by John Huston
Sun, I love you like never before. Sweat, you are my sworn enemy. I will do everything in my power to stop you. Sun, glorious orb in the South and now the North as well, you brighten up the tent so that we don't need headlamps anymore. Sun, you highlight the ice chunks on the horizon like a beacon and make navigation so easy. You warm up the tent so nice. You relax my muscles. You make breaks enjoyable for 10 minutes. You give me energy when you shine 24 hours straight. Sun, you dry my sleeping bag a little bit. And sun, you melt the icy, frosty bits from my facial hair.
Sweat, you are my enemy. You make my clothes damp and cold. You drain my energy. You tell me my body is working too hard. You make my mittens wet and then icy and my hands cold and numb. Sweat, you fog my sunglasses. You dehydrate me and make me grumpy. Sweat, you make me hungry for more salt than we have. Sun, I will never, ever take you for granted again. Sweat, you have taught me discipline and moderation.
We have 24-hour sunlight and it's warming up our trip making things more enjoyable and relaxed. However, we are skiing in warmer conditions and it is a battle not to sweat. It is difficult for me to stay dry. To keep from sweating I am always unzipping my Bergans clothing and doing everything possible to change my clothing systems not to sweat. And so far, so good but I've had a few rough spots here and there. Okay. Thanks for listening everybody. It was a great day today and it definitely will be tomorrow.
Daily Expedition Data
Date: April 8, 2009
Location: N86° 53.747' W075 11.969'
Time Traveled: 10 hours
Distance Traveled: 11.7 nautical miles
Drifted .4 nautical miles N/NE
AM Temperature: -30°F
PM Temperature: -24°F
S/SE wind 2-4 knots, high clouds, more sun that previous days