back and forth.”

Hill and her team got off to a fast start.

“When we were in lead, we were like a hundred feet in front of second place, and ... you look behind you, and there’s a string of mushers behind you, and they’re all touching each other. So first place didn’t mean much at that point.”

Hill says she’s really enjoying it so far.

“This is awesome. Going along the trail, going to the next stop, resting the dogs. The rest is nice, actually, the dogs are getting what they need to keep going and it’s kind of nice with the long rest, but just traveling on the trails has just been great. And meeting all the people – it’s awesome.”

Hill said the race is well-organized, and the volunteers have also been awesome.

As for how she was feeling about the rest of the race, “I’m excited to see what happens. That 100 miles didn’t feel like anything, really. It felt fast, and now we’re here, and now at least the teams are spread out more.

“At first, it was just one after another; we’re all piled up. We think we’re spaced out and soon as we get into the bush, and then we stop at the time check and we’re all piled up right at the same spot at the same time, seconds between each other.

“Now, it’s nice to have a little space and variety with the people taking different rests.”

The confident newcomer feels like she has a shot at winning.

“I do. That’s what we’re going for, and I’m not thinking about anything less.”

Aaron Peck, 42, is Hill’s mentor and employer at his Elevation Sled Dogs kennel in Grande Prairie, Alta. He is one of the group of nine 300 mushers resting at Braeburn.

Peck spoke very highly of the Quest rookie.

“She just always comes through. She’s running my best dogs – that’s how much I trust her.

“Mayla takes great care of the dogs. She will sacrifice herself to take care of those dogs.

“She’s very confident for an 18-year-old. Keep an eye on her.”

Brent Sass left Braeburn at 11:47 a.m. in first, followed closely by Michelle Phillips. Hill and Deke Naaktgeboren and Sebastien Dos Santos Borges are still in Braeburn at this time.

A group of four came in later, including Jerry Joinson (sixth), Peck (seventh), Connor McMahon (eighth) and Paul Hamlyn (ninth).