Position: N 75,26.807, W 093,42.880
Distance traveled: 18 km/ 11 mi

We are just finishing a delicous dinner. Sarah and I got invited to Sam and Eric's tent for a get- together dinner. The menu is stew with cheese, bacon and butter, lots of butter. For breakfast we eat oatmeal and toast. The talk of the evening is about the polar bear that just visited our camp.

The last miles of the leg today we crossed polar bear tracks many times, and it was not a surprise when it paid us a little visit. It was a middle sized bear just sniffing around our camp to figure out what we were making for dinner. Will shot off a bear banger after a couple of minutes to scare it off and Sam had time to take some pictures. Now we are all excited to see if it will come back tonight while we are sleeping. I think everyone is going to sleep a little lighter tonight than usual.

Good night. Looking forward to a beautiful day tomorrow.

Sigrid

Norwegian Translation:

Position: N 75,26.807, W 093,42.880
Distance traveled: 18 km

Naa stter jeg I teltet til eric og sam, er stappa mett etter en god middag. Gryte med mye smor, ost og bacon. Samtalen gaar I ett om isbjornen som for bare en time siden besokte oss I leiren. De siste par km krysset vi mang isbjornspor,saa det var ikke en stor overaskelse at den kom paa besok naar vi begynte aa koke middag. Det var en middels stor bjorn, sannsynligvis en hunnbjorn. Den kom opp til omtrent 15 m fra oss og etter ett par bilder fyrte will av ett skremmsels skudd. Bjornen foyk avgaarde,men jeg har en folelse av at den kommer tilbake senere I kveld. Vi kommer vel alle til aa sove litt lettere enn vanlig. Utrolig flott dag I dag med straalende sol, vindstille og rundt -30. Vi kjorte gjennom mye pakkis , goy, mye jobb og kort distans. Vi har det helt supert. Haaper alt er bra med alle hjemme.

God natt,

Sigrid

Position: N 76° 20', W 093° 35'
Distance traveled: 19 mi/ 31km

Today has been one of the few days where it has been flat ice and pretty fast travel, sunshine with just a little wind. One of us is always skiing in front of the first team to get them on the right track. The two other teams follow close behind. We are mostly skiing on the side of the sleds, holding on to a rope handle to keep our balance. We are now camped on land, Devon Island, on a beautiful spot surrounded by mountains. I broke my ski binding for the sixth time today, so this evening I have spent time trying to repair it as best as I can in my tent. For the moment I'm trying to super glue it together.

My cheeks are a bit frostbitten, and I have had it now for some days - white spots and swollen. I am hoping it will heal fast.

Dogs are doing great and we are all happy and healthy.

Sarah and I had spaghetti with lots of cheese and butter in it for dinner. Just finishing a cup of hot chocolate and then ready for the sleeping bag.

Good night,

Sigrid

Dag 13

Endelig er vi her, camped I norwegian bay. Vi har hatt en fin dag I dag med bra tempo. Vi er alle I godt hummor. litt I bakkant av hvor vi hadde haapet paa aa vaere, men haaper paa aa ta det igen etterhvert. Forhaapentligvis er vi gjennom den verste pakkisen.

Jeg sliter fortsatt med frost skade I fjeset aa maa dekke det fullstendig hele dagen. Vi har nok mat aa holder oss bra. Vi faar ny matforsyning om 7 dager.

Jeg fortsetter med aa odelegge bindingen paa skia mi, maa reparere den hver kveld I teltet.

Terrenget rundt oss er unikt, noe av Det mest fantastiske jeg noen gang har sett.

Naa er det tid for en kopp med te og gjore seg klar for soveposen.

God natt

Sigrid

Position: N 77° 33', W 093° 01'
Distance Traveled: 29 km / 17 mi

It is Day 16 and we have traveled for over two weeks already. It is amazing how time flies by out here on the ice. We are starting to have a good routine during the day and things are going faster. By this, I mean setting up camp, chaining out dogs, fixing skiis, pack down
camp and move to the next destination.

We woke up this morning with smiles on our faces watching the blue sky and sun instead of complete white -- another beautiful day on the ice.

Tobias and I have lacked a stable leader on our dogteam. One day we decided to give Skidich a try. Skidich is a shy little female who came loose in Iqaluit . No one could catch her, so she was loose for weeks. The day before we flew to Resolute we got help to catch her and by luck we were able to get a hold of her. I don't think little Skidich ever thought she was going to lead a team, scared of all people and almost all dogs. Now she is outside my tent happy and proud of being the best leader on mine and Toby's team. She plays with other dogs and she now loves for us to pet her. My little favorite dog Skidich.

Sigrid

Additional Info:

Dog Sledding Quote

"The Eskimo dog is distinguished by having kept one foot firmly in the wild. This explains his captivating personality. Loyal, intelligent, brave, persevering: possessed also of quasi-human peccadilloes like thieving, bullying and malingering, the Eskimo dog is part of the legend and literature of the North." Quote from Scott & Amundsen by Roland Huntford

Norwegian Translation:

Posisjon: N 77 33, W093 01
Distance traveled: 29 km/ 17 mi

Tiden flyr her ute paa isen. Naa har vi vaert paa tur i over to uker. Vi begynner aa faa bra rutine paa dagen. Pakke ned camp, sele opp hunder, komme oss avgaarde, sette opp ny camp, smelte sno, spise sove osv.

Vi voknet I morres kl 0600 med ett smil om munnen da vi kikket ut aa saa sol og klar himmel. Gaarsdagens fullstendige white out, hvor det var umulig aa see forskjell paa himmel og is fristet ikke til gjentagelse.

Tobias og jeg har i mangel av ledere paa spannet vaart provd de fleste av vaare 10 hunder. En av
Vaare siste utprovde var lille skidich. En liten tispe som ingen kunne fange I iqaluit. Hun hadde lopt los rundt I iqaluit I flere uker da jeg jom dit. Dagen for vi floy til resolute fikk vi hjelp til aa prove aa fange henne. Flaks for tobias og meg fikk vi faktisk tak I henne. Livredd for folk, hunder og allt annet var det ingen som hadde trua paa at denne lille reddharen skulle ende opp som leder. Naa er hun utenfor teltet mitt stolt og glad for aa vare tobias og megs beste lederhund paa spannet vaart. Hun har ogsaa naa blitt litt av en kosehund. Min lille favoritt hund, skidich.

Sigrid

Position: N 78° 10', W 094° 15'
Distance traveled: 0 km/ 0 mi


It's amazing how good it feels to have a day off, a day to relax, repack, repair, sleep and eat. Sarah and I slept till noon this morning, had a long late breakfast and listened to Sarah's music on her new iPod that came in with the resupply flight.

The dogs are enjoying a lazy day in the sun, not knowing that the sleds are getting heavily loaded again. We are packing for another 20-22 days of human food and dog food into our three sleds. Hoping for some flat ice to travel on the first days when we are the most heavily loaded.

In a couple of hours we are all meeting in the group tent for dinner, discussing the route, dogteams and the gears we need to fix.

Enjoying our adventure and life in the arctic,

Sigrid

Norwegian Translation:

Etter 20 dager paa isen foles det ut som en lang ferie aa ha en dag I teltet. Omtrent alle mann sov til klokka 12 paa dagen I dag. Sarah og jeg spiste en lang, sen frukost og horte paa hennes nyinnkommende i-pod.
I gaar ettermiddag landet nemmlig flyet med ny matforsyning og annet pikkpakk.Vi brukte to dager for aa finne en brukbar plss for flyet aa lande.
Artig aa treffe ett par nye fjes etter 20 dager, pilotene og Jerry the camera man. Vi pakket ut av flyet fort og sendte avgaarde ting vi ikke lenger trengte. Saa floy de nye fjesene avgaarde like fort som de kom.
I den nye forsyningen var et storre telt med plass for alle 6 I. Vi satte det opp og spiste formiddagsmat som Jerry hadde sendt med fra Resolute. Mmmm....ny mat, utrolig hvor god ett helt vanlig smorbrod med ost og skinke smaker etter 20 dager med torrmat.

Dagen I dag gaar med til pakking av sleder, organisere mat, reparere smaating, torke klaer og soveposer. Hundene koser seg I sola aa nyter for det fulle en fridag. De har gjort en bra jobb de siste 20 dagene. Lite vet de at naa pakkes sledene igjenfo nye 20-22 dager, og det blir tunge tak den forste uken, til vekten gradvis gaar ned med forbruket av mat og hundefor. Vi haaper paa flat is de forste dagene.

Nyter livet her I nord og tankene mine gaar ofte til Otto Sverdrup og hans mannskap som var her oppe I 4 aar. Litt av ett eventyr.

Sigrid

Position: N 78° 35' W 095° 24'
Distance Traveled: 8 km / 4 mi

Another day in the fun, rough ice. We had one of our most difficult working days today, and made a very short distance. We push and drag the heavy sleds over big blocks of ice. There are many beautiful ice sculptures to pass by.

It is late April, and springtime is here in the Arctic too. Nice and sunny with 24-hour light. But we cannot smell the green grass and trees; the only smell around is pretty much dog poo and bad smelling people.

When the day is over and it is time to camp, the first thing we do is put out the drop chains for the dogs. We string them out in a square and fasten it in the corners with ice screws. When the dogs are out of their harness and on their spot, we feed them a block of very high calorie dog food. Then it is time to put up our tents inside the squarer and prepare for supper. After a good portion of food we usually write in our journals, read or repair broken equipment.
Around 11 p.m. we curl up in our warm sleeping bags and sleep like rocks.

We are loving life on the ice.

Sigrid

Norwegian Translation:

Dag 26
Distanse: 8 km / 5 mi

Dagens okt har muligens vaert en Av de toffeste,men vi har desverre ikke beveget oss langt. Pakkis I hytt og pine. Vi dytter og drar sledene opp ned isfjell, beveger oss med museskritt for oyeblikket.

Det er vaar her I arktis ogsaa, men det er ingen lukter av gront gra eller bjorke knopper. Det eneste som lukter er hundeskjit og illelutende mennesker...

Det forste vi gjor naar dagen er over er aa sette opp kjettingene for hundene I en stor firkant. Vi fester dem I hjornene med
Is skruer. Etter hundene er paa plass forer vi dem hoy calorie hundefor. Vi setter opp teltene vaare inne I firkanten for isbjornbeskyttelse, koker middag, leser, skriver og hopper inn I vaare varme Bergans soveposer.

God natt,

Sigrid

Day 31
Position : N 79° 01' W 096° 08'
Distance: 19.5 km / 12.1 mi

We had a nice traveling day today. Dogs and people are well rested after a day off.

We have not seen any tracks of wildlife in a couple of days. I'm hoping to see a pack of white wolves when we get closer to Eureka.

This morning we had more of a south wind than earlier, which usually means cloudy weather. Luckily today was nice and clear. We are still in the rough ice, and are prepared to be working in this condition for a while.

Everyone is happy and healthy, both people and dogs.

Sigrid

Dag 31
Posisjon N 79 01 w 096 08
Distanse 19,5 km

Bra dag I dag, med uthvilte hunder og ungdom. Vi er fortsatt I pakkisen, men sledene har naa blitt lettere med omtrent 12 dagers mat og hundefor igjen.

Vi har naa naadd 79 ende breddegrad, haaper paa aa komme oss til 80 ende breddegrad innen en uke.

Alt fugerer som det skal. Hundene har kommet seg I bedre form og det har vi ogsaa. Paa grunn av all pakkisen har vi ikke gaatt paa ski paa 8 dager. Vi savner aa gaa paa ski.

Vinden snudde I morges til mer sorlig vind, som ofte forer med seg mer overskyet ogtaakevaer. Vi var heldige med vaeret I dag. Klar/lettskyet og rundt -20 C.

Haaper dere alle nyter vaaren I Norge. Jeg vil gjerne hilse hjem til mor Inger, far Jon Arne og bror Petter.

Hei saa lenge,

Sigrid

Day 36
Position: N 79° 58' W 096° 32'
Distance traveled: 25 km / 15.5 mi
Estimated Temperature: -25 °C /-4 °F

The sleds are under a lot of pressure. When we are fully loaded they weigh around 750 to 800 lbs. We are running with sleds that are made for rough ice and heavy loads. They basically look like traditional Inuit sleds, about 4.5 meters long and are made out of wood. Every loose part is lashed to the sled with rope. Now and then we have to tighten the ropes on the bed of the sled and the handlebars. The ropes make the sled somewhat flexible and they move nicely over the rough ice. We do flip over sometimes and we have managed to brake the handlebars on all three sleds. We patch them up with pieces off wood and rope.

Sarah's birthday!
Day 41
Position: N 81° 01' W 095° 03'
Distance traveled: 13.7 km / 8.5 mi

"l am just going for a little ski trip with Skittish" (One of the dogs on Toby's team), Tobias said after he had eaten a quick bowl of oatmeal.

We found a perfect place for an air strip around 3 p.m., put up camp, and everyone was organizing their personal gear when Tobias headed off on his little ski adventure with his favorite dog. I was taking a little nap when I woke up by Toby's exciting voice, "I found the cairn, and I can see another one not too far away".

We all jumped out of our tents, put our skis on and rushed up the little mountain behind our camp. Could it be Otto Sverdrup's cairn that Toby had found, with the bottle of information in it?

It was definitively a cairn, on the top of the hill about waist high carefully built of rocks. We took off one rock after another slowly, hoping to find the bottle.

There was no bottle. A bit disappointed we headed off for the next cairn with high hopes. This one fit perfectly the description that we have about the old location of the actual sverdrup cairn - See Toby's May 5th dispatch. We keep our hopes up until all the rocks are removed. No bottle.

We found two cairns and it is possible that one of them was built by Otto Sverdrup's men. One of the cairns may have been built by surveyors in the late 70's or early 80's.

Exciting day, on the most beautiful place on earth.

Resupply and Ben coming in tomorrow around 1 p.m.. We all look forward to seeing Ben again.

Sigrid

Expedition Day: 47
Position: N 80° 44' W 090° 49'
Distance: 28 km / 17 mi


Amarokk is the white dog in the picture. His name means white wolf in Inuktitut (language spoken by the Inuit of this region). He is not a lead dog, his position in the hierarchy of the team is pretty far down. A pack of dogs have the same hierarchy system as the wolfs. Alpha animals, leaders, beta animals, next leaders, and the pack animals.

For the last three days we have seen many wolf tracks and every day I'm
looking for them in every possible direction. We have not seen them yet, but I have a feeling that they will come and visit our camp soon.

There is a rumor that there is a pack of 18 wolves around the Eureka area. That is a large pack of wolves.

To day we saw wolf tracks, muskox tracks, hare tracks and arctic fox tracks. Interesting day for a person like me who loves looking at tracks. There is many things you can find out if you follow an animal track for a while. You can see some atitude, male or female from markings, what they hunt, where they live, etc.

Amarokk has now eaten his dinner and is sleeping in front of a beautiful iceberg in the evening sun. Maybe tomorrow we will see some of the animals that made all these tracks. I will keep my eyes open.


Sigrid

Norwegian Translation:

Amorokk heter den vhite hunden paa bildet. Amorokk betyr vhit ulv paa Eskimo spraak.
De siste tre dagene har vi sett mange spor etter ulv, men ikke sett snurten av dem. Sporene er ferske og mange og muligens er de nermere enn vi tror.
Amarokk er ingen lederhund aa befinner seg langt ned paa rangstigen innen hundeteamet. Flokken med hunder som vi har med oss har samme rang ordning som en ulveflokk . Alfa dyr som ledere, beta dyr som nestledere og flokk dyr.

Ulvene rundt her lever mest av caribou og hare. Det sies at det skal vaere en flokk paa 18 dyr I omraadet. Vi er ikke saa veldig bekymret for hundene, vanligvis bjeffer de naar besoket kommer og ulvene er redde for mennesker saa naar vi hopper ut av teltene forsvinner de mest sansynligvis like fort som de dukket opp.
Jeg lytter godt hver kveld og morgen for aa hore om jeg horer noen ul I det fjerne, kanskje en morgen om ikke saa alt for lenge faar jeg hore dem.

Det er mye spennende aa finne ut av spor ogsaa. Om du folger ett spor lenge nok kan du finne ut mye om adferd, kjonn, husly, mat osv. Spor som jeg vanligvis ser er, ulv, fjellrev, hare, rype, caribou, isbjorn og moskus.

Vi har hatt noen fantastiske varme dager. Kjorer hunder I bare t-skjorta og sola tar godt I fjeset.
Kanskje I morgen er vi heldige aa faar se noen av dem som lager alle sporene.

Sigrid

Further Information: Arctic Wolves

Arctic Wolf courtesy of Wikipedia

The wolves on Ellesmere Island are from a species known as Arctic Wolf (Canis lupus arctos) are also called Polar Wolf or White Wolf. They are a subspecies of the Gray Wolf. Arctic Wolves lives in the Canadian Arctic and the northern parts of Greenland.

The wolves on Ellesmere are a bit smaller than the gray wolf, being around 3 to 6 feet long including their tail. Males are larger than females. They often weight over 100 pounds. Arctic wolves usually have smaller ears to help the wolf maintain body heat in the cold weather. They can live till they are around 18 years old.

Arctic wolves, like all wolves, hunt in packs. On Ellesmere they mostly hunt caribou and musk oxen, but they also hunt a number of arctic hare and seals.

Normally, only the alpha male and female breed (the leaders of the pack), but others may mate as well. Due to the Arctic's permafrost soil and the difficulty it poses for digging dens, Arctic Wolves often use rock outcroppings, caves or even shallow depressions as dens instead; the mother gives birth to two or three pups in late May to early June.

The Arctic Wolf and the Timber Wolf are the only subspecies of the Gray Wolf that still can be found over its original range; largely because in their natural habitat they rarely encounter humans.

David Mech has done a lot of research on the White wolf. He has also spend time on Ellesmere Island with the population up there.