Day: 127

Tough Day of Travel

Temperature: 15F

Location: Melville Peninsula

Latitude: 67deg 34’ 08 ’’ N

Longitude: 84deg 00’ 34 ” W

Distance Traveled: 22 Miles

A bit of a rough day today. Starting off, we had to deal with a gorge in front of us, and it took about an hour to get down there. We finally found a ramp that went down, and took us to the lower lands.

We had stormy weather. The temperature got up to about 15 degrees Fahrenheit, but we had about a 30 mph wind, with snow. Very poor visibility. The windchills were low, not like in the Barrens, but uncomfortable. We had a lot of deep snow, and it was a day of tough going. The lunch break was windy and snowy and not very pleasant.

The weather lifted a little towards three o’clock, but then the snow picked up again. I am surprised by the amount of snow here. It has drifted, so on the lakes and some of the rivers travel isn’t too bad, but in the sheltered areas there are pretty deep drifts.

We are hoping for better weather tomorrow. We are on a lake system now, and are hoping to find a trail system that will take us to the next village. If so, we should be able to make 25-30 miles a day.

Morale is good, the dogs are running excellent. The sleds are light. There is a lot of dog food here, but the selection of people food right now isn’t that great. But no one is complaining. And there is still plenty of oatmeal and spaghetti and rice to eat.