The team phone in today to report that they have FINALLY had some good ice conditions that allowed for some fast travel. The frozen lead that they camped next to last night did NOT prove to be a good highway because rather than freezing more it opened up during the night and became a large open water mass that they could not get across. Luckily it was running north/south and instead of crossing they simply traveled along side it for a long distance. The rest of the day they had large pans, some several miles big that were separated by areas of rubble. They still had to do some chopping and clearing to make it through the rubble, but at least they had the pans to add some fun to all the hard work! At one point while chopping a way through a pressure ridge Tony went in the water up to his thighs. Luckily it was towards the end of the day and the team made camp shortly after.
The frozen lead they camped next to last night opened into a wide active lead by morning.
The team was able to hear the ice moving today, not far off in the distance. Wendy described it as sounding like a freight train. She mentioned that they would have likely heard more, but dog team 2 is "So noisy! All they do is bark, bark, bark!" Apparently dog team 1 (that's the team with dogs named spot 1-8) is very calm and quiet.
Happy to be on a flat pan!
The team started the day out with snow, then it became sunny, and now it is cloudy but still very warm. Their position when they called in was N89.45, E131. They are within striking distance of the pole, and with any luck they should reach it day after tomorrow.
Make sure to listen to the audio report below and check back in again tomorrow for another update from the team!
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