Frobisher Bay – Training Expedition Diary
17th March 2010 – Day 7 Wednesday – Claire Mcaleer
St Patrick’s Day
After a rather chilly night last night the team were all up this morning by 6.00am and found it to be a beautiful morning with clear blue skies and a spectacular sunrise. So many of us chose to sit outside and eat our breakfast whilst enjoying the view. We packed up camp and set off skiing with our pulks behind us ready to tackle a full day of skiing aiming to cover at least 16km. Ali set a brisk pace and we soon got quite warm despite the low air temperature. After a brief stop at 10.00am for some nose bag food we pushed on another 2 hours stopping at 12.00pm for a well deserved break and with 9km already under our belts. On nearing Deception Reef Ian took over as pace setter and we turned northwards heading for Monument Island. On turning away from the sun and slightly more into the wind there was a noticeable bight to the air and we made sure our faces were suitably covered. After another break and having covered 12.5km Jim took over as pace setter and we continued onwards with the town of Iqaluit becoming clearer in the distance as we moved towards it. Just before the team reached Monument Island Jim decided it was time to play casualty to give us a bit of a challenge and broke away from the rest of the team, heading off in a random direction and throwing away his gloves and hat. It didn’t take us long to realise that this was something more than Jim’s usual crazy behaviour and the team set about dealing with the situation. Simon and Ian went to catch up with Jim and calm him down, while Lee sorted out the pulks and equipment, Ali made a hot drink and started the stove for warmth and Dom and I put up the tent for some shelter. It soon transpired that Jim had been hypoglycaemic and with a hot drink and some chocolate he was back to his usual self. Challenge completed. With one tent up the team decided to pitch camp just south of Monument Island. Having achieved our target distance and covered 16.5km today, we have just had the privilege of watching a spectacular sunset over the ice and with low temperatures again tonight are getting ready for a hot meal and then bed.
Ice Warrior Expeditions
No comments:
Post a Comment