March 11th, 2010 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in Current Events

Lately, I’ve been enjoying Erik Larsen’s blog, which documents his unprecedented quest to complete expeditions to the top of Mount Everest and to both the North and South Poles, all within the same 365-day period. He’s trying to raise awareness of global climate change, plans to release a documentary about his journey, and, in conjunction with the University of Plymouth and other sponsors, is conducting research on the effects of climate change along the way.

Larsen has already completed his expedition to the South Pole, and he’s currently headed north from Ellesmere Island. He’s been tweeting from the ice, and blogging as well, and he’s got some great observations that capture some wonderful moments on the ice. Here’s a piece of an entry from a few days ago:

The sunsets have been incredible. The sun is so low on the horizon that we can see the sun’s final crimson sliver for nearly 15 minutes. After that, sunset lingers so long that we are hesitant to look away for fear of missing some bit of amazingness. Red fades into orange, yellow then blue.

Expeditions are made up of a millions small moments like that, from looking in the eyes of a beluga as it sings beneath the ice to hearing the soft breath of a narwhal as it surfaces beneath a midnight sun. One of the things that makes the Arctic so amazing, so precious, is that no two expeditions — no two moments on the ice — are ever the same.

(Want to experience your own small moment on the sea ice? Check out our Adventure Travel page for our latest trip information!)

Tags: antarctica, arctic expedition, arctic expeditions, eric larsen, north pole, south pole