Message from "Sledge Echo" - 09/01/2012:
We have moved! We are now at
74 deg 32.553 S / 62 deg 29.495 W, and 700m
above sea level. Unfortunately the journey to get here was hard work -
it took us 2 hours to drive 12 km, because the snow was deep and the
sledges very heavy, and there was virtually no contrast so we could not
see our way very well. I got my skidoo stuck once, and we had to drive
in first gear all the way! We were both exhausted when we got to our new
camp site, and now we are getting our camp together - actually, my
primary task is to melt lots of snow again! We are forecast reasonable
weather for tomorrow, but then 2 days of snow. This is bad news. It has
just dawned on me that I only have 3 week left in the field, and I have
a lot of rocks I want to work on. But we cannot do more than the weather
will allow.
It is odd looking out of the tent door at a different view, but
everything else being the same. Our camp is arranged exactly like the
first one - facing the same way, with pee hole and skidoos/sledges on
one side (so the nasty fumes go away from the tent, and so if the wind
blows hard they will not collide with the tent), and the snow hole on
the other side (so it is nice and clean when we melt snow from it for
drinking). Our view is not as good as the previous one, but it's still
amazing to look out and see so much snow and ice. Because we are lower
in altitude here, we also fear getting fogged in more frequently but I
want to be at lower altitude for my work. Anyway we shall see!
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