Mike and I had a good day today, with excellent ice conditions. The ice floes are now at least 85 cm thick, more compact and larger. We encountered five or six leads, but quickly found crossing points, not having to swim at all. The large flat ice floes make for good skiing, although we did see screw ice indicating that they had recently been forcibly pressed together. All day we made steady progress, 17 km since this morning.
Last night the ice drift carried us 4 km in the wrong direction. In the course of the day, it appears that the southern drift has stopped. So now we’re only drifting eastward. Our current position is N81°57’08”, E106°36’40”. With 899 km to go, we’re optimistic about reaching 82 degrees latitude tomorrow.
There has been a 10–12 meter per second wind today as well, and around –15?C. Actually the temperature is very comfortable, although it is difficult to regulate our body temp with so much wind. We both keep an extra wind jacket handy in our pulks, and put it on if we feel cold. When we start out, or after a pause, we put on our down vests, and after just 10–15 minutes we’ve warm enough to take it off again. So that’s how we regulate our temperature, making sure we’re always comfortable – and it works well.
It looks like the zone of chaotic ice that we passed through yesterday, was absorbing most of the ice movement in this area. Conditions are very calm where we are now.
Today we saw bear tracks, probably a two or three year old polar bear – a reminder that we’re not alone out here. Even though these tracks were not fresh, we remain vigilant.
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NOTE: The timestamps on Børge’s expedition diary have been changed to show the expedition’s local time.
