We were up and out of the tent in record time - probably the only thing that went smoothly about today.

Actually, today wasn't that bad. After all, it was sunny and we could the ice ahead - although I spent a substantial amount of time trying to figure out if knowing what was ahead was good or bad.

Ryan sewed his nose beak on our one spare pair of goggles just in time for a beautiful sunny day. We started out snaking wildly through drifts and pressure, going more east and west than north. The only consolation being that we were glad it wasn't yesterday's whiteout. Had we gotten here then, it would have been spirit breaking.

Stopping to check my bearing, I noticed a small bubble in my compass dial.

'Oh no,' I thought. I had purposefully bought a new Suunto MC-2 before I left. Sometimes, the cold causes bubbles and it makes getting a bearing much more difficult. Upon closer investigation, I realized the a small crack had somehow formed and I could see a line of small bubbles seeping in. It was gut wrenching.

My compass is the only thing that keeps me oriented. While I use wind, drifts and the sun, my compass is my most reliable tool to provide the one thing that gives me purpose here: my direction.

We got out the repair kit and tried to get super glue to set at 30 below. Not so super as it turns out...

I broke the second leg of our tall tripod a while later tightening the straps on my Granite Gear sled bag. Its now a mono pod but I have big plans tomorrow to fix it when I'm not the camp cook - I make one thing and one thing really well - melted snow boiled to perfection!

Webexpeditions Tim sent me a few facebook comments through the DeLorme inReach the other day and it got me thinking about what inspires me. I am definitely psyched on all the blog comments and hearing about your adventures (yes you!), but I also draw inspiration from all the explorers who have come before me. Maria and Merritt of course. My two nephew's Luke and Tyler - little men who I can only hope Merritt will be like. Too many friends to name. Too many that I've lost touch with as well. My family.

I thought a lot of my dad today who has endured Parkinson's Disease for 25 years. All that time stolen from him and his hopes and dreams. I tried to imagine myself in his shoes. What would it be like to not be able to have the ability to simply have a normal conversation with my own son. Suddenly, my cracked compass and broken tripod wasn't such a big deal.

My dad took me on my first winter camping outing.

The ice opened up a little bit after 'lunch' soup and we were able to navigate toward a huge mound of ice we dubbed 'two peaks' for nearly two hours. The sun was low and bright illuminating recently pressured ice chunks into glowing emeralds. Distance travel: 3.23 nautical miles

Image: Ryan meet pressure ridge. Pressure ridge this is Ryan.