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Come on you Good thing!! Home and dry!
15 Jun, 05 - 06:50 GPS-pos: N65°46' | W038°32' | Alt: 1005 M
Tuesday,June 14th
Who ever did the wind dance/Spell thank you!! We have just completed our return crossing of the Greenland ice cap, bringing the Greenspeed expedition to a successful end! But you're be pleased to know this will is not be the end of the updates! Phew I hear you say :-)! Updates will be coming thick and fast from each of the team members over the coming few days and weeks, so stay tuned in to the Web!!
Right back to how we managed to gobble up those remaining 137km. The day started as usual, with the clatter and hiss of the MSR stove jumping into life, it's purpose,to get those water bottles filled for the long day of traveling ahead. Trying to remove yourself from a warm sleeping bag is bad enough, but it doesn't get much worse when the wind is almost non-exist and you know you're destined for 8 hours worth of back jarring,calf tightening, pulk watching, good old fashioned head down grind it out man-hauling! Even the morning bowl (8 each) of crackers and hummus isn't enough to get that motivational clock ticking! I had barely washed down my hummus and hidden some crackers in my beard for later when I noticed Paul had already started to slide off into the endless horizon, another day had begun!We must all be crackers, literally! The only good thing about night travel, apart from the obvious (see last update), Is the varied visual treats that always seem to fill not only the sky but the mind,tonight was no different . The sun was saying it's farewell to Monday with an awesome display that could only be seen to be believed! Over my left shoulder I had a series of big cotton wool looking clouds which seemed to flicker and dance as the fiery rising sun added highlights, that even Miss P Anderson would be proud of, to a series of eye bending shapes. Over my right shoulder, I had a very content and relaxed looking moon swinging in his hammock (1st time we have seen It!) as if this was not enough to give you eyeballs indigestion, sitting slightly above both these natural occurrences was a bright glowing light , like nothing we had seen before. I knew I had to think fast if I was to make any headway with this lot, so I decided to shout out that I had spotted what could only be an alien scouting craft, preparing the way for an angry fleet of aliens which were no doubt about to try and take over the good ship mother earth! with my most serious face I tried to explain that it maybe fine for us to be witnessing all of this , but we couldn't just ignoreThis would defiantly require a rest if we were to come up with a successful plan to stave off an invasion .It' amazing the lengths the imagination will go to in the hope of creating a temporary rest bite from the enduring monotony that by now felt part of my Gore-Tex jacket . I should of realized that with the smart cookies in this group , it would take far more than aliens or a perfect siting of Venus to create a red herring!This said, the sky looked alive and must go down as one of finest display's of astro-distractiions we have had all expedition.By now my crackers and hummus was merely a distant memory, 4 hours and 20km had slipped past nearly as quickly as the loss of any feeling in my toes. Just then as we were all strapping in for another 2 hour session , that old familiar kiting breeze seemed to jump up out of nowhere and plant a much needed smacker,albeit more of a peck, right on the cheek, it was better than going back to doing the cart horse impressions we had become so good at . So quicker than a Mike Tyson knockout, boots and harnesses were swapped and the sky became alive with the electric colors of our largest kites, could we harnesses the gentle breeze to top up our 20km to a respectful and satisfying 35km or more? 20 minutes had melted past and we had already racked up 6km, the mental calculator went into overdrive! If's,maybe's and could we's quickly stacked up,before we could even mutter, what did you just say?25km in just under 2hours!! Holy Merry Poppins ,our umbrella's were out and we were flying! 25km turned to 75km, 75km turned to 105km and before you could say "time to go bananas on what's left of your snack bag" the taste of completion was overwhelming!Talk about changing fortune's, we had just gone from a rather moral sapping, 4 days tent bound on half rations, to a more food than our shrunken stomachs could possibly handle senerio,not to mention a cold beer! How could this all happen,137km, within what seemed like a blink of the eye or the 12 hours it really was? I can only attribute it to great team spirt,fantastic equipment and a much needed push in the right direction from mother nature! Not to mention that funny juice the aliens left behind !
Right now I am sitting in a warm tent surrounded by shut eyes, snoring and grunts of relief , even Eric who could not even make it into the tent! pulk will do!(see photo)! If all goes to plan we have a pick up at 8:45 tomorrow morning,and then a quick hop skip and jump to Iceland before returning to the UK sometime Thursday afternoon.
The water has just boiled for my 3rd hot chocolate , so time to sign off for now!!
David :-)
P.S Thank you to all who sent supportive emails ( you know who you are), they were truly appreciated and made me smile everyday!!
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