April 1, 2010
Day 30. Halfway
Leaving the tent this morning, I said to AJ and Darcy, 'well see you back here in 12 hours.' Like we were just going out to run a days worth of errands. Our day couldn't have been any more the opposite.
If you haven't noticed, we've been enjoying our time more in the Big Kev - our SD tent. Its the only time when we get to relax a bit. Well, kind of. One person is cook and that means melting snow blocks for meals and drinking water. It's an all consuming job. The other two actually get to relax. One more than the the other as the MSR stove takes up some leg room. The third person, with his legs and feet comfortably stretched, gets a night in the Hilton as it has now been dubbed.
There are always a few repair projects to work on as well. Yesterday, I had to mend a ripped seem in my pants. Today, Darcy is putting the finishing touches on a nose beak for his Optic Nerve goggles. AJ, who hadn't done much sewing prior to the expedition, has finished several projects - most recently a modification of his balaclava.
Dinner is another favorite of tent time. Both AJ and Darcy like Mountain House's beef stew best. I prefer the lasagna. After all, I never met a noodle I didn't like.
Unforgiving and unrelenting, my words for today. We found some flat spots but seemed to get bogged down in pressure ridges, big fractured slabs (puzzle piece navigation) and even a few open water leads. We were all surprised that we made 10 miles today.
Despite all that, we also found today unusually serene. The wind switched, coming from the south, then almost completely died. It was sunny for an hour or so too. The sky was a deep blue that, when combined with the southerly wind, made us think of spring. Even the early morning whiteout was aesthetically pleasing, all we could see was the turqoise blue of thick pressured ice chunks. Skiing along an open water lead, we all stopped, mesmerized, by ice chunks colliding, grinding and squeaking as they slowly rammed into one another.
The good news is that we have hit the halfway mark. 210 nautical miles to the pole. I can't tell you how much of a relief it is for us to be counting down instead of up. Plus it's April and we finish in April, hopefully. We know that temperatures will warm slightly and ice conditions will improve a bit. However, while we are optimistic, we are also realistic: what we realize most at the end of this day is that we still have a long way to go.
Image: Big fractured slabs of multi year ice.
The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.
Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.
For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com
For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/
For media inquiries, please contact [email protected]
For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net
If you haven't noticed, we've been enjoying our time more in the Big Kev - our SD tent. Its the only time when we get to relax a bit. Well, kind of. One person is cook and that means melting snow blocks for meals and drinking water. It's an all consuming job. The other two actually get to relax. One more than the the other as the MSR stove takes up some leg room. The third person, with his legs and feet comfortably stretched, gets a night in the Hilton as it has now been dubbed.
There are always a few repair projects to work on as well. Yesterday, I had to mend a ripped seem in my pants. Today, Darcy is putting the finishing touches on a nose beak for his Optic Nerve goggles. AJ, who hadn't done much sewing prior to the expedition, has finished several projects - most recently a modification of his balaclava.
Dinner is another favorite of tent time. Both AJ and Darcy like Mountain House's beef stew best. I prefer the lasagna. After all, I never met a noodle I didn't like.
Unforgiving and unrelenting, my words for today. We found some flat spots but seemed to get bogged down in pressure ridges, big fractured slabs (puzzle piece navigation) and even a few open water leads. We were all surprised that we made 10 miles today.
Despite all that, we also found today unusually serene. The wind switched, coming from the south, then almost completely died. It was sunny for an hour or so too. The sky was a deep blue that, when combined with the southerly wind, made us think of spring. Even the early morning whiteout was aesthetically pleasing, all we could see was the turqoise blue of thick pressured ice chunks. Skiing along an open water lead, we all stopped, mesmerized, by ice chunks colliding, grinding and squeaking as they slowly rammed into one another.
The good news is that we have hit the halfway mark. 210 nautical miles to the pole. I can't tell you how much of a relief it is for us to be counting down instead of up. Plus it's April and we finish in April, hopefully. We know that temperatures will warm slightly and ice conditions will improve a bit. However, while we are optimistic, we are also realistic: what we realize most at the end of this day is that we still have a long way to go.
Image: Big fractured slabs of multi year ice.
The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.
Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.
For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com
For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/
For media inquiries, please contact [email protected]
For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net