Day: 79

Clear and Cold Today

Temperature: -32F

Location: Heading to Pelly Bay

Latitude: 65deg 8’ 10’’ N

Longitude: 94deg 52’ 28’’ W

Distance Traveled: Not reported...

We had cold weather today, it was minus 32 when we got out of the tent, a little bit windy from the northwest. But it was a perfectly clear travel day. It was easy to dress without overheating. The visibility is absolutely perfect. We are traveling in an area with lots of little depressions, with creeks and hills, very difficult area to navigate in. I don’t know how you would pass through this country without a GPS. We are basically off the beaten trail now between Baker and Pelly, and I’ve never been able to find anyone who has traveled this route for the next 200 miles, so it’s kind of nice to be breaking new ground.

I’ve been leading up front with the GPS, and all three teams are heavily loaded. It’s been slow going, and we have to be very careful in choosing the right route, avoiding rocks. It’s quite interesting navigating out front, a lot of fun.

Hugh and I are in the tent here, and we have the day off tomorrow. I think it will probably be at least 40 below tonight. I can tell my the way the cold is seeping into the tent here that we are in for a cold night. But there is no wind, so the temperature isn’t that threatening. With the longer daylight we got brightness in the tent even at 7 o’clock. We can expect 30-40 below right up to the end of May, but when the sun is shining it doesn’t really feel that cold.

The main thing now is that we have good visibility. As we are trying to thread our way through this country we really need to be able to see. There is a lot of loose powdered snow sitting on the ground, so if we get a good wind the visibility is going to go out on us.

There is a river up ahead, the Preechy River, 37 miles away, and once we are on that river we will follow that for about 60 miles, but we need good visibility to get there.

We are on the downside of winter. We’ve got three more months left, with some really good traveling up ahead. Everyone is getting along really well here. And the weather has really taken the pressure off of things. The darkness and the cold can make things pretty heavy, but as the daylight lengthens things lighten up, and the dogs are really happy.