'I'm glad I'm not first going over that lead,' commented Darcy as he watched AJ step out onto a very unstable piece of ice. I watched AJ, too - carefully place his ski on the opposite side of a small open gap. With nothing to freeze against the ice nearest to the water bowed dramatically under his weight. I groaned out loud. 'Yikes' I thought as I knew the weight of AJ's sled would damage the integrity of the ice. But not totally, I would most likely be able to cross safely.

Looking back at Darcy I smiled and said, I'm glad I'm not the last.' We all laughed long and hard as each of us have all been in the same situation - first and last. With our progress inching closer to the pole, the stress is noticeably lifting. We laugh more and have actual conversations at breaks.

Today was full of wonderment and awe. It was difficult with a wide variety of weather from whiteout to blizzard to sun to cold to warm. The ice was bad as our mileage indicates; however, we stopped frequently to take pictures and watch with amazement. While there were many incredible sights today, there were three wonders that caught my attention most.

Wonder number one: Sleeping last night I thought I heard ice pressuring in the distance. Getting out of the tent first thing this morning, we were surprised to see a five foot wide lead of open water only 15 feet from the SD Big Kev. Had we pitched the tent slightly north, we would have been quite wet. By the time we left the tent after breakfast, the gap had closed to only two feet.

Wonder number two: we skied through a section of big thick triangularish slabs surrounded by water. The ice was moving and the pans were being shoved, cracked and twisted in all different directions. They bobbed haphazardly in the water. The light was rich and yellow. We all took several pictures.

Wonder number three: I don't have a list of the most incredible things I've ever seen, but if I did this would be on it. We walking were on a thin ice lead when suddenly we felt the ice shift violently to our left. We moved only two inches or so, but the whole lead we were standing on (nearly a half mile long) shifted at once. Simultaneously, we heard the loud 'CHUG' of ice sliding over ice. This happened five or six times. Incredible.

If you're on Facebook or Twitter, visit the Polar Explorer Eric Larsen page or @ELExplore to share the wonders from your week. Thanks!

Image: The second wonder of today.

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com

For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/

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