Fort Ross Camp has been a huge success! The team got plenty of rest and enjoyed “regular” food, all day. West said they ate “a lot” of macaroni and cheese. When I laughed, he said, “Barbara, we ate A LOT of macaroni and cheese.” They managed to safely use the Coleman stove which seemed a little temperamental, at times. Also, back at Creswell River Camp, if you recall, Mark and Eileen went to the research tent camp. While there, they were given some fresh lemons. Today, they used those lemons with some sugar left at Fort Ross and made some great-tasting lemonade. What a treat!
They spent the day climbing. The terrain is different than any they have seen in the Arctic, so far. It has very large rocks with little tuffs of grass here and there. In Texas, it’s similar to the Enchanted Rock area. They climbed up the cliffs to peer out over Prince Regent Inlet where two ships have been anchored, waiting to pass through Bellot Strait. One ship is an exploration cruise ship called the “Seal Bear.” They spoke with the captain several times on their VHF radio. The captain was taking his passengers through the strait, against the tide then will turn around and start their trek back to their home base. On their way back through the strait, they were hoping to bring the team aboard the ship for some information on The Arctic Cowboys—Northwest Passage expedition. We aren’t sure if their timetable will allow that…until tomorrow, with our next update call.
The Arctic Cowboys relaxed after their explorations. They all read books that were left at Fort Ross, wrote letters to leave there, and planned to leave some of their food items for the next explorers. The plan is for them to cross through Bellot Strait sometime shortly after 12:31 pm with the tide. It’s roughly 20 miles from Fort Ross to the end of Bellot Strait. They have a good 4 hours to cross with the tide before it starts to turn, making it more difficult. There will be about an hour or two transition that will buy them a little more time. Fingers crossed the speed of the tide will work in their favor.
We received word today that some of our resupply items have arrived with Andre in Cambridge Bay. We have a couple of more boxes that need to arrive ahead of the team and then they will be set to finish the expedition completely restocked.
Photo by: Tom McGuire
Total: 530.51 miles Today: 0 miles Expedition: 452.51
