Day 28: April 30, 2026
Will closed out the month of April by battling the aftermath of a "quite violent" spring storm, successfully pushing his gear across the first half of his overland shortcut to the Horton River.
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Yeah, Will here on April 30th, day 28, on the Horton River Divide. The big storm yesterday, blew all yesterday and came to a crescendo this morning around 1 or 2. It was really quite violent. Actually, it was kind of like sleet or rain. It was too cold for rain. I thought maybe there might be a chance of a warm front behind this, but no such thing. It was not a ... I mean, this is a spring storm, it wasn't anything like the below zero storms and wind storms that I had a couple weeks ago. But temperatures in the teens, upper teens, but great wind chill, though, with the intensity of the wind and a lot of snow with this. All my gear sleds are totally buried. The tent aerodynamic became part of a snow drift, which is—a good tent is supposed to do. It actually anchors it down also, so it deflects the wind. As part of the snow drift, it deflects the aerodynamics. It protects everything.
About 6 o'clock this morning, and I was antsy to get going around 9 o'clock or so. I went out to try. I'm have to ... I'm making a shortcut from this long lake I'm on. It's up a steep decline and then flat over a couple of small lakes and that for four miles and then down on the other side. So I was really antsy sitting around the tent the last days, and I tried pulling one load up to the top of the height there. And it was pretty dangerous conditions, totally white out. I couldn't see anything at all. Tracks just disappeared right away. I couldn't see snow drifts. I was skiing into these high, incised drifts without seeing them. But once I got the first load to the top, I figured this was too dangerous to do.
So back to the tent, and I cleaned up a little bit there and then around noon again, I started again. I got the second load up to the top, and not as bad a condition. Still a total whiteout, but not as dangerous. There was no snow in the air at all. And then I kind of leapfrogged the loads. I could only bring them maybe 100 yards at the very most. And a couple of times, the one in front of me disappeared or the one in the back. I was traveling basically blind. I was traveling on GPS all the time. I just couldn't read ... nothing to read. The sun did come out above the clouds. You could see it, so you're getting a little bit of a reference. But it was not accurate enough. But it was ... I had full concentration. I enjoyed that. You're there all the time. You're really careful on that. But I got both loads to about the middle. There was a lake that was two miles out that I got it to. And then I skied back.
It lifted a little bit. A little bit of blue sky, but not too much. The temperatures were, like, this afternoon, about 20. Still a little windy. Not too bad, my hopes are maybe we might see some spring weather. It's definitely not a spring right now, this winter storm. But the tent, good old tent, the black tent, if there's any sun at all—even today when it was blustery out—the inside of the tent was comfortable. I didn't have to use fuel. So that's going to be nice once we get some better weather.
So I'm hoping for (I'm going to count on anything) but I think tomorrow will be a pretty good travel day. I should be able to get all my reloads and sleds and the whole thing moved over, then the short cut then I'll be on the main Horton River, the very headwaters. So that was an actual river, you know, it starts as a river. It does headwater out further up, probably another 30, 40 miles. But it's kind of a small creek, nothing navigable. In fact, I don't know if anyone's ever ran this Horton River from the headwaters where I'm at. I don't think so. I don't know how anyone would get in here. First of all, I'm doing it. So I couldn't find any information. I mean, I looked around the canoe circles to see if anyone had any information on this [... ...] up the Horton. And I never found anything. But anyone out there knows any information on Horton, I'd read. Particularly if someone has tried it from the very top of the divide. It would be quite interesting to see what they learn.
You know, when people are doing like, somebody else doing the divide—for myself, this is not a game of competition. I have great respect for people that do major trips like this. And it's a camaraderie, brother and sister type situation. No competition at all and that. And some people are that way. But I never was that way. I really respect people that do a real honest effort. And a lot of people that are just quiet people that do amazing things. That's kind of cool. For 20 years, I did that. I never talked about anything I did. But I got into major expeditions when I came to my late 30s.
But so it's pretty comfortable in here. It's crowded in the tents with all the gear. But it's home sweet home. And I'll tuck in. I'll check in tomorrow. Tomorrow is my 40th anniversary to the North Pole. North Pole, May 1st, 1986. A big day in my life. And I'll talk a little bit more about that tomorrow. So this is Will here on the Horton Divide. April 30th, day 28th. Over and out.
Will’s camp position is unchanged, but today he did begin moving loads toward the Horton river, reaching a “small lake” about two miles from his camp position, where he skied back after hauling loads forward. Visit Will’s interactive map for complete control of magnification and orientation.
In whiteout conditions and drifting snow, objects on the ground become part of the landscape, whether it is a tent or a load of gear (as Will describes in today’s dispatch), or a dog curled up in a tight circle to protect itself from the elements.