Nearly a month ago I put a waypoint in both my Garmin GPS and inReach: Dye 2.

Dye 2 is part of a chain of DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line stations scattered across the Arctic. Relics from the Cold War, these remote stations were designed to be manned by a small crew whose sole purpose was detecting an incoming nuclear attack.

We spotted the station from 13 miles away -although it disappeared for a while in a ground blizzard as we approached. When the wind dropped, it reappeared again alien-like, perched on the horizon.

As we neared, two kite skiers zeroed in on the satiation simultaneously. When the lead kiter breezed next to me, I was surprised to find out that it was an old friend of mine who I'd worked in Antarctica with nearly 10 years ago, Carl Alvey. We laughed at the coincidence since we could have very easily missed each other.

After setting up camp, we scampered down a large snowdrift, crawled under the actual building of Dye 2 (it was built on pylons to prevent being drifted in) and then crawled through a small opening. Once inside, we were amazed at what we saw. Books, bottles, beds, file cabinets had all been left in place. Abandoned in 1988, the crew had just 36 hours to pack up and leave. It was eery to wonder about life at this remote outpost on the edge of virtually nothing. Positioned in the middle of the Greenland ice cap, Dye 2 gives new meaning to the term 'cold war'.

In the morning, we packed up quickly and skied away. On the other side of the station, a small group of scientists was packing up and awaiting an incoming Hercules airplane to take them home. After nearly two weeks of not seeing another soul, the kiters and scientists together seemed like the population density of Times Square there were so many people around. We skied through their camp stopping briefly to say hi. Once again, a familiar face. A Boulder, Colorado scientist who I had met at a conference in Denver. Ironically at the time, we had talked about Greenland. Two years later, here we were. Of course, he was flying home and we still have 200 miles to go.

The rest of the day was uneventful (the best kind of day) and we managed to cover over 16 miles our best distance to date.