Weather

Message from "Sledge Echo" - 14/01/2012:

To be honest, I thought today was not going to be fun. With a weather forecast from hell but having sat in the tent for 2 days, we had to go out but were rather unenthusiastic. The water in my mug had frozen overnight,and temperatures were probably close to -20 C (I checked at bedtime and it was -18!). The sun had come out nicely but the wind was really strong, giving us a grim windchill. At moments like this, I concur with Roger - I would really rather my digestion stopped working....thus avoiding the need to go out of the tent to the doo loo. However, of course what goes in must come out, so we both had to venture outside. After much discussion, and Roger asking 'how do you feel about going out in this?', we decided to go for it. We skiied 2 km to our worksite. I couldn't feel my toes after the first km, which was not pleasant, but we kept going and got warmer. It was freezing in the wind when we started work, but it also had the added effect of making us work faster. In fact it was a very successful day from the work point of view, and when we reached the top of the ridge, the wind died down. We had a gorgeous view over the valley where we are camped. I love times like this - when you face the day with trepidation but it comes good in the end. I certainly would have been disappointed to stay in the tent! But as we came down the fog closed in and we skiied back in freezing fog and poor visibility. The little sledge with my rocks on turned over 4 times and Roger got very annoyed with it. I just plodded on doing my thing. Actually I like the skiing - it's harder work than driving the skidoos but it gets you warmer and you feel like you're doing everything under your own steam in the most environmentally friendly way. But it does take longer, and when the weather is closing in, that is not good.

Now we are back at the tent, melting snow to make 10 litres of water ready for tomorrow. I sure am looking forward to turning a tap on when I get back home! I have not had a wash yet, and with these temperatures I doubt I will bother. Taking ones clothes off is not high on the agenda. I don't think I smell too bad actually (!).

Tomorrow's weather forecast is quite good, so we hope to get out again and if we manage it, we will almost be finished in this area. With only 2.5 weeks to go (at most), I still have a lot of work to do. But I have already collected A LOT of rocks (in weight, not so much in number). That should keep me going for a while back at BAS.

Hope all is well at home.....send me any questions you have and I will try to respond!