June 17, 88 23.54'N:70 44.57'W
Day 48. All of our previous experience with sea ice, our attempt last year off the coast of Russia, all of our knowledge accumulated over the past month and a half, all of the information gleaned from previous expeditions did little, if anything, to prepare us for the ice today.
A brisk wind cooled the surface snow enough where we could both use skis; however, the second skier had more snow stick to the bottom of his skis than the lead - the opposite of yesterday.
Too soon, we were in a confusion of broken ice. Leads were everywhere. Normally, we would look for pressured corners, but they were now split apart. We've mentioned this situation before, but today was different. It was impossible to judge where there was water and where there wasn't. Because of the flatness of the ice, the edges of the pans disguised the character of each lead.
Too many times we would interpret a lead crossable to the left, but once closer, the gap was too wide to span with skis, or filled with impassable brash ice. Then, we'd backtrack to the right. Several times, we traveled three or four pans into a dead end and had to backtrack that same agonizing distance.
We stretched the limits of safety. Both of us had near misses with ice breaking underneath our full weight. Only luck and last minute lunges kept us dry. Any other skis than our trusty Asnes skis would have broken in two by now. We bridge nearly four foot gaps with them.
When our spirits were at their lowest, when we didn't think we could go through any more, when even getting to 89 degrees seemed impossible, the ice changed. It got better. Flatter. The sun came out. It was a break we will not soon forget.
So many times we fall. We slip and get frustrated. Or just plain tired. Sometimes one of us is close enough to lend a hand. Many times we are all alone. "Why even get up," we often think. But we do get up, we take one step and then another, then one more. Minute by minute, hour by hour, we whittle away at all this impossibility to move forward. That simple fact gives us hope. These, we are just beginning to realize, are not just lessons for polar explorers.
Just so you know, your efforts are not going unnoticed, the federal government received over 200,000 comments in support of listing the bear under the Endangered Species Act. Wow! Thanks to all of you who made an extra effort to help save the polar bear.
We're too tired to write another poem. Our mood would better fit a Russian tome. But now it's to sleep. Where new energy will seep. But not before our dreams take us away to roam.
Today's picture: Our solar power plant. There is enough light (even during a complete blizzard) to charge all of our electronic equipment. And the best part, no greenhouse gas emissions.
Word of the day: equanimity - what we try to have.
June 16, 88 14.42'N:70 57.29'W
Day 47. The icescape is softening with each day over 32F. The sharp edges of ice and snowdrifts are now rounded. A curved blanket of white has folded into the abrupt corners of each drift. On the down side, our ski tips are starting to submarine periodically under the snow, creating additional effort for our legs as we have to stop, put the leg in reverse, then lift the ski back up to the surface.
We are all about conservation of energy more so now than ever. With two difficult days in a row anything we can do to be more efficient in our forward progress is immediately implemented.
For example, we are still having a serious problem with the snow sticking the bottoms of our ski skins. Solution #1: The lead man snowshoes (instead of skiing), breaking trail as the second person, now with a groomed track, skis with considerably less effort. Solution #2: We are trying an experiment on a pair of skis by reducing the width and length of skins to make them glide better with less sticking. Of course, we only have so much to work with.
We are taking fewer and fewer detours, too. A section of brash ice is now a bridge, wide gaps are spanned with skis or jumped on snowshoes, ice chunks become ferries. One might argue that we are taking more risks; however, it is simply that we better understand the consequence of each movement.
We participated (via satellite phone) in a press conference the other day to help promote an off shore wind farm near Long Island. It was an honor to be able to talk about our experiences and how reducing our dependency on oil will help stop global warming and save the polar bear. Groups like Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI) and Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) are taking positive steps to meet our energy needs and protect our environment.
The sun was out for nearly two-thirds of the day - more than enough to recharge our depleted vitamin D stores. When you are deprived of so many things a little goes a long way. It was nice to see the route ahead, clouds above and the terrain beneath our skis and snowshoes.
Today was important for another reason. We figured out what our super powers would be should we ever leave polar exploration to fight crime. Eric would use the Larsen Long Line - unhooking the two pull ropes and reattaching just one end. Lonnie has now perfected the Lonnie Lever - a method of pulling a sled-canoe up a ledge by leaning back and using his the momentum of his body falling back to leverage the weight. We're not exactly sure how these skills will translate into actually being able to catch crooks, but we've got some time for that.
Finally, it's not too late to help get the polar bear listed as a threatened species. Be sure to Take Action today!
Today's picture: The ice chunk that Lonnie used to cross this lead toppled over and fell apart in pieces too small to stand. Luckily, there was a small ice chunk nearby to use as a ferry. Eric is holding a rope while Lonnie pulls him over.
Word of the day - neologism - a new word (look it up and you'll know what we mean).
June 15, 88 07.11'N:70 06.35'W
Day 46. We'll give you the most important information first, then, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story. On June 16th the public comment period on getting the polar bear listed as a threatened species ends. There is still time for you to help save the polar bear. Take Action: http://members.greenpeace.org/action/start/84/thin_ice
Page 2. In a related news story, we saw a set of polar bear tracks ambling off to the west. They were older tracks judging by how drifted they were; however, with all this open water around us one must be near. We have placed our camp on orange alert as a result of the sighting. In other wildlife happenings, a pair of ivory gulls circled our camp a few times last night. They are beautiful birds, completely white (go figure) with black beaks.
Last night, we drifted two miles south (and of course a bit east) - an inauspicous start to a day that, now finished, ranks as one of the most physically and mentally difficult of our expedition to date. It was an Arctic cornucopia of the worst possible travel conditions. The day started nice enough, the wind had shifted, cooling things a bit and firming up the snow. But like so many of the other 'good' conditions we experienced, it didn't last.
The light soon went flat and we were once again stumbling blindly forward. It started to snow too, and hard. We wondered if another blizzard was on its way, but it just kept falling at the same steady rate all day. The new snow stuck thickly to the bottom of our skis, made them heavy with no glide. Stopping to scrape the snow and ice off only helped for a few minutes. We switched to snowshoes.
When we put on our MSR snowshoes, it's like putting a truck into four-wheel drive. We are able to pull the sled-canoes up and around ice that would be impossible with skis. On the down side, our travel slows and we expend extra energy lifting (instead of sliding with skis) each step. Still, without snowshoes, we would still be on the ice post-holing our way to madness or worse.
The only really good part of today was that we were able to laugh about it once it was over. For over six hours, we snowshoed. The sled-canoes seemed like a pallet of bricks and stopped dead at even the slightest pause in forward momentum. The ice was worse - small pans, pressured together in random ways, lots of open water leads filled with compressed snow and some brash ice. We had to veer so much east and west that at times, we thought we might be going in circles.
It's hard to convey the feelings we have during a day like today. Several times we were near temper tantrum level when a sled-canoe got stuck or a piece of ice disintegrated underneath us. There's intense fear when facing a tenuous brash ice crossing or relief like when three car-sized chunks of ice heeled over just after (not while) we had hopped across them. Frustration and despair as we scout the route and see more bad ice. Physical exhaustion as we try to pace our efforts. Hunger. Desire to stop and quit. Drive to keep moving forward.
When we finally reached a big flat piece of ice with 15 minutes left in the travel day, we didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
It is equally hard to describe our emotions now that today is nearly complete. Before today we had hoped for good ice to the Pole, now we expect bad.
Today's picture: Lonnie shows the 3 inches of snow sticking to the bottom of his Asnes skis (Thanks Gary at Neptune Mountaineering).
Word of the day: wretched - the word of the day is our day.
(each day we randomly pick a page out of a pocket dictionary and find a word to describe our day)
June 14, 88 02.21'N:70 59.55
Day 45. We took a full day's rest instead of our normal half day due to the tough slogging we had between 87 and 88 degrees north. It gave the Norwegian and French (you have to guess) contingencies of the team time to re-energize sore muscles and heal any strains.
The older and more distinguished of the two 'has-beens' has been experiencing serious back pain from a strain during the first week and a half of the expedition.
We've have been trying to stay on top of the problem with anti-inflammatory drugs, stretching, tweaking the pull harness and adjusting weight in the canoe-sleds.
We want to thank Dr. John Wood for helping us put the expedition's medical kit together, along with advice for handling this situation. Also would like to extend our appreciation to Kathy Horak for showing some relevant yoga stretches for lower back. Last but not least, thanks to Kim and Shem for whipping up some fabulous dehydrated salsa that helps us choke down our dried egg/potato/bean breakfasts.
We also received an important polar bear update from Melanie at Greenpeace that the U.S. Senate has passed legislation to enforce the Polar Bear Treaty that Russia and the United States reached almost six years ago. The bill now moves to the House. On a related note, you still have until the end of this week to tell the federal government to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. Be sure you take action if you haven't already. Thanks!
Most of the morning was spent transcribing the snow depth and density and ice thickness data we've collected over the past month. This in turn will be sent to Kert Davies at Greenpeace who will further transcribe the information, whereupon it will reach its penultimate destination, Walt Meier at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The data will be presented by Dr. Meier and Dr. Ted Scambos in August. Hopefully, this information will prove critical to understanding the current state of Arctic sea ice.
We would also like to thank Jennifer Bohlander and Ted Scambos at NSIDC who have been graciously monitoring and processing MODIS satellite photo data on the rare occasion that clear skies have been available.
There was some talk of a brief snowshoe outing in the afternoon, but it never materialized. Instead, we splurged and ate an extra candy bar with lunch. Our intentions were noble, we swear!
We also decided to do our own science project. This morning our ski poles had melted into the snow and fallen over. We wanted to know how different objects affected the melting of ice, so we placed a snowshoe, some orange rope and a bungee out on the snow. After three hours, they had already melted down an inch.
This experiment is a good example of how more water can accelerate the melting of the Arctic ice pack.
The only other big event of the day was the much-touted chess match. A huge crowd of drying socks and gear gathered in giddy anticipation. In the end, the grudge match was won by Eric, so we played another game which Lonnie won. So we're back to hyping another big game.
A note about today's picture: Eric is weighing snow to determine its density.
Word of the day: efficacious - hopefully our efforts to get to the North Pole.
June 13, 88 02.21'N:71 29.45'W
Day 44. Hey folks, Lonnie and Eric here. Are you looking for pressure ridges? How about a total whiteout? Fog? Maybe you're the type that likes soft sticky snow. No? You're interested in semi-frozen brash ice, then.
It doesn't matter what your particular Arctic tastes may be, because at the corner of 88 degrees north and 71 and a half west, you can have it all. That's right folks, come on up to Lonnie and Eric's ice extravaganza where we will thrill you, chill you and, well, that's about it we guess.
We made it to 88 degrees north, but just barely. Today, the temperature at snow level was exactly the same at 6 feet (it's usually several degrees cooler). The thermometer read a balmy snow-melting, mush-making, ski-slowing, sled-sticking 33 degrees.
On a positive note, the snow is now 'packing' snow, and since we're camped close to several leads, we thought we might need an extra polar bear look-out (see picture). Well, there must have been some magic in an extra hat we found stored in a Granite Gear stuff sack 'cause when we placed it on his head he...you know the rest.
Another interesting part of our day found us skiing in a wet fog whiteout. We were paralleling a large lead when the wind pushed all the fog our way. We could not see a thing and just stumbled forward. So ridiculous are conditions like these when they arise, that the only thing we can do is laugh.
We are ecstatic to be at 88. The past 60 miles have completely worn us out and we plan on taking a full rest day tomorrow as long as we don't drift too far backward or east. That also makes us smile as we have big plans. Plus, the chess grudge match awaits.
We also wanted to introduce our renewable energy partner. In May 1998, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) became Long Island's primary electric service provider. LIPA's Clean Energy Initiative is one of the most ambitious programs of its kind in the nation. The Initiative is a 10-year, $355-million commitment to promote clean new electric generation technologies. Operating as a non-profit entity, LIPA has continued to serve the Island's growing population with a consistent commitment to cost-containment, efficiency and service reliability. With the demand for electricity growing at a record-breaking pace, priorities at LIPA continue to focus on the customer -- upgrading and enhancing the electric system, advancing energy efficiency, and developing and expanding alternative energy. You can learn more about LIPA in the sponsor page of www.oneworldexpedition.com.
Our sponsor of the week is Granite Gear who makes all our stuff sacks, compression sacks, gaiters and harnesses. You can learn more about Granite Gear in the sponsor page of www.oneworldexpedition.com.
Word of the day: stodgy - an extra special noodle dinner leaving us... Stodgy? At least according to the Oxford mini dictionary.
June 12, 87 54.04'N:72 05.19'W
Day 43. One of the subjects of conversations during our sit down breaks (we take two during the day) is, obviously, ice. Ice we've seen, ice we can see and the ice that might be just up ahead. We are surprised by the amount of pressured ice this far north.
We had assumed that by 87 degrees north, the conditions would flatten out and the pressure and small broken slab ice would diminish. Instead, we are seeing worse and worse conditions. We theorized today that global warming was the cause. Thinner ice, more storms, more pressure. We also wondered about the future of polar exploration. Unsettling.
We spend most of our waking hours moving forward on the ice. We figure the only ones spending more time on the ice than us are polar bears. They'll perch themselves at a seal's breathing hole for hours, even days, waiting for the seal to come up for air so that they can pounce. If we sit for more than 15 minutes, we are chilled to the bone, whereas the polar bear can sit for hours, not making a move, lying in wait. They are so perfectly adapted to this environment.
We are seeing more and more algae growing in the cracks and just under thin ice that is around 2 feet thick. This algae is a critical component of an Arctic food chain that supports small shrimp and tiny codfish.
We skied in just our long underwear tops today. It was warm again and the southerly breeze is really eating up the snow. It's just plain wet and sticky. To make matters worse, the soft snow balled up under our skis, taking away what little glide we sometimes have. We're getting a good tricep workout, however, as our ski poles stick firmly in the snow and we have to yank them out after each step.
In 6 miles we will be at 88 degrees north, only 120 miles from the Pole. Though we are within striking distance, we must not slacken in our drive to get there as the snow may soon not be able to support our weight on skis and find us post-hole, up to our waists, slowing us to a snailier rate than our normal snail's pace.
The end of the day stretched a bit long as five minutes before 'quittin' time' we got mixed up in a small pan-brash ice combo that had us back in snowshoes and long lining every which way. Then a tent pole broke today, most likely during a sled roll-over in the pack ice. That small repair to the Hilleberg Hotel took an additional half hour. It started raining so we crawled quickly inside, out of the weather, and mentally away from the ice.
On a lighter note, we've got a new favorite noodle dish, creamy tomato. We've also managed to discuss what life might be like when it's lived somewhere besides a tent.
Today's picture: We are beginning to see more areas of slushy snow and leads that are widening into small pools.
Word of the day: brinkmanship - hopefully, we are not pursuing our course to the point of disaster.
June 11, 87 43.21'N:72 32.43'W
Day 42. There have only been a few days when we've ended the travel day early - not by much, just five or ten minutes. Yesterday was one of them. Looking a few hundred yards ahead we saw a flat pan, but first big pressure. Rather than risk making a sore back worse, we set up camp. But you already know this. Still, that one simple decision may have saved us from serious injury or worse.
A quick morning scout revealed the ice pretty much as we had left it - a big pressure ridge (40' wide), then some manageable mess and finally, what seemed like flat ice again just a few hundred yards away.
For the next hour and a half we struggled with all our will and might to cover those few hundred yards. The pressure ridge was fairly straightforward but required our combined effort to heave the sled-canoes up and over chunks of ice almost big as cars.
A five-minute ski later revealed what we couldn't see from the morning's scout: an area of semi-frozen brash ice - the worst by far. Some chunks were large enough to stand on; others were around 2 feet in diameter. All were pushed haphazardly together.
We pulled out every last trick we knew and improvised a few new ones just to get through that small section. Hopping from ice chunk to ice chunk, pushing our sled-canoes in the water and long lining (using the two pull lines as one long rope) them through watery sections, dropping the sled-canoes down off ledges and trying each time to pull them back up to a more stable position.
It's both scary and exhilarating to make it through something like that.
Traversing that route last evening would have been a nightmare. As it is, we're pushing our physical limits to actually move those heavy loads. Exhausted with no place to camp would have put our lives at serious risk.
We spent the last four hours of the day traveling through whiteout conditions, tripping on snowbanks and stumbling down slopes. During days like today it's easy to think the Arctic Ocean is a barren place but really, there is a complex ice ecosystem being supported by the ice that includes distinctive Arctic species such as seals, whales (including the narwhal!), walrus and polar bears.
Even at its most inhospitable, this place surprises us. Today, a lone gull flew in between us then off to the east. Where had it been and where was it going? We'll never know. It didn't seem to be in a hurry so maybe it was enjoying the Arctic just like us.
The warming weather is becoming a bit unnerving as well. At freezing point anything that touches snow gets wet. Our gloves were soaked by the end of the day. A south wind made the snow really soft to boot. Our skis and sled-canoes seemed to have considerably less glide.
Today was also particularly fun as we got to do something we like to call swimming in a 14,000 foot deep ocean. When we encounter a lead with ice too thick to paddle, yet too thin to ski across, one of us will put on a dry suit, get in the water and use his body to break the ice. Once on the other side he will pull the catamaraned sled-canoes across. Fun fun!
Word of the day: delicatessen - you know why.
