Day 1 - A strong and tough start

After just over 2 hours, we dropped our sleds and took a detour to go check out Amundsens Cairn.

The cairn is a pile of rocks with a can and a message inside of it that Amundsen left there after being the first man to reach the South Pole. He kept it as a marker for someone to find in case he died on his way back to the coastline at the Bay of Whales. Thankfully he did not die and could tell the world his magnificent story.

Being so close to the cairn, we had to go check it it out. But it turned out the detour was much longer than expected. We had to go on a bit of a hunt to find the cairn as well. It ended up being a 10+ hour day with 18 miles of skiing. 7-8 of those hours were with no food and water, cause we left it all in our sled thinking it would be a quick detour. 

So it was a bit of a challenge today, but it was so worth it...

What we saw was more than just a pile of rocks. It was a piece of polar history that's been there for 110 years! 

Since Amundsen left it there, probably 2 or 3 expeditions have been to that site. So it is a relatively untouched spot that marks an absolutely epic journey to the South Pole.

Those pile of rocks are a symbol and testament to the human spirit. It was a true honor to stand beside them and set foot where Amundsen once walked.

I couldn't imagine how he made this journey back then with the gear they had and not knowing anything about the land. We got to set foot in that story for a few brief moments.

It was almost as if Amundsen himself has now blessed our journey. A hard detour, but a worthy one to commemorate and honor a legend, and experience a part of polar history.