That the lead we camped next to closed overnight could only be a good omen we thought. But the Arctic Ocean, had other ideas. For starters, we drifted two and a half miles south while we slept. The first shift found us floundering through drifts, pressure ridges and small fractured pans. Later, Darcy asked that I navigate the last few miles to the Pole in honor of my efforts in organizing and leading the expedition. Personally, I would have prefered to ski in the back and take pictures but my hands were frozen so I agreed. For a while, I regretted my decision but my legs felt good and energy was high. After some thin ice, open water and moving ice, I skied out onto a massive vast stretch of flat ice. Before me, about a half mile farther was the North Pole. I smiled quietly to myself. Read the rest of the post here: http://savethepoles.com/updates/journal.php?xjMsgID=126022

About Eric Larsen

Larsen has spent his entire life in pursuit of wilderness. A polar explorer, dog musher and educator, he has spent the past 15 years adventuring in some of the most remote and wild places left on earth. Totaled, Larsen has traveled enough wilderness miles to circle the globe nearly two and half times. Larsen’s history-making expedition, One World Expedition, was the first-ever summer journey to the North Pole. Larsen’s other expeditions include a successful summit of Mt. McKinley, a 41-day expedition to the geographic South Pole, 700-mile dog sled journey through Northern Ontario, a six-week dog sled journey in the barren lands of the Canadian Arctic, several training trips to Hudson Bay and countless dog sled races. He has also ridden his bike across the United States, been a back country ranger in Alaska, a white water canoe guide in Colorado and wilderness trip leader in Hawaii. Larsen was recently voted one of Outside Magazine’s Eco All Stars for his Global Warming advocacy work. A gifted communicator as well, Larsen travels the country giving motivational and educational lectures to K-12 schools, universities, nonprofit organizations and corporate groups. To see more about this modern-day explorer, visit www.savethepoles.com.