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Photo by Eric Engman

FAIRBANKS — After nearly two weeks on the Yukon Quest trail, there might be a race for the Red Lantern between rookies Becca Moore of Willow and Iris Wood Sutton of Fairbanks.

The pair, which has been traveling together since shortly after the midway point of Dawson City, are the only two of 29 original mushers still on the 1,016-mile trail.

They cleared one major obstacle by crossing Eagle Summit’s mountain pass on Thursday afternoon. After camping seven hours at Mile 101 dog drop, they hurdled Rosebud Summit before arriving at the final Two Rivers Checkpoint 33 minutes apart early Friday evening.

Following a mandatory eight-hour layover at the Twin Bears campground, Moore can leave there at 12:48 a.m. today followed by Wood Sutton at 1:21 a.m. Recent teams have taken at least 7 hours to cover the final 45-mile stretch; if Moore and Wood Sutton follow suit, they’ll arrive at the Fairbanks finish line sometime after 8 a.m. today. They would even have time to get some rest and wash up before the Finish Banquet that begins at 5 p.m. today at the Carlson Center.

Wood Sutton has never attempted the Quest while Moore started last year but dropped out on day two.

Sad news came from the trail Friday when Yuka Honda scratched at the Mile 101 Checkpoint. Honda arrived there Thursday night after a nearly 20-hour journey from Central via Eagle Summit. However, Honda left Mile 101 at 7:39 a.m. and scratched upon returning there less than 90 minutes later. She was running a team of dogs that belongs to Bill Cotter of Nenana.

Honda, of Japan, also scratched in her previous two Quest attempts. She was airlifted off Eagle Summit after being stranded during a storm in 2006 and scratched in Dawson in 2007 several days after she lost her sled and a dog named Jewel subsequently died.

The only finishers on Friday were Wayne Hall of Eagle at 2:33 a.m. in 15th place, the final money-paying position; and William Pinkham of Glenwood Springs, Colo., at 5:40 a.m. Hall will have little time to recover before setting out as a guide on a six-week mushing expedition to Herschel Island, the northernmost point of Yukon, Canada, in the Beaufort Sea at 69 degrees latitude.

Contact staff writer Matias Saari at 459-7591.