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Polar Explorers Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen send daily dispatches during their unprecedented four-month journey to the North Pole and back. The expedition team will pull and paddle specially modified canoes across nearly 1,000 miles of shifting sea ice and open ocean. Their objective is to complete the first ever summer expedition to the North Pole and to highlight the growing issues surrounding global warming.
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It's all at 88

Jun 13, 2006
overcast, whiteout, 33 F, 8 nautical miles
Day 44. Hey folks, Lonnie and Eric here. Are you looking for pressure ridges? How about a total whiteout? Fog? Maybe you're the type that likes soft sticky snow. No? You're interested in semi-frozen brash ice, then.

It doesn't matter what your particular Arctic tastes may be, because at the corner of 88 degrees north and 71 and a half west, you can have it all. That's right folks, come on up to Lonnie and Eric's ice extravaganza where we will thrill you, chill you and, well, that's about it we guess.

We made it to 88 degrees north, but just barely. Today, the temperature at snow level was exactly the same at 6 feet (it's usually several degrees cooler). The thermometer read a balmy snow-melting, mush-making, ski-slowing, sled-sticking 33 degrees.

On a positive note, the snow is now 'packing' snow, and since we're camped close to several leads, we thought we might need an extra polar bear look-out (see picture). Well, there must have been some magic in an extra hat we found stored in a Granite Gear stuff sack 'cause when we placed it on his head he...you know the rest.

Another interesting part of our day found us skiing in a wet fog whiteout. We were paralleling a large lead when the wind pushed all the fog our way. We could not see a thing and just stumbled forward. So ridiculous are conditions like these when they arise, that the only thing we can do is laugh.

We are ecstatic to be at 88. The past 60 miles have completely worn us out and we plan on taking a full rest day tomorrow as long as we don't drift too far backward or east. That also makes us smile as we have big plans. Plus, the chess grudge match awaits.

We also wanted to introduce our renewable energy partner. In May 1998, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) became Long Island's primary electric service provider. LIPA's Clean Energy Initiative is one of the most ambitious programs of its kind in the nation. The Initiative is a 10-year, $355-million commitment to promote clean new electric generation technologies. Operating as a non-profit entity, LIPA has continued to serve the Island's growing population with a consistent commitment to cost-containment, efficiency and service reliability. With the demand for electricity growing at a record-breaking pace, priorities at LIPA continue to focus on the customer -- upgrading and enhancing the electric system, advancing energy efficiency, and developing and expanding alternative energy. You can learn more about LIPA in the sponsor page of www.oneworldexpedition.com.

Our sponsor of the week is Granite Gear who makes all our stuff sacks, compression sacks, gaiters and harnesses. You can learn more about Granite Gear in the sponsor page of www.oneworldexpedition.com.

Word of the day: stodgy - an extra special noodle dinner leaving us... Stodgy? At least according to the Oxford mini dictionary.

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