DRIFTING TOWARDS THE POLE

We walked 17 km today and the floating ice carried us 2 additional km closer to our goal. The weather conditions are great. The sky is blue, hardly any clouds and very little wind. The elements are so strong that between the sun, the dry air and the wind your skin really takes a beating. In typical hiker fashion, I bartered a quarter of a roll of toilet paper for the use of a second mat to put under my sleeping bag (to a team member who will remain anonymous).

Everything you see for 360˚ is white (although nuances and shapes exist). Although you hear the ice crack, there is very little other sound. So far we have seen no wildlife, it's just the 6 of us! The terrain is becoming very rugged. The compressions ridges are one after the other which makes the going very slow. The challenge is not climbing over, it's keeping your pulka upright behind you.

At this moment we are 17 km from the pole. With a little luck we will float even closer to it while we sleep.

Photo credit: International Polar Foundation