We are now camped 10km from our goal.
We slept in until 6:30am and started to ski by 9:00. Last night turned out to be a pretty warm night. The clouds came in and insulated the earth and held in all the solar heat from the day.
The morning was not too cold. Maybe -15 but we had a fairly strong head wind that made it feel much colder.
Right out of camp we started up. We climbed for what seemed like a long way� until we hit a drainage valley that we knew (hoped) was flowing to the ocean. We followed it as it snaked back and forth and after about 5 hours of skiing we emerged onto the ice.
Crossing the peninsula was one of the most beautiful parts of the trip. The variety of topography, the rocks, cliffs and hills were quite striking.
The going was quite tough much of the time and we alternated from good hard packed snow to loose and crumbly snow that was hard to pull through. Some sections had a slight downhill grade to them, and the pulling was a little easier. Although much of the time it felt uphill.
As we pulled out onto the sea ice we were happy to be on the flat surface once again. Hazy Cape which is where we are heading seems to always be basked in sunlight and looks quite beautiful from our current vantage point.
We are in the tents now and comfortable, but it is quite windy and cold outside. Dinner is done and we will soon get ready for bed. Tomorrow we should hit the Pole location just after noon. The weather will dictate how long we stay and what we do.
Good night from the ice.