Yesterday got us all down. We know the signs well by now. As the temperature rises, the snow turns to mashed potatoes, the dogs slow way down, and everything and everyone get soaking wet.

But as we crossed the northern-most point on our whole journey, it started to rain, and that was too much to handle. That is correct--we are dogsledding, and we had to stop because of the prevailing weather conditions: rain.

The thermometer revealed what we all already knew--an astonishing 44 degrees F.

With all this warm weather, Dave and I began to discuss the possibillty that we might not be able to make it back to Norway House in April. In other words, we might not be able to complete the Boreal Forest Project as planned.

It was under these circumstances that we all agreed to get up this morning at 4 a.m., in order to try to get some traveling done before the temperature cracked freezing. Today was our sixth consecutive day without a rest day (and none remain in sight), and we all felt the pressure of falling behind schedule.

We all woke up to at 4 a.m. to a wonderful sight--Dave, covered in snow. I stepped out of the tent and into a blizzard. The wind was gusting around 30 mph and the thermometer read a glorious -10 degrees F.

The prudent option would have been to stay put, but none of us could handle the humiliation of being weather-bound by hot and then cold weather, all in a 12 hour period.

So we set off early this morning armed with ski goggles, balaclavas, down jackets, and various other items previously taking up space on our sled.

We made our way down Knee Lake through the storm all day today, pretending to be arctic explorers the whole time. Potatoes and rain, I'm happy to report, all but forgotten.