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Antarctica Wrap-up: Each night we make a place out of a place which is no place at all
Dec 14, 2004 09: 01 EST
Previously published Nov 18, 2004 11: 02 EST
>Kites On Ice Live Voice Dispatch
>Kites On Ice Live Voice Dispatch
"No doubt the explorers of 2015, if there is anything left to explore, will carry pocket wireless telephones, fitted with wireless telescopes".
(Thomas Orde-Lees (Shackleton's Endurance Expedition, 1915)
You've got to agree that this is all pretty cool...
Never before has Antarctica been so Live as this year of 2004. Shackleton would have flipped.
Above 2 voice dispatches from Kites on Ice today, in the image the automated expedition tracking map with altitudes (click progress map on Contact expeditions websites), and below a dispatch from Hannah. In a separate story today, a live report and image over Contact from an East Siberian winter expedition.
Kites on Ice doing great
The team did 11,6 NM yesterday and hope to cross the second degree today - in glorious sunshine.
Hannah & crew
"Going to sleep is the nicest part of every day, but it is slightly tainted by the fact that it is always followed by waking up which is the worst part. Over breakfast Craig and I confess to each other just how hugely jittery we feel every morning before setting off.
"Nevertheless, this morning isn't too bad. I lead the first two marches, which is good except my navigation has gone a bit wonky today and I keep doing shallow zigzags which must infuriate everyone else.
Trains of thought
"It's such a hard landscape to travel through, not just physically, but mentally. Every march is about what trains of thought I can get onto, and if one doesn't catch me and carry me away, then the dark clouds come rolling in.
"When you travel in the deserts of Africa, there is always something to occupy your mind. Those deserts have endless stories to tell, you can't walk for five minutes without finding a fulcrite shaft or stone tool or a beautifully wind blown stone, but this white desert has no stories it wants to share as you pass through it.
"This desert doesn't even notice our passing"
"This desert doesn't even notice our passing, all sign of our journey is erased within minutes. The wind remakes the surface of this snowy waste every minute of every day.
"I find that I look up at the vast expanse less and less as we move, it's too much for me to look at our path as well as walk it. Only in the evenings, before taking shelter in the tent, do I take a few minutes to forgive this lonely land it's harsh attitude to us and absorb the total splendor of one of the truly untouched places on earth.
Slowly the day passes
"Stewart leads a march, then Linda, then Denise and slowly the day passes. Stewart outstrips us all when he leads, and I am only just able to keep up with him by focusing on his penguin.
"Stewart has a small, soft toy, penguin called Opus tied to the back of his pulk and Opus and I have a deal. Opus gets rather snowy as he goes along, and when Stewart leads I have to stay close enough behind to regularly tap the snow off the little chap with my stick.
Only a few numbers on the GPS
"By the last march we come to a long hill, and though I have been going strong all day, it wipes me out. By the time we make camp I am totally spent, but pleased to hear we have made 10.7nm.
"Each night we make a place out of a place which is no place at all. Only a few numbers on the GPS and our brief presence give any meaning to this point, tomorrow when we leave it will be reabsorbed into the white.
"My chin seems no worse tonight. Stewart has some frostbite on his cheek and was given some special dressings by Doc Martin, and this morning he gave me one which seems to be doing a good job of protecting my own little blisters.
"Well, off to sleep now on the side of the hill in howling winds, let's see what tomorrow brings."
Did you know?
A recently published book "Extreme Digital Photography" by Jonathan Chester, features much on ExplorersWeb and the unique Contact Technology created for ExWeb's expeditions.
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| OneWorld expedition: It's over Jun 3, 2005 | | Vancouver to Moscow - 1 year anniversary! Jun 2, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: The Single ski Weight Watchers Greenland program Jun 1, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: Rain and world record May 31, 2005 | | ExplorersWeb Week in Review May 30, 2005 | | 12 year old doing well on Greenland ice cap crossing May 27, 2005 | | Vagabond update - Polar bears, 200 candles and ice melting in Inglefieldbukta May 26, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: Polar hygiene, and Napoleon on ice May 26, 2005 | | Contact GEO hits Greenland May 25, 2005 | | Iridium: "Invalid battery - matches found, 0" May 24, 2005 |
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2004
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