OHYAT: If a dog team departs (A) at 2 a.m. at a rate of 5mph ...

After being selected to take the dog teams south, Cherry got a crash course in dog handling and navigation. He and Dimitri were going to leave on the 25th, but a blizzard blew in, so they had to wait until the weather cleared. The blizzard didn't last long, so at 2 a.m. ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO TODAY, Cherry's diary crammed with notes, they struck out across the snow and ice, along the 'Southern Road' for the third time.

I confess I had my misgivings. I had never driven one dog, let alone a team of them; I knew nothing of navigation; and One Ton was a hundred and thirty miles away, out in the middle of the Barrier and away from landmarks. And so as we pushed our way out through the wind and drift that night I felt there was a good deal to be hoped for, rather than to be expected.

– Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World

The orders for this trip had changed hands a few times since they were first given to Meares by Scott in October of 1911, but they had remained more or less the same: bring food and fuel to the depots and out to One Ton, then come as far south as necessary to meet the Polar Party, so they (or at least their news) could be rushed back in the hope of meeting the ship before it departed.

Yet when Atch gave his orders to Cherry, he did so verbally, and Cherry recorded them thus:

1. To take 24 days' food for the two men, and 21 days' food for the two dog-teams, together with the food for the Polar Party.
2. To travel to One Ton Depôt as fast as possible and leave the food there.
3. If Scott had not arrived at One Ton Depôt before me I was to judge what to do.
4. That Scott was not in any way dependent on the dogs for his return.
5. That Scott had given particular instructions that the dogs were not to be risked in view of the sledging plans for next season.

It should be remembered that no one at this point thought the Polar Party would be in need of rescue. They were all hale and hearty when the Second Returning Party had left them, and the two returning parties had averaged over eleven miles a day on their return trips, so by a reasoned estimate it was possible the Polar Party would have reached One Ton before the dog teams even got there.

So, what was the Polar Party up to at this time?

Well, the surface continued horrible. They were averaging under ten miles a day. They'd pulled well away from land, but the wind they'd expected to find out of the shelter of the mountains – wind that would polish the surface and help push their sledge, which they'd equipped with a sail for such a purpose – hadn't materialised. Worse, on the 24th, they reached a depot and found the fuel short. Scott wrote "shall have to be very saving with fuel," and closed that entry with "Wish we had more fuel." The closing of the season was also weighing on his mind, and by the 26th he was starting to worry about food as well.

Very cold nights now and cold feet starting march, as day footgear doesn’t dry at all. We are doing well on our food, but we ought to have yet more. I hope the next depôt ... will find us with enough surplus to open out. The fuel shortage still an anxiety. ... Nine hours’ solid marching has given us 11 1/2 miles. Only 43 miles from the next depôt. Wonderfully fine weather but cold, very cold. Nothing dries and we get our feet cold too often. We want more food yet and especially more fat. Fuel is woefully short. We can scarcely hope to get a better surface at this season, but I wish we could have some help from the wind, though it might shake us badly if the temp. didn’t rise.

– R.F. Scott