Day: 48

Storm Broke, Good Travel

Temperature: -23F

Location: Dubawnt Lake

Latitude: 63deg 15 ’ 27’’ N

Longitude: 101deg 20’ 11 ’’ W

Distance Traveled: 15 Miles

We are camped on Dubawnt Lake. Dubawnt is one of the largest lakes in the Barrens. It is about 25-30 miles wide, and maybe 50 miles long. It is roughly the size of Lake Millacs (for those who live in Minnesota). We traveled 15 miles today in the middle of the lake. We have about another 30 miles on the lake, and then we will follow the Dubawnt River, which may be questionable, but we will see once we get on it. Our loads are still fairly heavy, so we want to stay on the water as much as possible.

We had a fairly good day. It was warm in the morning, minus 23 Fahrenheit, and a little windy. The wind was from the southeast when we came out of the tent, which is not a real good sign. Storms and bad weather often come from the southeast. Earlier in the day there were patches of blue, which indicates that it may not last. But it started snowing and whited-out, and was very difficult for the lead dogs and the skis, because you couldn’t see the snow drifts.

But around ten o’clock it did lift, and turned into a very beautiful day. The temperature rose to 15 below Fahrenheit, maybe even 10 below by lunch. It was crystal clear in the afternoon, beautiful sunset. The sun now sets around 5:30 (we are on Central Time). The temperature dropped off quite a bit, I think it’s going to be about 40 below Fahrenheit tonight. It is very calm outside, which is good for us and good for the dogs. The dogs sleep a little better in the calm weather, although when it is snowing they get covered up, and they sleep well under the snow. But their best scenario is when it is calm. And we did holes in the snow for them, so they are totally buried out there, and very happy.

The loads are getting a little lighter, though they are still on the heavy side. We did 15 miles today, and I think we are over the hump. We should average 15-17 miles a day in the days to come, and then after the rest day we should be able to do 20 miles a day.

The travel was good. We were pretty tired when we came into camp around 5 o’clock. It is now about 8:30 in the evening, we have the Coleman stove burning and four candles, which are getting down to little stubs. But it is a very peaceful evening. Hugh is drinking his tea, working on his journal. A typical evening here. The tent walls are moist as ever.