Rivers of Ice | Expedition Patagonia » snow

Buried in Snow

Tarka — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:20:20 +0000

Right, hi everybody well incredibly sombre mood in camp today. We really had a bad day. Last night the actually wind in the tent seemed to die down quite a lot. But, when we uncover our eyes this morning we found that the main reason for that was because the tent was almost completely buried. We had about just a glimpse of the roof not buried. And, so it took us 2 hours to dig the tent out outside. It’s really been the worse storm that we’ve been in so far. We can’t hardly stand at all, the wind was just so incredibly strong and whipping snow and so fast that it was burying the tent as quickly as we could unbury and we got to dig ourselves out which is a good job that we had the shovel inside. We basically after a couple of hours manage to free the tent and all that is anchors and we moved, we relocated about 3 or 4 meters further north from it. And, since we relocated the actual leeward side of the tent is almost totally covered again, so I’m gonna have to go out in the minute and uncover the tent. So, it’s been a very, very, very low day today really. We’re very depressed and we actually to each other for the first time. And, we knew we were losing weight but we’ve looked at each other for the first time and we are incredibly skinny. We really lost an awful lot of weight now. And, as you know we really reached the end of our half rationed limit now. We really starting to push the boundaries of whether or not it’s healthy and safe to stay on the ice cap. We are discussing it very seriously and we got to see if how many more days we can realistically hold out and still hold our energy. But, there’s also there’s so much snow and I mean I can’t begin to describe the amount of snow that has fallen. When we first put our camp up 4 or 5 days ago whenever it was, there were crevasses all around us. And, now it’s almost a totally flat plain when you’re walking around. The powder comes right up to your waist when you’re walking around which is incredibly difficult. So, we do have to consider the possibility of ice fall, snow falls and avalanches, so we’re gonna be very seriously thinking about it all this evening. Sorry, that we have got any better news we‘ll chat tomorrow.

Lucky Charms

Katie-Jane — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:50:13 +0000

Hi everyone not much to report, huge storm all night and all day despite the weather map showing clear skies above us so we can’t move. Tent is still in the same precarious position its been in for the last few days. .We have a crevasse about a meter in front of us and the hole that Tarka fell down about a meter behind us. We would love to move some where else but cant so we’re stuck in this precarious position.

We’ve had so much snow in the last 24 hours that when Tarka went out to check the tent and skis were in the right place, we were completely buried. The wall has made snow whip round the side of us. Unless you went over in a plane you would have no idea that we were here. We are completely surrounded by snow right up to the roof, so he had to dig out all the ski’s and stuff!

We have laid here all day in our bags cant do any thing, dreamt of food, mapped out our lives, normal stuff when you have nothing to do. So that’s about all we have to report today really.

Couple of extra things . We were doing some visual data gathering for Camino about 4 volcanoes that we’ve past on our route so far. Only 2 of them we could see, the others we past on one of our many white out days. But the two that we did pass have had no recent activity and we’ve taken various images as requested so I hope that’s useful.

The other thing I was going to mention was I know that our kit is ultra light and Tarka has shaved down to the last gram, but I did sneak a few things in my bag. 4 of which are little lucky charms I suppose. The first is a four leaf clover that my dear friend Sadie found a few days before we left so I felt that we should take that, I also have a tiny angel pendant that my Grandma gave me for our very first expedition on the Great Wall of China to keep me safe and it did keep me safe and I’ve taken it on each expedition since and thought it was only right it came again. I also have a tiny little wooden lady bird, from one of our youngest followers Hector who is absolutely bug mad and we’ve taken photos on previous trips of bugs and spiders for him. He was mortified that we wouldn’t see any bugs on this trip so though it was best that we should bring one with us, and how can your refuse!!

The final thing I have is a small photo of my mum and dad aptly dressed as Batman and Robin, so their fully costumed incase I need to give them a call and they need to come and get me, thier ready to go.

So there all in my camera bag, my very rarely used camera bag, Tarka hasn’t kicked up too much of a fuss and he hasn’t trown them away so that’s a bonus!

Other than that I cant really report anything more for today hopefully we’ll move tomorrow

Lost in Translation!

Katie-Jane — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:14:35 +0000

Yesterday we left Coyhaique and made our way to the sleepy town of Cochrane. We travelled by bus for 10 hours along the Carretera Austral, which by this stage is little more than a dirt road. Despite suffering from nausea (my temperamental stomach is still getting to grips with the cuisine…steak and chips!) the journey was spectacular. We weaved our way through the mountains, each corner producing another jaw dropping view. The snow is so perfect its sparkles as if from a Hollywood film set, and the infinite lakes are the brightest turquoise. The landscapes are everything the guide books suggest and a whole lot more. You just cant help but fall in love with the place.

Hang on a second, where is the wind and rain I hear you ask?! Every morning we have woken to the bluest of skies, glorious sunshine, not a breath of wind and a cool bite in the air, keeping the snow crisp. Probability would have it, that we are going to have bad weather for the next forty having used up our 4 good days!

A couple of little things to report. Firstly, Tarka’s allergy, that he suffered from in the Arctic earlier this year, has shown some symptoms again so we have had to bin several items of clothing used in the Arctic and replace them with new ones from the only Cochrane shop.

Last night we went out for a bite to eat and had a classic ‘lost in translation moment’. I ordered a simple pizza and mineral water, dull I know but I am currently loosing weight as opposed to gaining it, so thought I would try and aid recovery. Tarka, as ambitious as ever, tried to order two Empaladers (small samosar style parcel of food) but his brilliant accent actually managed to order him two bowls of lettuce and tomatoes (ensalada)…just what a growing boy needs. To top it off he had accidentally ordered a Chocolate Sunday for his drink, with whipped cream and cherry on top to boot!