Distance traveled:
May 16th: 48.1 km
May 17th: 25.2 km

Position: N67°03'20.6 W086°59'09.3

Yesterday, the rough ice in Committee Bay kept us land bound, so we kite-skied south, following the trail toward the town of Repulse Bay. There was alarmingly little snow covering the sandy and rocky coastline; the snow had often melted on either side of the trail. Spring melt is definitely on its way.

This morning, we huddled over the maps with our GPS in hand, reviewing the available information. We had two options ahead: we could continue to detour south-east overland pushing inland towards flat kiteable terrain, or we could attempt to ski the next few days through the rough ice of Committee Bay.

Although the Committee Bay route was much shorter, heading inland, provided the winds were good, would allow us to travel bigger distances with our kites.

We had recently received a weather update calling for north-west winds tomorrow, and clear windless weather for today.

And so we decided that sometimes, you have to head south to go north, so we packed our kiting gear away, got out our shorts and ipods out and hauled through the day and into the night. With any luck, there will be winds tomorrow and we can kite overland.

Eric

[Via Pittarak: Northwest Passage Expedition]