Off the ice sheet ... done did it!

Hey folks! An amazing (and amazingly long) day culminated in us driving onto base with our traverse vehicles! We’re back! And it was Robin’s birthday, too!

[note the the GPS message]

I won’t go into the day too much … I mean, most of it involved either driving or, if you were Galen, GPR’ing. We had started at the “beginning” of the area that has a lot of crevasses, and we wanted to make sure that none had opened up during our traverse. The day involved two fill-ups (for the Pisten Bully), which means a nearly 100-mile day!

[the poor weather during our first fuel-stop ... you can't even see Pat at the end!]

Near the “B-zeroes” … an area that was neatly bordered by crevasses on both sides of the track, the weather really deteriorated. Here, we relied quite heavily on our GPS and Galen and his GPR skills (which are finely honed!).

[my view while driving the last ~25 miles ... that boom is only about ~20 feet long!]

Finally … we turned the corner and saw the dark rock of the transition through the swirling white of the storm outside. We parked our cargo and slowly marched into town, lockstep behind “Swing Boss” and his Quad-Trac. We imagined it looked like quite the sight.

[three of the four traverse vehicles parked outside Building 353]

So, here I am (we are) … typing on a computer that is resting on a table, something that hasn’t been done since Summit Camp. I’m showered (also last done @ Summit) and filled with fresh fruit and vegetables. I’m sure that Thomas and I will squeeze at least one more post out of this journey … but for now, know that it was an incredible joy to be part of this GrIT group! They (we) made an “out and back” … a first, and certainly not to be their last. Thomas and I did a boat load, er, tractor load of science! We’re happy to report no serious injuries, and we may even give a presentation at the request of the base commander. All in all, it was a wonderful time (one that, with luck, may be repeated in the future) … Cheers!

About these ads