Location: Iqualuit, Nunavat, Canada

Audio blog: Tyler sick, boots arrive, warm weather, meeting people

This is John Huston calling in from a blustery Iqaluit where it is at least 10 degrees below Fahrenheit and it’s probably 15 miles an hour wind and a bit of snow out of the north.

Tyler and I had another good day. He's a little sick and I really feel for him. He doesn't have a fever or anything, just a little run down with a cough and kind of a throaty feel to him. He's been getting a little extra sleep, but hasn’t been complaining at all.

My boots arrived today, finally. They were ordered in Norway in November and due to some customs difficulties, etc., they got stalled, but they finally arrived in Iqaluit today. So I put them on for the first time and they fit just like I hoped they would after a few little modifications which I expected to do. We modify just almost every piece of gear just to make it just right so we don't have to fiddle with it out in the field and try to make it lighter. Boots are perhaps the most important piece of equipment as far as comfort. We take millions of steps it seems in those boots, so if there's rubbing spots or tight spots or if they don't fit well then we feel it every inch of the way.

Also, today we did a morning pull out on the bay and it was so warm I was just sweating. We had hoped to have some really cold weather here to acclimatize. It's gotten colder this evening, but on the bay this morning, I went out in my windbreaker anorak by Bergans of Norway and came back with just the hat, no gloves, no mittens, long underwear, and then my pants unzipped on the side so I can ventilate. So that was too much sweat for me.

Also, today I met Jason Descarte and Christina Franko. Christina is sharing our flight up to Ward Hunt and she'll be doing a solo North Pole trip, trying to be the first woman to do it solo. She will have a few weeks supply along the way. We had lunch together. It was fun to chat about equipment and that sort of thing, and also to know that we get on well with the people who we will be working with in the North.

What you're hearing there is a snowmobile racing by on the shore of Iqaluit.

All right, that's it everybody. Look forward to more dispatches and the expedition starting on March 1st, pending weather. A flight has to be able to take off and land in good weather on both ends, so cross your fingers that that happens. Okay, thanks for listening. Good night.

WARM DAY TRAINING