Ben Saunders - Polar Explorer, Motivational Speaker

Sun Dog

\At least I think it's a sun dog (or parhelion) that I've captured in today's photo. I'm more used to seeing them at higher latitudes, where sun dogs tend to look more like a semi-halo with a 'mini sun' either side of the real one. They're caused (I think!) by ice particles in the air refracting the sun's rays. I'm not sure it was quite cold enough for that today, and we skied under an odd, flat, grey kind of light all day, with the sun dog slowly revolving around us.

I'd planned on doing a monster day - 20+ miles and just over 1,000m of ascent, with heavy rucksacks. We got off to a strong start, but Tony started suffering from stomach problems as the day wore on and we decided to stop early in the hope that it clears up overnight, and that we can get cracking tomorrow. Fingers crossed. (And no, I haven't added anything to his food in revenge for yesterday's prank!)

On an entirely different note (the note of me blowing my own trumpet, perhaps) I've just been told that I'm in the current issue of ID Magazine. I feel slightly embarrassed, as the photographer (Nigel) that came around to my flat to take some shots of my expedition gear for the article caught me at a particularly busy/stressed/grumpy moment and I probably didn't seem very accommodating at the time. Apparently the photos turned out brilliantly, so Nigel, if you're reading this, I owe you a pint.

{ Filed under Greenland on Tuesday, May 31st, 2005. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site. }