Day 37

We were treated to a late start to the day given that it had been an intense period leading up to this point, with lots of kms notched under the belt as we had pushed hard towards DYE III. The 10am push off would have been greatly welcome had it not been diabolically cold!! Everything inside the tent was covered in a fine layer of frost, including our sleeping bags, making the already miserable task of sliding out of said warm bag in the morning all the more undesirable. All you can do is get moving as fast as possible, fire up the stove and square your admin as best you can in the freezing temperatures.

Packing up pulks and tents outside, extremities numb from the cold, Josh confirmed a static temperature of -14 celsius with a wind chill of -24. Everyone was eager to get moving to get some warmth into our frozen limbs, toes and fingers.

We pushed off into a gloomy morning, navigating once again using the ‘dong of direction’ (compass harness….pictures paint a thousand words) and following a fixed bearing, the dome of DYE III slowly disappearing behind us. We were now heading west towards our final destination, and, anticipating a downhill trajectory, wind on our backs and lighter pulks, enthusiasm is high that we can cover some serious ground SHOULD the weather remain on our side.

With absolutely zero reference points to navigate off in the white haze, the compass plays tricks with your mind sending you off in all sorts of directions but a straight line. You feel for certain you are heading directly forward only to look back at the confused faces of the team as you veer off left unexpectedly. Were anyone to track our progress from the sky they would likely think we were lost/blind/drunk/all of the above as our track snaked and weaved through the snow but ultimately headed west.

As we moved through the day the sun did grace us with its presence and suddenly an array of solar panels was instantly deployed on top of pulks to charge battery packs/phones etc. We plodded along without much drama, notching up another 8-hour day (compressed due to the late start) and another impressive 24km. Conditions were favourable despite the cold and, assuming they remain this way, we should be in for some big distances in the coming days. The west coast beckons!