85.4600n, 077.6071w
Like nomads trekking across thee white desert of another planet we advance
one laborious step after the next. The cold temperatures crystallize the
water deposits preventing them from bonding with the ice. The result is
like pulling the 200 lbs sledge through sand. If you have ever wandered
what it feels like to be a plow farm horse, I recommend trekking
through the Arctic sea ice. The terrain is never flat even when
hitting nice pans which has been rare. Mostly it has been rubble fields
which slow us down and can be quite discouraging when they sprawl on
for miles. The mood varies between euphoric and upbeat, and frustrated
and doubtful. All this in the silent and lonely universe of the intense
effort punctuated only by the sound of heavy breathing: your own. Still
the Arctic desert reveals itself to us in all of its majestic and
endless subtleties in the way that it only does to those committing to
traveling its unforgiving realm. The lunar vistas are simply
breathtaking. No life here, and no sounds but for the cruddy break of
our feat on the ice and our constant marching companion: the steady and
heavy rhythm of our breath. Temperatures have remained around -38F or
so, dropping somewhat by days end. The sun does not rise above 15
degrees from the horizon at its apex, but no longer sets either. We are
now in 24 hour daylight. Today we traveled for 8 hours and covered 6
nautical miles true North but likely walked 8 on account of the
shifting course forced on us by the obstacles. We have crawled into our
tent and pried our sleeping bags from its frosty grip: we quite
literally have to pull them open cracking the ice that seized them from
the cold! Our current position is N85°27.600 and W77°36.099. Time to
sleep. Thank you for staying with us!