March 21, 2010
Day 18: No Rest For The Weary
The nice thing about hitting the bottom is that there is only one way to go. That is unless you've hit a false bottom, then there is still a possibility of going further down. I should know I've been both places many times
Two days ago I was at my lowest physically -I had pulled a three-in-a-row navigation shift just to give AJ and Darcy a break and paid the price. That night my body felt weary all over. I was dehydrated and felt like I had the flu. The next day was the bottom. After my first few steps, I wondered how I would finish the day. Luckily, I've been that tired before and know that with an extra Clif bar, steady pace and good technique I can recover - slowly.
This morning I had to hide my face in my big blue mittens for several silent sobs. The stress of backwards drift, a miscommunication on resupply dates, AJ's sporadic knee problems (and consequent frustration), the overall scale of what we're doing, missing Maria, ice conditions, unforgiving cold... was starting to feel like a bit too much to bear. Luckily, I've been that overwhelmed before and know that with a small start, just one step, you can begiin whittling away at all that impossibilty.
Unfortunately, I also know that these are false bottoms and there are many more to come in the weeks ahead.
Our rest day turned into a travel day as our ressupply was rescheduled for tomorrow. Darcy had hoped for one more day of travel with light sleds so his wish came true. As a side note, we asked him to wish for other things too now that he was so lucky (flat ice forever, a hut tub dropped to us in our ressupply...)
We were also glad to travel because we lost another two miles while we slept. As another side note, just 100 meters from our campsite a pan of ice rafted into another building six foot slabs of ice into a 10 foot tall wall. We could hear the grinding and moaning, but it mysteriously stopped a few minutes after we got up. Looking and our newly landscaped back porch, it was easy to see we had chosen our campsite wisely - on stable multi year ice.
Today's camp is a bit more precarious. Shoveling snow, I noticed a small crack right by the vestibule of our Sierra Designs tent (the Big Kev). Fingers crossed for tonight.
We worked well together today navigating efficiently through the relatively open ice. Our breaks were quiet with each of deep in our his thoughts mustering the necessary physical and emotional energy to move forward and awa from the bottom.
Image: The 'Jupiter Sun' just in case you didn't believe me.
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 lora@screamagency.com
For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net
Two days ago I was at my lowest physically -I had pulled a three-in-a-row navigation shift just to give AJ and Darcy a break and paid the price. That night my body felt weary all over. I was dehydrated and felt like I had the flu. The next day was the bottom. After my first few steps, I wondered how I would finish the day. Luckily, I've been that tired before and know that with an extra Clif bar, steady pace and good technique I can recover - slowly.
This morning I had to hide my face in my big blue mittens for several silent sobs. The stress of backwards drift, a miscommunication on resupply dates, AJ's sporadic knee problems (and consequent frustration), the overall scale of what we're doing, missing Maria, ice conditions, unforgiving cold... was starting to feel like a bit too much to bear. Luckily, I've been that overwhelmed before and know that with a small start, just one step, you can begiin whittling away at all that impossibilty.
Unfortunately, I also know that these are false bottoms and there are many more to come in the weeks ahead.
Our rest day turned into a travel day as our ressupply was rescheduled for tomorrow. Darcy had hoped for one more day of travel with light sleds so his wish came true. As a side note, we asked him to wish for other things too now that he was so lucky (flat ice forever, a hut tub dropped to us in our ressupply...)
We were also glad to travel because we lost another two miles while we slept. As another side note, just 100 meters from our campsite a pan of ice rafted into another building six foot slabs of ice into a 10 foot tall wall. We could hear the grinding and moaning, but it mysteriously stopped a few minutes after we got up. Looking and our newly landscaped back porch, it was easy to see we had chosen our campsite wisely - on stable multi year ice.
Today's camp is a bit more precarious. Shoveling snow, I noticed a small crack right by the vestibule of our Sierra Designs tent (the Big Kev). Fingers crossed for tonight.
We worked well together today navigating efficiently through the relatively open ice. Our breaks were quiet with each of deep in our his thoughts mustering the necessary physical and emotional energy to move forward and awa from the bottom.
Image: The 'Jupiter Sun' just in case you didn't believe me.
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 lora@screamagency.com
For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net