Milk and Honey. That's what we call big flat pans. After struggling through yet another drifty, slabby, thin ice area, we crested a pressure ridge and were greeted by a nice long flattish pan of ice.

'Is that milk and honey I see over there?' I asked AJ and Darcy. 'Yes it is,' they replied smiling. As with most good things, it never lasts and the flat ice turned into an interesting mix of heaved and cracked multi year ice slabs and small pans bordered by wide swaths of jumbled blue block ridges. If we didn't have to get through it, I would have thought it beautiful. OK, who am I kidding, it was beautiful. Unfortunately, it's been cold lately and stops to marvel and awe quickly turn into hand freezing hypothermia fests.

Look as I ski, I remind myself.

Nothing has gotten much easier here. We are pushing hard to make miles, but are also fighting against ice that is pushing us south as we sleep and time chewing veers around thin ice, big drifts and huge ice blocks. Still, we have managed to eke miles and are now only 16 miles away from the North Pole. Wow. It feels good to be here.

Today, we reminisced about the early days of the expedition. 'Remember that big ice canyon we went through?' I asked. The guys did and smiled happily that it was a memory now and not a new obstacle.

We are seeing lots big blocks of ice cracked and pressured. Some are easily five feet thick and 30 feet across. We know how they are formed - slow punctuated movements of ice pushed by wind, tides and currents. This must be similar to how mountains are formed but instead of ice and water its the earth's crust driven by convection currents in the mantle.

This trip has reinforced my wonderment at the natural world. This is quite some home we have. Perhaps the ice and mountains can offer some good lessons. Big massive objects can be moved with combined steady effort. To solve the problem of global warming might seem like trying to move a mountain, but with a combined and steady effort, we can.

Remember, check out the www.350.org Petition: People's Petition to Cap Carbon Dioxide Pollution at 350 Parts Per Million.

Image: Getting some free clean energy with our Goal0 solar panel.

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com

For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/

For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com

For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.

A new remote audio post has been added to the blog...

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.

A new remote audio post has been added to the blog...

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.

Six in the morning seems to be coming earlier and earlier for some reason. However, I am surprised to find myself awake before the alarm goes off. For anyone that knows me (especially Bill and Dongsheng my two South Pole clients/team members), I am many things but a morning person is not one of them. While we are a bit more tired these days, getting up is easier as there is less frost in the tent due to 24 hours of sunlight.

First shift skiing was good - no real problems - lots of winding through drifts. During second shift Darcy got into some bigger pans and it felt like we were making miles. Third shift seemed to be a mix of thin ice leads, cracks and drifts. Fourth shift - overall pretty good. Fouth, a cold start after soup break, AJ had a few difficult spots but overall a steady plod. Fifth, more winding back and forth through drifts and pressure. Sixth, and last shift of the day, winds die and temperature drops. We count the minutes down to tent time.

Of course, there was much more that happened than just that and more than enough slips, falls and other struggles. Now more than ever we are simply enduring. Each shift is work. But somehow, it's also not that bad. There is lots to look at, plenty of quiet time and as much ice and snow as we could ever want. Today, I found myself taking pictures of snow drifts and ice blocks. None of the images will do the real thing justice unfortunately - yet I keep trying. I want desperately to share this place with you.

Taking off my Sierra Designs parka then an extra terramar base layer, I had to laugh. How many times have I done that exact same action with exactly the same movements? Every day for 48 days.

Remember, bing is helping students become aware of their environment through an Earth Day Photo Contest. If you know of teachers and students that are interested in photography and want to take part in a great cause, have them enter at www.earthdayphotocontest.com.

Also check ouy the www.350.org Petition: People's Petition to Cap Carbon Dioxide Pollution at 350 Parts Per Million

Image: Using the madshus to give my sled the big heave-ho over some slabbed pressure ice..

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com

For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/

For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com

For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.

I have finally allowed myself to think about the end of the expedition although mostly from a logistical perspective - coordinating our pick up, flights back to Canada, etc. Being done, relaxing in a chair, seeing Maria, camping with my nephew Tyler ... These are still very far away, and if there's one thing I've learned about polar travel, it's that anything can happen (and usually does). Four more days of travel means four more days of drifts, leads, thin ice, pressure ridges, cold wind and more.

Still, the fact that we are are here is not lost on me. I find myself looking around and trying to remember every moment and feeling.

'What's it like being back?' people often ask. I'm not going to lie, after two months on the ice living inches away from two other stinky guys (we haven't showered since March second) eating freeze dried meals and Cliff bars (yes they're good, but variety is nice too), it's really nice. However, the weirdest thing is simply not being the ice. I have the rest of my life to sit at tables or watch movies. This moment is fleeting. It can never be captured, but for now I am holding on tight.

It was colder and windier today. The sun was out to which made things a bit more pleasant. Still, we cooled quickly during breaks. We are actually having conversations during breaks now and we have to now strictly enforce the 10 minute break rule. Our last shift of the day was the best ice. Flat for nearly a half hour of skiing. Then some more drifts, and another long flat section - a nice way to end the day.

We got seriously bogged down for over an hour veering and crossing small leads. Several times we had to set up a relay to get the sleds across unstable brash ice. Later, one bigger chunk of ice broke free and rolled as Darcy and I were scouting a lead jumping point. You have never seen two people scramble backwards so quickly.

Most impressive today was watching the ice pressure. It feels like the Arctic Ocean is alive and the chug, chug, chug sound of grinding ice is its pulse. We all stared for a long time hesitant to look or ski away trying to remember this incredible moment.

Image: Darcy skiing along some pressured blocks.

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com

For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/

For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com

For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by bing and Terramar with major support from Goal0, MSR, Scream Agency, Sierra Designs, Stanley, Optic Nerve and Clif Bar.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com. For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com. For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net. For lecture inquires, please contact smakmaria@yahoo.com.