April 6 - Is that the sun?

N 89.15.719
E 127.33.529

Oh the joys of flat light. It makes the day seem so dreary, and it is a drain on the eyes as they constantly scan all the white for something to look at...anything! Today the team had one of these days. Near whiteout conditions at times, but always flat light. This can make navigation difficult because there is nothing to aim for, just white. When this is the case it's helpful to have other "clues" to keep you pointing in the right direction (of course you can look at your GPS every few seconds, but this is tiring and it eats up batteries!) One of the best directional aids in white-outs is wind, and today three was plenty of it. 10 knots always out of the west. So as long as the wind is hitting your left ear, you are pointing North! Keith has a ribbon on his ski pole that he uses for this purpose... the ribbon tells which way to go.

Though weather conditions we not ideal, they were far from bad. The temperature was warm (-10C) and the ice was nice big pans, with only occasional rubble. Dinner was a delicious pasta primavera with chicken and to top it all off the sun JUST (literally as they were talking to me) peeked out and was bright enough to give a shadow. That was the BEST desert they could have ordered!

And now, Heather writes... "Amazing day - not hard to imagine what it would have been like for the earliest explorers! -10 or so celsius (warm), but gusting winds 10 knots with snow flurries and white out conditions, visibility. The wind was from the northwest - so we continued to lose ground as we walked along, reminding me of a gerbel on a spinning wheel. The gusts were so strong that at times the sleds would run to the side of us. My goggles on the left side were completely frosted over due to wind and snow.

"There were not as many obstacles today so we covered - 8 nautical miles. We set camp amidst the crazy wind - a bit like flying a kite - something we will do on a better weather day. Dale is doing great. Keith and Dirk are machines. Michel is providing the humor.

"For dinner tonight is Pasta Primavera with chicken, appetizer is quesadilla with cheese - the menu has been brilliant. I have been doing the breakfast short order style - this morning we had bagels, bacon and cheese. We are getting better at setting up camp, though the weather adds its challenges, it makes it that more important to get the tent up and get out of the craziness out there.

Check back tomorrow for another update from the ice!