Wednesday 8 April 2009

April 2nd & 3rd



April 3rd (Day 2)
Current position 74°45N 94°42N
With Becky still feeling very ill in the morning, and being still very close to Resolute, the decision was made to have Becky picked up by skidoo (a motorized sled). This would take her to the medical centre in Resolute where she could be diagnosed and recover. Once better, Becky would be skidood out to catch us up.

Becky and the skidoo left about 10.30am. We then pulled 6 hours before making camp high up on the plateau. The weather was relatively warm and I tend to get warm anyway, so with the added effort of walking and pulling I spent most of the time in just my base layers to stay cool.

We are camped in a beautiful position tonight and are hoping for good weather again tomorrow.


April 2nd (Day 1)
By chance our expedition began the day after the 10 year anniversary of the creation of Nunavut province. Nunavut, meaning ‘our land’, is an area the size of Western Europe – with a population of under 30,000. It was created for the Inuit people so it was a particularly poignant time to be walking between two of the most significant Inuit communities.

Although we have only been on the expedition for two days now, we have already had our first drama. We left resolute about 9.30 on April 2nd. Walking in two teams I was guiding Ian and Becky while Mark followed with Phil a little later. Everyone was keen to get out of Resolute and get on with expedition - but the initial going was very tough with a climb from sea level up to 800 metres. It was a tough initiation for the guys who hadn't pulled a sled before! It wasn’t helped by having to cross areas of rubble not covered by the snow which really eats into the sledges. But spirits were kept high by singing electric six hits!

However, the drama was beginning to play out. Becky had not felt well the night before we set out but had been very keen to start the expedition. However, towards the end of the first day she began to feel worse and was ill again in the night.

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