Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
priority for him. We are naturally at loggerheads, because I'm in a race
against time. That said, I am glad he's my guide.
may 8
Just when I thought the really bad cold weather was over, along comes
a day of -30 degrees (plus the wind-chill factor). My body froze, espe-
cially my ears, nose, hands and, for the first time since starting, feet. It
makes the day drag when you start it in pain and that pain doesn't go
away. Last night, I dreamed that my fingers were so cold that they shat-
tered like glass and I was left looking at the bones in my hands. Then
I bumped the bones, and they shattered as well and I had no hands,
only a feeling that a blow torch was being applied to my arms.
One of the difficulties of this run has been the basic business of
unzipping my fly to do a wee while wearing mittens. Each time nature
calls, I pray, 'Please, please, please, God, don't let me wet myself.' The
genesis of my little mantra was early on in the stage, when it was
-38 degrees and I couldn't hold on long enough to get my fly open and
ended up wetting myself. Some urine froze to my groin, and the skin
blistered. I was in pain for days
afterwards, as the raw skin
rubbed against my gear.
may 9
After a good day's trek, it
was decided by Eric and the
others that instead of contin-
uing further we should camp
at a particularly picturesque
pressure ridge, because Jose
wanted somewhere nice to
film. Quite frankly, that deci-
sion drove me crazy, and it
still rankles as I write this
some hours later.
Jos
e, all
iced
up.
