“Today the clouds were dancing…”
Published on 04.05.2009 - Catlin Arctic Survey
Pen Hadow's team of three is in the process of searching for an area of flat ice that can be used as a landing strip for the Twin Otter from Resolute Bay that is scheduled to fly in the expedition's second set of fresh supplies.
The re-supply operation has been postponed for a number of days now -not because bad weather has prevented Ken Borek's Twin Otter from taking off, but because the expedition members are having problems locating an area of ice that is sufficiently long and flat (and thick) to allow the twin-engined plane to land. Which means they are spending all their time searching, barely leaving them the opportunity to update their blog.
But despite these local problems, the reports coming out of this expedition continue to be as enthralling as ever. This time, for example, one of the writers, Gaby Deau, contributed this about the weather conditions the trio have had to contend with since the start of the expedition: "There have been several times when we have had to shelter in our tent for more than a day on account of the storm raging outside. On those days, wrote Pen Hadow, "our main fear was that the tent would take off with us inside it! First of all we were on ice that was moving all the time; then, because the ice was moving about so much, it wasn't very solid and the tent pegs wouldn't hold firmly enough in the ground..."
Also, while the team was looking for a suitable landing strip, it witnessed an extraordinary spectacle. "The clouds were literally dancing today," wrote Ann Daniels. "There was also a colour prism effect in the sky; not the famous northern lights, but a rather surrealistic sight instead... I felt so privileged to have been able to witness it..."
