In the quiet moments of my day, self doubt always creeps in. And maybe it was just today - for some reason - the low clouds, fog and whiteout affecting my mood.

But this early stage of an expedition is always tough. Being gone from my family, facing a continuos series of physical and mental challenges, weighing the cost of failure. I know I need to get my head in the game but it's tough for me sometimes stuck between two worlds: life with my family and life on the trail.

Maria texted me through the DeLorme inReach that we had bought a house. After a visit to a restaurant, Merritt wanted to be a chef. Ellie is getting over her cold. Staying connected anywhere in the world is crucial to my ability to tell the story of the world's last great frozen places, but knowing that I am missing out on some life's biggest moments is not easy.

Peter is reading a book about happiness and reminds us that happiness should be found in each moment. As someone who has found joy in -50 F wind chills and moving sea ice, I'm pretty good at living in the now.

Our plan to carry the remaining gear from Na worked mostly flawlessly. We made good time on the way to the trail to our forward camp where we had pitched the MSR base camp tent. Most of it was even in the sun. Up the terminal moraine, down the lateral moraine, through a valley that resembled the Scottish Highlands, alongside the clearest stream in history. While I like discovering new places, equally interesting to me is to travel along a familiar route and discover new things. This time? Wild goat tracks - a favorite snack of the snow leopard.

By the time we had reached to top of a small climb, the clouds rolled in and it started raining. We stopped briefly to fill water bottles and a large Dromedary bag as there is no water in our camp.

Our camp is perched on a flat sandy plain overlooking the Trakarding glacier and to the West a long narrow glacial lake. To the East, a huge snow covered mountain face looms both serenely and ominously.

After a short rest, Ryan and I scouted the route ahead. Our sandy Terrance ended at a landslide and we were forced to pick our way through the loose rocks making more cairns to mark our route. After about 45 minutes we headed back to our camp to give a report on the trail ahead to Tshering and the rest of the crew.