The Goliath Expedition

2 February 2006
We had set our watch alarms, intending to wake early and make up some distance, but neither of us heard them go off. Buried so deeply in the sleeping bags, you can hear next to nothing above the roar of the tent thrashing around in the wind. As it doesn’t get light until 10:00 it’s difficult to gauge just what time it is.

However, we do manage to get on the go before midday today. Dimitri is obviously still struggling to find his Arctic legs but we are making a better pace. This is the time to do it, with hard, clear ice and clear sunny skies. It’s only what I would describe as a little windy but with temperatures now as low as -42C, a 10mph wind equates to -68C, and believe me, this really sucks. I begin to feel that I’m poorly equipped to deal with this temperature. Dimitri had brought a windproof jacket from the US for me as I intended to maintain a balanced temperature by not wearing too much when moving, and therefore sweating, just having enough on to stop me from freezing to death. However the windproof doesn’t seem to be up to the job. It’s too short, exposing my midriff, and the hood will just not stay up. Fortunately, I had learned before I got to Nome how I needed to improve my facemask. Dimitri is learning that it’s a balancing act. Already I can see burn marks appearing under his eyes and around the top of his nose. Even covered, the air will burn off all the skin around the nostrils as ice forms under your mask. A facemask with only a vent that completely covers your face and mouth is nice to start with, as you can keep warm air in the mask, circulating as you breathe. Unfortunately this causes your goggles to mist up and if you remove them then your eyelashes begin to ice over with the warm air from inside the mask and you can’t see beyond them. Eventually, ice starts to encroach on the whole facemask and it becomes useless. I modified my mask by cutting a hole to breathe through in place of the vent. This allows most of the moist air to escape without misting the goggles. Unfortunately, it also allows the air to burn my lips and nose more, but that’s the price you have to pay for being able to see.

Eventually, we make it to a point on the coast called Cape Woolley. From here, some five miles across the bay, we can see cabins on the shoreline and this motivates us to up the pace and beat the setting sun. The thought of sleeping indoors and even a wood stove is very appealing. I had not planned on using any cabins on route, however Dimitri is pretty set on using them anywhere he can. We push hard and make it to the nest of cabins just as it’s growing dark. I’m a bit nervous as we had followed polar bear tracks that were heading straight for the same cabins. Our desire to get out of the wind drives us on though. We drop the sleds off and quickly search the cabins to find suitable shelter, (gun in-hand). Most of the cabins are locked but some just have string holding the doors closed. Inside we find what looks like a ’summer camp’ location and it appears that the people had just upped and left at a moments notice. We get a fire going in the larger building but realise it is simply too big a building to warm through so pitch tent inside. At least we are out of the wind. It’s been a good day, about 18 miles I reckon.