On the Barrier stage of the homeward march, Scott reached the 82° 30' S meeting point for the dog teams, three days ahead of schedule, noting in his diary for 27 February 1912: "We are naturally always discussing possibility of meeting dogs, where and when, etc. It is a critical position. We may find ourselves in safety at the next depot, but there is a horrid element of doubt."[116] The party then met with three, ultimately critical, difficulties: the non-appearance of the dog teams, an unexpected large drop in temperature,[117] and a shortage of fuel in the depots.[118] The low temperatures caused poor surfaces which Scott likened to "pulling over desert sand";[119] he described the surface as "coated with a thin layer of woolly crystals, formed by radiation no doubt.