Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
203
Figure 6.19. Reaching
toward a certain perfec-
tion, a nameless spire of
the Organ Pipe Peaks beck-
ons at the portal to the
Sanctuary.
free of any fear of place, Paine wrote in his diary, “We all feel marvelously self-suYcient,
contented + I believe truly happy. There is no peace like the peace brought by complete
separation from other people. We are nature worshipers, perhaps pantheists” (Fig. 6.19).
On December 19 the party bid farewell to the sanctuary, and eased down onto the
margin of Scott Glacier. Stopping twice for triangulations, they made eighteen miles be-
fore stopping about three miles beyond their “Granite camp” of the outward traverse. On
the moraine at the northern tip of Mount Zanuck, the party collected specimens. They
also checked the array of flags that they had laid out on their ascent, but could detect no
movement. Paine made a scheduled radio check. The next morning the men awoke to find
four skuas visiting them. After shooting a round of points, they eased down to Mount
Hamilton, where, in addition to rock specimens, they collected numerous lichens. On
the 21st the party was back at Durham Point. The men climbed the peak behind it in the
evening, with a spectacular view of the lower reaches of the range along the ice shelf.
On December 22 Blackburn logged, “Left Durham Pt. about 10:30 A.M. and came
over to the Mt. Aviation Base. Hence we are back once more on the flagged trail ready for
the return. Collected lichen at Durham Pt., took a round of angles to prominent peaks,
shot the sun for Lat., packed up; and thus we quit the Mts.”
They completed the journey across the ice shelf in record time—527 miles in sixteen
days. The party traveled mostly at night with the sun at their backs and a harder sur-
face underfoot. A torn tent was strung on bamboo poles and used for sails on the sleds,
speeding the party along. Paine: “With our sails making us like Arabian fishing smacks
we fairly bobbed along. . . . Each flag stands as a buoy, the beacons + depots as harbors,
lightships or refueling ships, the sastrugi are the waves + it is truly remarkable how simi-
