THE SIDELINES : Swenson Takes Lead in Iditarod

Breaking out of Finger Lake before an eruption by Redoubt Volcano showered the trail with sled-slowing ash, four-time champion Rick Swenson was the first musher in the Iditarod sled dog race to top the towering Alaska Range today.

Swenson declared his mandatory 24-hour layover after reaching the 3,500-foot pass, the highest point on the trail, but it wasn’t immediately certain that he actually would take it, said race spokeswoman Theresa Daily.

His decision to hold back in Skwentna during the hottest part of the day while watching others leave, sparing his dogs and getting a slicker trail, proved to be a good one. He left one dog at Finger Lake.

Three-time winner Susan Butcher continued to move up, leaving Finger Lake in 11th place. She started the race in Anchorage on Saturday as No. 68 of 70 mushers.