Carmacks, YK - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, deployed early this morning to assist Fairbanks musher Cody Starthe 26 miles outside of Braeburn, the last checkpoint on the Yukon Quest trail.
Around 1 am, Strathe activated the help button on his GPS Spot tracking device. The Canadian rangers were also asked to assist in the rescue effort.
The musher left Carmacks with eight sled dogs. They were all found safe along the trail. Temperatures in the area dropped to between 40 and 50 degrees below zero overnight.
Strathe is known for being a cautious musher, so when two of his dogs showed signs of fatigue, he decided to end his race early for the well-being of his team.
Strathe has officially been withdrawn from the race.