Navigating the glacial crevasses

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An adventurous day on expedition

The second expedition day is over and it is now ten o’clock in the evening. Right now, I’m working on the polar bear watch again. It was a wonderful day full of adventure. We got up early at six and had a short night because of the polar bear watch. Yesterday we also had such a polar bear watch. Indeed, we are in polar bear territory. It is therefore important to be on our guard. Despite the interruption, I was able to sleep for about seven hours.

A smooth start

At six o’clock we got up and at a quarter to eight we were ready to really hit the road. This went surprisingly quickly. We were quick to cook, eat breakfast and pack up our tents. Everyone had buckled up and tied their sled behind them. Finally we were able to walk further north. Our first stop was Pangaslusuaq, but first we had to walk about thirty kilometers north before we could make a turn toward the west.

A favorable site

Fortunately, the terrain we had to go through was not too bad. I had prepared for a glacier terrain with dangerous crevasses. Fortunately, these crevices were easily visible. There was no fresh snow on the glacier, so we could see exactly where we could safely walk. The first kilometer went even without any glacial crevasses. Then the real adventure began, where we had to navigate from one glacial crevasse to another. It was a challenging maze that we had to go through with our sleds. Sometimes we managed to maneuver the sled alone, sometimes we helped each other. We shortened the ropes of the sled so that it ran closer behind us. Getting through this area was a tough job.

A substantial increase

After the first field with five glacier crevasses, we could finally walk normally again. But the terrain went up steadily. We started this morning at sea level, actually 10 meters above sea level. By the end of the day, we were at 595 meters above sea level. So we climbed quite a bit, with the sled following us. It feels like pulling on a dead horse, like dragging a 20-pound sack of potatoes.

A challenging but satisfying adventure

This second day of expedition was a challenging but satisfying experience. Navigating the glacier crevasses was tough, but the views and satisfaction of reaching higher ground made it all worthwhile. Tomorrow we will continue on our expedition, ready for new adventures and challenges.