We made it to camp yesterday! The DC-3 landed safely with 10 climbers and 3 guides (3 not in our group). We landed at the Arctic Plateau at around 4:30 pm. The sky was clear with light wind - perfect conditions for the first day. We went to our tents and made dinner. We covered 2.1 nautical miles and everyone had a good day.
The landscape is super flat goes and forever. It's like being on another planet, like the moon. It's considered the most boring expedition. But I think it's like sailing across the Atlantic. The weather and conditions can change quickly and we have to adapt to whatever Mother Nature throws at us as we slowly get closer and closer to our destination.
We had a good second day today covering 7 Nautical miles in near perfect conditions. Cloudless sky and light wind with eternal sunlight. We broke camp at 9:30 am and skiied until 4:00 pm. Each team member is working together and typically we ski for an hour then take a ten minute break for fluids and nutriton.
Our sleds are full of our gear, sleeping tents and pads. Each of us haul five gallons of fuel for the stoves to melt snow. My biggest challenge is my goggles - they fog up quickly and I need to make a lot of micro adjustments on my face to get the fog to clear. No injuries or issues on day 2. It feels like we are traversing Mars. We stopped to take a picture with the photo of Hopecam Child Phoebe to dedicate this day to her. Since I am on my Garmin I can not send photos, when I get back to Union Glacier I will have the photos uploaded.
HOPECAM KID - PHOEBE - GRADE 4, LAUREL, MD