South 87 degrees 28.065 West 083 degrees 04.102 17.8 nautical miles Elevation 7,803 ft
My final cache is about 4 miles east of here. Before I started the expedition, we looked at the ground penetrating radar. The planned route veers a bit to the west here to avoid a dangerous crevasse field that's to the east. There are two crevasses one mile south of my cache, so now the trick is to get to the cache but avoid the crevasses. Once I get the cache, I will come back to this location to get ready for the last quarter of the expedition. From here, the south pole is about ten days away. I will get some food and rest and then go get the cache in the morning. So tomorrow will be a short travel day and I will have more weight.
Today has been a good day for travel. I was lazy and got a late start, but I knew I would have to stop after about 18 miles so I could get my cache, so I wasn't too worried about starting late.
The climbing continued today. I am now only about 1,500 ft lower in elevation than the pole. The sastrugi keep getting bigger and harder to bike through. I manage most of them, but occasionally I have to get off and push to make it safely through them. At one point my bag fell out of one of my sleds, and it took a while before I realized it and I had to go back and get it. You'd think that I would notice the difference of losing half of my load.
One of the songs that I have on my iPod is Russian Roulette by Rihanna. That song played today and it made me think that with all of the crevasses around me that I'm kind of in a Russian roulette game. I hope I can make it to the pole without falling into one of them. If not, then I guess this will be my last blogpost, and I will leave my family at home destitute, trying to repay the loans I've taken out to finance this expedition. If you feel inclined, you can still help contribute to my expedition at http://www.gofundme.com/SouthPoleEpic
Thank you to the many people who have helped and are still helping and supporting me in this adventure. It wouldn't be possible without you all.
Remember to go out and be active.
My final cache is about 4 miles east of here. Before I started the expedition, we looked at the ground penetrating radar. The planned route veers a bit to the west here to avoid a dangerous crevasse field that's to the east. There are two crevasses one mile south of my cache, so now the trick is to get to the cache but avoid the crevasses. Once I get the cache, I will come back to this location to get ready for the last quarter of the expedition. From here, the south pole is about ten days away. I will get some food and rest and then go get the cache in the morning. So tomorrow will be a short travel day and I will have more weight.
Today has been a good day for travel. I was lazy and got a late start, but I knew I would have to stop after about 18 miles so I could get my cache, so I wasn't too worried about starting late.
The climbing continued today. I am now only about 1,500 ft lower in elevation than the pole. The sastrugi keep getting bigger and harder to bike through. I manage most of them, but occasionally I have to get off and push to make it safely through them. At one point my bag fell out of one of my sleds, and it took a while before I realized it and I had to go back and get it. You'd think that I would notice the difference of losing half of my load.
One of the songs that I have on my iPod is Russian Roulette by Rihanna. That song played today and it made me think that with all of the crevasses around me that I'm kind of in a Russian roulette game. I hope I can make it to the pole without falling into one of them. If not, then I guess this will be my last blogpost, and I will leave my family at home destitute, trying to repay the loans I've taken out to finance this expedition. If you feel inclined, you can still help contribute to my expedition at http://www.gofundme.com/SouthPoleEpic
Thank you to the many people who have helped and are still helping and supporting me in this adventure. It wouldn't be possible without you all.
Remember to go out and be active.
I look forward to your next blogpost so we know you made it safely to retrieve your supplies! Not sure how you handle it mentally being out there all by yourself. I am sure you have had some pretty deep conversations with yourself. The music must help some. Which is tougher for you the mental or physical portion of this journey? I think this challenge is awesome and would be thrilled myself to have pulled this one off!! We hit -13 degrees yesterday and it made me think of you out there in this 24-7. That is fricken cold!! Keep pushing hard and get to that South Pole! Eric
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'm not sure which was tougher. Physically it was harder than could be imagined, but that also made it tough mentally. There was so much of the time I just wanted it to be done. I never wanted to quit before getting there but I wanted it to be over so much.
DeleteYou are great! Good luck! Crossing fingres here in Estonia.
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