More to follow on the entire decision process when back in Resolute.
The high winds of the morning all but disappeared as we skied in cold conditions. The ice still isn't sliding and we have a lot of ground to make up - but we have time and the experience to know when it's time to just start pushing the hours and the miles! And there are a lot of miles in both of our legs!
The mornings are the worst getting out of warm bags into a cold tent and neither of us are spring chickens. This afternoon saw Kev manipulating my back so I could ski - may be there is a programme in it 'Physio on Ice'.
So to those of you we spoke to today, thank-you. Hard words but honest and we both know how lucky we are to be here!
Finally Gavin, I have managed no filming at all - think that I may get some done in the next few days but up to now this has been like a command appointment on steroids without a master events list or a debrief in a nice environment!
A slow start as we were both tired from a long night, we managed to cover some good distance. Kev was outstanding in forcing us to stop yesterday and it was a hard day for us both.
The ice is still rough and going hard but as we get further we will be skiing longer and harder.
Everything is now sorted and normal skiing resumes tomorrow!
The evening admin was slicker tonight and the tent still has 2 poles. You really couldn't have made up the issues last night - it almost became a real survival exercise!
As yet we are making no mileage towards the pole - that will start to happen in about 2 days time when we turn north and head away from Cornwallis Island. But our second nights camp is further than my third nights camp in 2011 ... which is good.
Now for dinner and charades .... I am amazed at what Kev does to keep us entertained!
The blogs will increase as we hit a routine, but then reduce as we push for the pole in a few weeks time!
Matt and Kev
We woke this morning after a broken night's sleep to find the blizzard warning still in force, the storm has not blown itself out and is forecast to subside tomorrow morning. Matt has made the decision to go tomorrow; we will get a foot hold in the bay and then head north. It has left us with a day less for travelling, which adds to the pressure of what we are about to undertake as if things were not challenging enough. We have our pick up on the 2 Apr so it's a case of working back from that date and covering the mileage.
We went up to the CO-OP store in Resolute this morning to talk to the hotel manager and let him know our plans. The blizzard snow had drifted over the last couple of days, the fine grains even managing to get through a small gap in the porch way door of the store. With the visibility extremely poor at times due to the wind and spindrift we found ourselves walking into snow drifts that we cannot see. The gusts of wind that we encounter on the short journey back to the hotel reminded us of the wind-chill that will be brutal when we undertake the long ski marches ahead of us.
We are going to strip out some rations this afternoon from the pulks, we will now need one day less. Tomorrow is now our focus and we know what we have to do. But now it's a case of getting as much rest as we can and wait.
We arrived in Ottawa and settled into the Lord Elgin Hotel. After having a bite to eat we had an early night, all equipment accounted for and The following morning we awoke to a pleasant morning and went into town to get some supplies for the expedition. This ranged from peanut butter to candles and matches. Shortly after we found a coffee shop and discussed the forthcoming expedition, discussing issues like Polar Bears to the low temperatures that were being recorded at Resolute (-42). In the evening we hosted Mr Rick Sellick for dinner, he had been extremely helpful in the logistics for this trip and also Matt's previous expedition; what was also invaluable was his knowledge of Nunavut and the areas we are planning to operate in.
The following morning we arose and had breakfast to find that there was a large snow storm forecast to hit the North American continent. This would unfortunately hinder our plans to visit Richard Webber, an extremely famous Arctic Explorer who lives just outside Ottawa. He advised that we stay put due to the amount of snow that had already began to fall and his wife Josée came into town in their 4x4 and dropped off our supplies including the shotgun that they had kindly procured on our behalf. This will be used as a last resort to discourage any Polar Bears that take more than a curious interest in us.
We then did our final preparation before heading out to the airport. Due to the heavy snow we decided to leave late in the evening, to ensure that we arrived in a timely manner for our early morning flight, this proved to be a wise decision as the road conditions were deteriorating as we set off. The following morning we managed to negotiate all our baggage onto the flight up to Resolute. This is not as simple as it sounds as there is a connecting flight onwards to Resolute.
The flight time from Ottawa to Iqaluit is approx 4 hours long and we arrived in the early afternoon to -30 at Iqaluit airport. Unfortunately we were delayed here due to a mechanical problem, and boarded our twin prop flight to Arctic Bay 2 hours later than planned. We had been warned that all of our baggage may not be accompanying us to Resolute due to the flight being full to Arctic Bay and Matt was concerned at how this would impact on our preparation for the expedition and we had to wait until arriving at Resolute airport to find out if our equipment had accompanied us. Luckily upon arrival at a very dark and cold Resolute (-42) we checked ourbaggage outside the terminal and much to our relief found that it had all arrived. We begin packing pulks tomorrow.
Matt as close as we hope to get to a polar bear.
Kit
More kit
The final 2 weeks prior to our departure were not the most ideal conditions for preparation for a major expedition, as we found ourselves extremely busy at work. I've had a series of meetings in Scotland, the Midlands and London in the space of 4 days, whilst Matt was detached overseas, and I heard very little from him for the last couple of weeks. This would be extremely alarming if I didn't know him so well and the confidence that even in a short time scale we would be ready to go. What is guaranteed however in all of this is that our focus remains sharp in the task we are about to undertake.
I sit here reflecting over the last 6 months, and it has been extremely eventful. We were both been deployed in Afghanistan last year during which in addition to our primary jobs we balanced the preparation for the expedition, our off duty time saw us fitting in training when we can. This has ranged from sessions in the gym to pulling tyres over long distances (not to be advised in a hot climate such as Afghanistan although Matt decided that he wouldn't haul tyres). Every so often I have found myself 'day dreaming' looking at my map of the Arctic on my office wall, studying the route again and again, and then having questions that I bounced back to Matt in email tennis. Upon our return to the UK, we have carried out a series of training events, one of them evolving from a discussion we had back in Afghanistan over coffee when the challenge of canoeing the Caledonian canal was born.
This famous route is from Fort William to Inverness, a distance of 60 miles. We decided to try and do it in less than 24 hours; the route follows the man made canal that Lord Telford made in the 1800's incorporating the three major Lochs of, Lochy, Oich and Ness. Finding the ideal conditions for this was never going to happen and when we undertook it in November the weather was not the most favourable. Setting off at 1645 into the dark it proved at times to be very interesting conditions to operate in. Our sense of humour coming to the fore through-out , especially as I fell in trying to get out of the boat on Loch Ness at 0630 in the morning. We reached the end of our journey at Inverness at 1645 the following evening, having achieved our aim and a few tales to tell in the bar.
In December we visited the to the Extreme Climates Laboratory at Portsmouth, a daunting experience for me going there for the first time, especially when looking at the pictures of famous polar explorers such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes that line the corridor into the laboratory. An hour's immersion in a cold water tank gave me a better understanding of how my body adapts to the cold environment and how it reacts when in going into hypothermia. Matt also did this test with me, which in turn gave me an understanding of how he copes in these conditions.
In addition to the usual training, one of my regimes every Sunday was to drag a pair of trusty car tyres on Lossiemouth beach, I would usually spend 4 ½ hours out doing this, luckily with an IPOD to keep me company. I must admit to receiving many strange looks whilst doing this, with many wise comments that I always smiled at.
I drove down from RAF Lossiemouth 4 days ago to my final destination of RAF Brize Norton where I met Matt. It was a beautiful afternoon and the first town I went through on this journey is Elgin, and last night I found myself in the grand surroundings of the Lord Elgin Hotel in the centre of Ottawa for our final preparation before heading up to Resolute at the end of the week.
A week from now we will be on the ice, getting into our daily routine, watching out for each other in this harsh environment. I am nervous, excited and also have the utmost respect for the environment that I am about to enter into. I have no doubt that it will be the most challenging thing that I have done in my life so far, and there is one thing that I can guarantee above everything else, that is, whenever I have worked with Matt we have always encountered something significant, I know that what I will encounter over the next 5 weeks will have something of the same nature. As I end this now, I cannot emphasize how lucky I am to be on this expedition and look forward to sharing my thoughts with you in the future.
"Want to do good in the world? Do good today, rather than putting it off till you "have more time". Want to create something beautiful? Create it now.Want to mend bridges with an old foe? Mend them this instant, while both of you are able to totter over them together. Want to tell someone you love them? Seize the moment. It may not come again.
Some day, if you are lucky, you'll return from a thunderous journey trailing snake scales, wing fragments and the musk of Earth and moon. Eyes will examine you for signs of damage, or change and you, too, will wonder if your skin shows traces of fur, or leaves, if thrushes have built a nest of your hair, if Andromeda burns from your eyes.
Do not be surprised by prickly questions from thosewho barely inhabit their own fleeting lives, who barely taste their own possibility, who barely dream. If your hands are empty, treasureless, if your toes have not grown claws, if your obedient voice has not become a wild cry, a howl, you will reassure them.
We warned you, they might declare, there is nothing else, no point, no meaning, no mystery at all, just this frantic waiting to die. And yet, they tremble, mute, afraid you've returned withoutsweet elixir for unspeakable thirst, without a fluent dance or holy language to teach them, without a compass bearing to a forgotten border where no one crosses without weeping for the terrible beauty of galaxies and granite andbone.
They tremble, hoping your lips hold a secret, that the song your body now sings will redeem them, yet they fear your secret is dangerous, shattering, and once it flies from your astonished mouth, they—like you—must disintegrate before unfolding tremulous wings."
Geneen Marie Haugen's: The Return
Sage words indeed; although this picture seems to sum up another way of looking at things. What will be of more interest is how this trip pans out. But more to follow on that later in the week, as the plan is to now update the blog daily and also to use Twitter as much as possible on the ice.
