Day: 115

Day Off Storm

Temperature: 0F

Location: Simpson Peninsula

Latitude: 67deg 59’ 22’’ N

Longitude: 88deg 37’ 45 ” W

Distance Traveled: 0 Miles - Day Off

Today is our usual day off. We’ve got a big storm today, that blew it last night. It’s been blowing strong all day long, perfect for a day off, as we wouldn’t have been able to travel anyway.

It is kind of a ground blizzard, where the winds are really, really strong, but we have kind of clear skies above. The clouds are very high, and fortunately not a lot of snow has fallen. A a really strong wind like this will actually pack the trail better. There has been a lot of loose snow that has been generated by the open water to the north of here. And the accumulation over the last two weeks has brought the snow to about 8-10 inches in certain areas. So as long as the storm blows out tonight, we will actually be fortunate to have the wind pack the trail down.

It was a little tough today on the education site, struggling with the generator. But for the rest of us, sitting in the tents, it was fairly pleasant. It is a warm storm, with the temperature right around zero degrees Fahrenheit, and there is not a lot of moisture in the tent. We have almost 24 hours of light now, with just long shadows in the evening. This makes waiting out a storm in the tent much more pleasant, as opposed to having to see by candlelight, with the tent walls covered in frost.