Day 20: April 22, 2026
Will celebrated Earth Day 2026 on the headwaters of the Haldane River, experiencing a 60-degree temperature swing and contemplating a strategic "Catch-22" regarding his supplies.
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Will here on April 22nd, if I have it right, Earth Day, Earth Day 2026. I'm on the Haldane River, and we had a warm-up here, or I had a warm-up here. It got up to 28 degrees, so there's a swing within 48 hours of 60 degrees, which is kind of the mood, the spring mood here: up and down. But it's now about close to zero. I've just set up camp here. I'm inside here cooking dinner. And I quit today around 9:30 or so. And I did a relay yesterday, and I'm kind of in an expedition Catch-22 here. I have an extra 25 pounds, probably a little bit more extra food. And there are so many unknowns on this expedition. For one, the break-up time, when it comes, and I might have to wait out a long time, waiting it for it to come. Or it might be stopped when it does break up. And if I do the route following right to the Arctic Ocean, there's a lot of unknowns in there. So I've really got to be right on and extra food here. But that's putting me overweight. In other words, I've been relaying, but I just couldn't do it all in two loads. So now, I'm going from here to the divide, I'm going to have to make three loads. And I'm right at that wedge. Probably by the time I get to the divide itself on the other side, I can at least relay. I'm expecting a little bit of hauling conditions there.
So I've worked that all out. And I hauled up a second road here to where I'm at. A real beautiful spot here. And then tomorrow morning, I'll ski down the seven miles and then bring that third load up. There's seven miles here. I'll have everything, the three loads here, at one spot. So I'm going to make kind of a base camp here with one of the loads. I have all my camp gear and everything I need here. So I'm going to leave the tent up here at least for a couple of days here. But I don't want to be that stretched out, you know, maybe three miles, four miles apart here.
One good fortune about the cold weather is the grizzlies are still hibernating. I haven't seen any track at all. I didn't expect it. But as soon as you get a little bit of a spring weather, they'll probably be on the roam. And I kind of want to have things together here. But I'm closing in on the divide. It's going to take a little extra time.
But one advantage is the loads are still heavy. It's really a workout. I mean, just almost every minute, you know, it's really pushing it hard. But it's a little lighter than, with three loads, it's lighter than two, of course. And I can enjoy, you know, just skiing back and forth and that [...] and, you know, been in good weather. And at any rate, it was a late dinner here. My health and strength is really great. Real incredible workouts. I don't know how I do it. At the end of the day, I feel real good. And I can keep going at this rate for some time. But I am taking care of myself here. And so, happy Earth Day everybody. And I don't have ... I haven't heard news since I left on the 2nd of April. And it's, you know—I hope there's still a world out there. I'm not the only one talking. Because it was real chaotic when I left. But I imagine that it even got worse. But let's be positive here about, you know, the future. And I know that's hard to do. But, you know, we're humans and we survived a lot of other things in our evolution.
And it's Will, over and out then. And have a good evening. And I'm sure if you'll probably read it on the next day. This would be, like, now it's 10:30, mountain standard time ... or, daylight savings time. So, that would be, you know, even if it was posted now, it's 11:30 your time. So, imagine most everybody's getting this, picking up this thing, you know, the day after. And I'll talk more tomorrow then. Roger over and out here, Will.
Will’s location at the end of Day 20, Earth Day 2026. He advanced a second load to his forward position and will return to get a third, final load to bring forward as he nears the divide between the Haldane and the Horton rivers. Visit Will’s interactive map for complete control of magnification and orientation.
Earth Day memory: this striking image appears in the Earth Day video dispatch from the 2007 Baffin Island expedition 19 years ago.