It’s been yet another good day for us. We’re now well within 85 degrees latitude, with a position of N85?08’, E99?01’. In 10 hours today we walked 26 km, and having drifted 4 km again last night, it adds up to 30 km of northerly progress.
Our friend the wind is also our enemy. It’s been miserable today with the wind blowing from the east at 7–8 m per sec. Well, at least it isn’t a headwind. The thermometer may show –28?C, but the wind chills the effective temperature far below that mark. It’s dicey to keep our bodies warm enough when we’re walking. Without the extra layer of underwear and double wind mittens that we put on this morning, we would have had to stop far earlier. Mike has had problems with his hands before, so he has to be really careful. His thumbs are pretty swollen now, but he’s doing all right.
The ice conditions have been almost as good as they were yesterday, perhaps slightly more uneven. There are snowdrifts here and there that we have to climb up and down, and that takes a bit of extra time. But we’re happy with the thick and stable ice.
We’re feeling some trepidation in regards to the wind tomorrow. We are of course hoping it dies down a bit. The important thing, however, is that it doesn’t turn into an unbearable northerly headwind.
