Day: 94

2 Day Storm Rages On

Temperature: 0F

Location: Quoich River

Latitude: 66deg 13’ 52’’ N

Longitude: 93deg 14’ 14” W

Distance Traveled: 0 Miles - Storm Day

This is the second day of a storm. Last night the wind shifted from the southeast to the southwest and then very strong from the west. About 1:30 in the morning our tent was being covered, actually collapsing. Hugh and I went outside in the storm, dug away some snow and attached some more guylines. We found out this morning that one of the other tents went under around 2 o’clock this morning, and they actually had to move the tent, which is a four hour procedure. We had no idea this was going on, because we couldn’t see more than three or four feet in front of us.

This intense storm continued, and the wind shifted from the northwest. Yesterday evening the barometer was at an all time low, and there was a southeast wind, which meant a high potential for strong winds, really warm air.

We are hoping to travel tomorrow; we are really anxious here as we are getting short on food, and we want to get moving again. We are getting a lot of rest, staying ahead of the curve, sleeping enough to recover from the physical demands, but not sleeping so much that we lose spirit or morale, which remains high. We are sleeping long hours to pass the time as well as to ration our food and our fuel.

We’re hanging in here, the second day of the storm, another long day in the tent. Luckily, it is a warm weather storm. It is above zero Fahrenheit, and thus not as bad as some of the storms we had in The Barrens, but the wind is really whistling. Last night I imagine it was about 50 mph. It is hard to judge the wind speeds when they get so high like this. Last night, when the tent was collapsing, we were being hit broadside by the wind, a west wind. Normally in a storm like this the winds shift around from the southeast to the northeast, but this one came around the opposite direction. And now the wind is from the northwest, so we are getting hit at the right angle, so we are aerodynamically perfect right now, so there is no real problem, just a matter of waiting out another 12 hours of this.

The dogs are doing really fine, they are buried out there in the snow, keeping warm. And they are well fed.