The wind picked up a few knots in the night but it was still not enough to blow away the soft snow that is slowing our progress and making each step... difficult.

I say night but it never really gets dark here. The sun dips below the horizon (or at least I assume it does as I'm generally in the tent and sleeping) for a few hours but it is still totally light. Some people have a hard time sleeping when it's light like this but not me. I just burrow down in my Therm-A-Rest Polar Ranger and snooze away (unless Dean is snoring too loudly).

One of my favorite things is to wake up in the middle of the night - look at my Citizen watch and know that I have a few more hours to sleep. Generally, at this point of the trip, the days are too long and the nights too short.

While melting snow in the morning, Dean peaked outside and claimed, 'perfectly clear and blue skies'. Of course, by the time we started skiing that wasn't the case. We got a bit later start than usual because Diogo had misplaced his phone. First, he looked through all his bags, then his sleeping bag, then pockets, then his sled, then the bivy bag, then his sleeping bag again. We shuffled through the snow as well to see if he accidentally dropped it. Finally, we got the tent out, unrolled it and there it was.

As frustrating as a delay like this can be, I sympathized with Diogo. Listening to music, audio books and podcasts is an important part of keeping focused (and distracted) through miles and days of endless white. Unfortunately, I have a temperamental iPhone right now that faints at the mere hint of cold. Not a great tool for a polar explorer.

Within 15 minutes of skiing visibility dropped to near zero again. Snow and overcast conditions made the horizon (and our hopes of and easy day) disappear. I look down at my Madshus skis shuffling back and forth. For all I know, I could simply be skiing on a snow treadmill. There is absolutely nothing to gauge my progress.

We passed through shifts. With Dean, Kat and Diogo each taking a turn navigating ending the day in a total whiteout.