No road through

So far we've put a couple of groups into the field for their expeditions. They have been relatively close to our base - 40kms or so, but coming soon are a few expeditions wanting to get up to north Liverpool Land. For the last few days we've been trying to find a way up there. Our usual route up Klitdal, is closed due to lack of snow, so we went across to the east coast of Liverpool Land though a valley called Kalkdal.

The start of this valley is barred by an impassable gorge, so you have to bypass it to the left. This in turn, has some steep slopes, so we had to 'build' a road through a wind scoop to get past. This took a few hours, but once passed, the route to the east was fairly straight forward.

Our plan was to go up the the sea ice and gain access to the north. Unfortunately the sea ice became more rough with ice bergs, bergy bits and brash forcing us to make numerous turns and detours to find a way on. At about 60kms out we were stopped by increasingly chaotic sea ice with pressure ridges and cracks stretching as far as the eye could see. We turned round and returned to base after125kms and a 10 hour drive. We will have to think again.

Today we went out to try other routes north, one up a valley which became too steep and one up a side glacier in Kalkdal, which we got the skidoos up, but the sledge became stuck and we had to dig it out. There will be no chance to get a group up with heavy loads. We will have one last look up Klitdal tomorrow to see if there is a route around the lack of snow.