Yesterday we walked 11 km, today only 7 km. The pack ice was really difficult, almost hopeless to pull the pulks through. Our Achilles heels are really aching now, after leaning forward and fighting the ice all day.
The good news is that we’re now drifting northwest. Today has been our coldest day yet, –36?C, and our fingers and toes really notice the chill. Days like this are an extra strain, because your body’s margins are so small. If you need something and have to take off a mitten, the coldness grips you straight away. And it takes a long time to warm up our feet in the morning.
When we were taking the tent down this morning, one of the poles snapped as though it were made of glass. Obviously the tempered metal didn’t tolerate the cold, and suddenly we had four pieces in our hands. That’s really very serious. We spent more than an hour making repairs, but now the tent is pitched as before.
We’re getting some light from the moon and stars, but still need our headlights to distinguish the features in the uneven ice. Now that the cloud cover is gone, the temperature drops like a rock. This has been our coldest day since the expedition started.
Today a loud, unexpected sound stopped us in our tracks. It took us a few seconds to realize it was a jet plane. To suddenly hear a sound like that out here felt very strange.
It’s very chilly, but not much wind. We expect to be drifting northwesterly for the next few days. Depending on the temperature, we might have to cut our days short. It is hard to sleep at night when it’s so cold; the icy air you breathe in chills down your body, even though you’re nice and warm inside the sleeping bag.
Our position this evening is N82?09’25”, E106?25’56”. We’re 876 km from our goal.
