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Under the Weather, pt. 1
It is just after midnight, so I mustn’t remain awake long writing… I awoke today to the sound of the wind, having not relented from its furious blasts last night. Recalling what Peter had said (“If it sounds like this in the morning, just go back to sleep…”), I took his advice and did just that. I eventually couldn’t sleep any longer, and was up and about at 0930h. I arose, shoveled the drift from in front of the cook tent, reinforced my own with a fresh anchoring snow-pile, and dug up some hard-pack for melting. I made coffee, hot water, and still there was no sign of the crew… I decided to go for it, and made breakfast.
I fried up some raisin-filled brown bread, sausage, and threw some
de-hy scrambled eggs into the skillet. In order to spruce up the
re-hydrated eggs, I added
some Monterey Jack cheese, basil, and parsley. The eggs now at least looked
bearable, and I had everything assembled and ready to be delivered as breakfast
in bed for my cohorts. Unfortunately, Robert entered the tent just then,
but I was able to serve Sujoy and Peter. I think I may have startled
Peter out
of sleep, because when I asked:
“Peter, I have a delivery…”
He replied:
“What is it!? Oh, oh – okay…”
What, other than food, he
thought I was delivering was beyond me – but
he later told me that he thought the Twin Otters had arrived and left while
he was asleep, and they had left a delivery for him! I can now understand
his startled response.
By around 1300h, we were no longer under the weather, and decided to brave
the residual winds and sample the topmost terrace on the northern Discovery
Ridge. It was very cold and windy, however still an amazing sight on the
tillite. Because of the environmental factors, sampling was certainly very
quick and
efficient! On the way off the table we could see the wind blowing magnificent
plumes of snow from the cliffs overhead. A hydraulic formed in the air
just above the ridge where large clouds churned over themselves – quite
amazing to see what happens when air masses that have been cruising across
the flat
ice sheet hit the cliffs of the Ohio Range!
Our return was quickly followed by dinner, where we discussed a camp move in a couple days. The plan for tomorrow is to get back to Mama Nunatak and try to get onto the outcrop from the windscoop, and then start preparing the camp for a move. We’ll see if the weather permits (both down here AND on the Buckeye Table).