Overland to Square Bay, Pourquoi Pas and The Gullet (continued)
May 14th – Away from Base by 10:00 with clear skies and three weeks of food, rapidly up the Northeast Glacier and the By-Pass with the Admirals leading. Arrived at the col between McLary and Todd Glaciers to meet up with Sledge Alpha (Woodhouse and Blakely), who were waiting for the new tent poles and laminated Nansen bridges we had brought up (that’s a whole other story). After sledge repairs, and ferrying nutty up to the col, both Sledges travelled rapidly back down the McLary to camp at the extreme western end of Butson Ridge, in beautiful weather and -15C.
Four days of lie-up followed, in snow and wind, but in occasional clearances, we watched the sea-ice go out from Stonington.
May 20th – All three teams ferried 1,000lbs up to the col, with the Komats leading. Heading down the other side from the col, the second team, the Admirals, decided on a short cut instead of following the track along the edge of the bergschrund, and Steve and the Admirals all crashed across the bergschrund and down the other side of the col. Luckily, everybody still in one piece.
We spent the next day finding a route down the northern outlet of the McMorrin Glacier, and after crossing crevasses throughout the day, the route narrowed down to two or three yards in the gully next to the rock, and then dropped suddenly for 50 feet to a flat area leading off into Square Bay. We camped just above the gully, and then the next day, after lowering all the gear, 1,000 lbs of stores, and all the dogs, we were able to head off across Square Bay on excellent sea-ice to Reluctant Island, where we and the dogs dined on seal that night.
A week was spent reorganizing the sledges and people, including John Newman joining Jim and Gwynn to geologize and also take John to Horseshoe to work on the generators, and then working with the geologists in the rocky corries around the Wells Glacier. On June 1st, after 13 successive travelling days, a lie-up day, with temperature soaring to -3C while snowing and blowing.
The next day, June 2nd, brought clear skies again, and 15C, and with the Admirals leading with a light load in the dark at 9:15 am, surfaces were good until the area where the Hinks Channel met The Gullet, where the sea-ice went from two feet thick, down to 6″ of soft ice. Three times the Admirals sledge went through the ice, each time the dogs pulling sledge and Steve out with their momentum.
One of Steve’s skis disappeared into the icy depths, causing a one-ski technique for the next 100 miles, much to the amusement of the others.
Read Mike’s Diary Page HERE
Crossing towards Tickle Channel we encountered open water again, and so we crossed back over to the Gunnel, a very narrow and impressive channel with surprisingly, good solid ice again until, three miles up the Channel at the narrowest point, we encountered open leads, and a Leopard seal. Further progress was impossible and we camped on Serge Island after a 20-mile day.
On June 3rd, heading out in the black dark, there was some “fun” first finding and then descending the ramp back onto the sea-ice, then travelling and doing gravity readings until meeting up with Sledge Whisky (Hesbrook, Bird and Scoffam from Adelaide) just short of Rothera Point, and then sledging through heavy brash to camp on Rothera Point. The next day, leaving through heavy brash again, with the dogs and sledges getting a hammering through the first four miles of brash with very little snow cover, and then an easy run to Dalgleish Bay on PQP, another 20-mile day.
Two days of lie-up again. Windy in Dalgleish Bay, and so we were not surprised to hear of 100 knot winds at Stonington and Adelaide, and much of the sea-ice disappearing, although still holding fast in the fjords.
On June 7th, we cleared all the geological rock boxes from the depot, and then the Admirals led up the Ferrago Glacier to the depot at the top, which after we cleared the depot gave us a total load of 3,700 lbs. Running quickly back down to the sea ice, a 6′ cliff with a ‘Fids ramp” smashed up the sledges badly – the Terrors broke a runner, and the other sledges broke bridges. After some reorganisation, the Admirals, Huns and Rabble went ahead to break trail, while the Komats and Terrors limped along with a runner completely snapped in half, all sledges arriving at Blaiklock in the dark.
A day was needed at Blaiklock to repair sledges – Mike fixed a ski under his broken runner, and Steve found out he also had a broken runner, and so travelled backwards to Horseshoe before both sledges could be fitted with new runners there. We also redesigned Blaiklock, pulling down some interior walls, and building four decent bunks around three of the walls.
After two days at Horseshoe, fixing Squadcal radios and sledges, we headed back to the Debenham Islands (‘Debs’) and after a 32-mile day, with the last three hours in bright moonlight, we arrived to find Sledge Alpha (Jim Woodhouse, Henry Blakely and John Newman) stoking up a very welcome fire. As the sea ice was bad or gone between the Debs and Stonington, we were forced to head up the ramp and head back via Walton Peak and the Northeast Glacier to reach Stonington, a 15-mile detour to cover the last five miles.
Teams:
Tony Bushell with the Komats: Amber, Agate, Jasper, Jack, Floyd, Soopsey, Patch, Randy and Ingo
Steve Wormald with the Admirals: Myff, Kovik, Gloin, Jim, Wear, Twisty, Hamish, Dai and Waldo
John Newman (DEM Stonington) until May 30th, then
Mike Burns with the Terrors: Princess, Jet, Onyx, Clough, Janet, Dwarfy, Cleve, Hal and Thorax
Days in Field: 32
Days of Lie-up: 6 (20%)
Total Distance: 368 Miles
Steve Wormald – Stonington, GA , 1970, BC/GA, 1973