March 16, 2010
Day 14: Swimming - Polar Style
We are haunted by ice in our dreams now. Last night, AJ dreamt of being trapped by colliding ice pans. I had a very vivid dream of being stuck on Ellesmere Island because of brash ice and open water. Then, I had another reaccuring dream (i have it every time I'm on an expedition) getting to the pole but not remembering it afterward.
Darcy had the unfavorable task of starting out in lead first shift. Cold and a bit groggy he steered us along a narrow winding lead for nearly a quarter of a mile until crossing a slabbed presure ridge into some rolling terrain. Noting the infinite variety of conditions we face, Darcy commented, 'you definitely don't get bored out here,'
A few minutes into AJ's shift, he tweaked his knee in some weird way that created, from his description afterward, very intense pain. He could barely walk. Hundreds of miles frrom even the most remote outpost, in a section of ice where clearly no plane could land, reinforced the tenuous grip we have on safety at any given moment.
'I didn't think much of it at first,' AJ observed. 'But within five minutes I knew it was a serious situation.'
With AJ limping severely, we worried that he could easily aggrevate the injury by continuing to pull a sled. So, after a quick discussion, Darcy and I divided up his gear (and attached his sled to the back of mine) and started skiing. We hoped that an hour or so of rest would allow whatever was out of wack to get back in (wack). And in an hour he was better, a bit shaken, but nearly 100%.
Of course, the dramma couldn't just end there. This is after all, an ocean we're traveling on. We all stood staring at a newly frozen lead running as far as we could see to the east and west. In the middle, a 20 foot swath of open water. There was absolutely no way around and it was still too early to camp and let the lead solidify overnight.
Luckily, we came prepared for this and after a quick discussion on protocol and procedure to make sure we all knew what our roles would be, we catamaraned the sleds together, donned our dry suits and swam the lead pulling our floating sleds across afterwards.
Safely across, we also made a quick stop to collect an alge sample for the university of Plymouth.
Another day on the ice (and in the water). If we don't like it out here, not to worry conditions will change and we'll get something else.
Image: AJ stretching across a small crack.
Darcy had the unfavorable task of starting out in lead first shift. Cold and a bit groggy he steered us along a narrow winding lead for nearly a quarter of a mile until crossing a slabbed presure ridge into some rolling terrain. Noting the infinite variety of conditions we face, Darcy commented, 'you definitely don't get bored out here,'
A few minutes into AJ's shift, he tweaked his knee in some weird way that created, from his description afterward, very intense pain. He could barely walk. Hundreds of miles frrom even the most remote outpost, in a section of ice where clearly no plane could land, reinforced the tenuous grip we have on safety at any given moment.
'I didn't think much of it at first,' AJ observed. 'But within five minutes I knew it was a serious situation.'
With AJ limping severely, we worried that he could easily aggrevate the injury by continuing to pull a sled. So, after a quick discussion, Darcy and I divided up his gear (and attached his sled to the back of mine) and started skiing. We hoped that an hour or so of rest would allow whatever was out of wack to get back in (wack). And in an hour he was better, a bit shaken, but nearly 100%.
Of course, the dramma couldn't just end there. This is after all, an ocean we're traveling on. We all stood staring at a newly frozen lead running as far as we could see to the east and west. In the middle, a 20 foot swath of open water. There was absolutely no way around and it was still too early to camp and let the lead solidify overnight.
Luckily, we came prepared for this and after a quick discussion on protocol and procedure to make sure we all knew what our roles would be, we catamaraned the sleds together, donned our dry suits and swam the lead pulling our floating sleds across afterwards.
Safely across, we also made a quick stop to collect an alge sample for the university of Plymouth.
Another day on the ice (and in the water). If we don't like it out here, not to worry conditions will change and we'll get something else.
Image: AJ stretching across a small crack.