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Updated: June 19, 2025
Thus the motors left us, travelling on the best surface they have yet encountered hard windswept snow without sastrugi a surface which Meares reports to extend to Corner Camp at least. Providing there is no serious accident, the engine troubles will gradually be got over; of that I feel pretty confident.
It is amusing to stand thus and remember the constant horrors of our situation as they were painted for us: the sun is melting the snow on the ski, &c. The plateau is now very flat, but we are still ascending slowly. The sastrugi are getting more confused, predominant from the S.E. I wonder what is in store for us.
They are covered with scales, each scale consisting of a number of little flaky ice sheets superimposed, and all 'dipping' at the same angle. It suggests to me a surface with sastrugi and layers of fine dust on which the snow has taken hold. We are within 5 miles of Cape Royds and ought to get there. Wednesday, January 4, P.M.. This work is full of surprises.
It cost us over an hour and disorganised our party. We think of leaving our ski here, mainly because of risk of breakage. Over the sastrugi it is all up and down hill, and the covering of ice crystals prevents the sledge from gliding even on the down-grade. The sastrugi, I fear, have come to stay, and we must be prepared for heavy marching, but in two days I hope to lighten loads with a depot.
How glad I was to change over. The camp was much drifted up, and immense sastrugi . . . etc." Day's marches, temperatures, and so on, then his diary commences missing days out and only contains two line entries in short, sharp notes such as: "January 31. Picked up depot 11.20 a.m. Picked up my ski 6.15 p.m.
We shall be lucky if we get through without serious injury. Wilson's leg is better, but might easily get bad again, and Evans' fingers. At the bottom of the slope this afternoon we came on a confused sea of sastrugi. We lost the track. Later, on soft snow, we picked up E. Evans' return track, which we are now following. We have managed to get off 17 miles.
The sastrugi about here are very various in direction and the surface a good deal ploughed up, showing that the Bluff influences the wind direction even out as far as this camp. The surface is hard; I take it about as good as we shall get. There is an annoying little southerly wind blowing now, and this serves to show the beauty of our snow walls.
It took us 27 days to reach the Pole and 21 days back in all 48 days nearly 7 weeks in low temperature with almost incessant wind. February 7, which was to see the end of their summit journey, opened with a very tiresome march down slopes and over terraces covered with hard sastrugi.
We could have supposed nothing but that such conditions would last from now onward, but to our surprise, after two hours we came on a sea of sastrugi, all lying from S. to E., predominant E.S.E. Have had a cold little wind from S.E. and S.S.E., where the sky is overcast. Have done 5.6 miles and are now over the 89th parallel. Night camp 65. Height 10,270.
There is not a sign of our tracks between these cairns, but the last, marking our night camp of the 6th, No. 59, is in the belt of hard sastrugi, and I was comforted to see signs of the track reappearing as we camped. I hope to goodness we can follow it to-morrow. Saturday, January 27. Minimum -19°. Height 9900. Barometer low? Called the hands half an hour late, but we got away in good time.
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