Day: 99

Best Skiing I've Ever Had

Temperature: 0F

Location: Hayes River

Latitude: 67deg 17’ 47’’ N

Longitude: 91deg 42’ 31” W

Distance Traveled: 23 Miles

We had a very good day of travel, covering about 23-24 miles. Clear weather with almost no wind, very good surface conditions. We’ve been traveling up the Hayes River to the west, which actually runs into the Arctic Ocean. We are now on a land ridge between the Hayes and the Arrowsmith Rivers, kind of a portage area.

As we traveled up the Hayes today, it was like an outwash plain. A lot of sand, and very wide, maybe two or three miles across. Usually on these rivers we wind back and forth quite a bit, and sometimes travel double the distance it would take if we used a straight line. But because of this outwash plain we were able to go straight. I fact, I traveled almost six miles straight on a single bearing. So we made good time on the Hayes.

There was then a very small upland we went over, and we got up high enough to see the hills of the Arrowsmith valley. We are on a small river right now that is facing north. Today was kind of a watershed for us, as we have traveled 1,200 miles and are now past the divide that flows into the Arctic Ocean, so we are on the downside from now on. The Arctic Ocean is only about 100 miles away, and the terrain is definitely getting hillier, with some sharp cliffs. The terrain gets a little more exciting as we go further north, eventually taking us into the mountains.

But we are camped for the night. It is about 9 o’clock, still light. The light is rapidly coming back. We have full light in the morning. The temperature was about 30 below Fahrenheit this morning, which is a nice warm day, with the sun out, and it warmed up to about 10 below. It is actually warmer this evening, I think some clouds came in, and it is about zero, which feels like a heat wave. Spring is here. The main thing is that the wind has not been blowing.

In all my travels in the Arctic over the past 20 years, this was really the best skiing conditions I have ever had. Totally flat, a good glide on the skis. I didn’t overheat at all today. There was no wind, no wind biting your face. Just a very pleasant day all around.

The dogs are a little tired out, but are pulling strong. It looks like we are going to take a half day off tomorrow, and a full day the day after, and then push on to Pelly.