the explorers journal the global adventure issue - The Explorers Club

More documents

Recommendations

Info

we did not want to risk starting out at the end ofAugust with the imminent approach of winter. Wechose to embark on our expedition in June, at thebeginning of the brief Arctic summer when thereis still-solid sea ice, knowing that after the first fewweeks, the kayak team would be able to paddlefreely in open water. Greely and his men, who leftalmost three months later, encountered just theopposite—ever-worsening ice conditions as theyretreated further south.We gathered in Yellowknife, capital of theNorthwest Territories, packed kayaks, gear, andfuel into a chartered De Havilland transport planeand set off for the northernmost regular airportat Resolute in the district of Nunavut. We thenregrouped, picked up a Canadian park ranger andcontinued on to Fort Conger in the Twin Otter. Avery large area of Ellesmere Island, including FortConger, is in Canada’s northernmost nationalpark, and people are not allowed to visit the siteof Greely’s camp without official supervision. Welanded in a dry stream bed near Fort Conger,where the foundation of the station and much ofGreely’s equipment remains to this day.The team set out on the summer equinox—theanniversary of Greely’s rescue in 1884—pullingtheir kayaks over 16 kilometers of sea ice across32Lady Franklin Bay. Meanwhile, Gino, Tom, and Itook off to set up our first basecamp at Carl RitterBay. While the others were exerting themselves,we lived in relative luxury in a huge, six-meter dometent with most of the comforts of home.All went according to plan until July 4, when anaccident occurred that could have been tragic forthe expedition. As Scott attempted to come ashorein his kayak, he became pinned between “the icefoot”—ice frozen firmly against the shore—and arapidly moving ice floe that was being pushed upand against the foot by the incoming tide. Scott’skayak was crushed and he was severely injured.If the ice had closed in any further, Scott wouldhave undoubtedly been killed, but fortunately, itstopped just in time for his kayaking companionsto pull him out.While the team waited anxiously for the helicopterfor his immediate medical evacuation, they foundthemselves floating offshore on a cracking ice floe inever-thickening fog, a haunting reminder of Greely’smen drifting in Kane Basin. Thanks to modern communications,the Canadian Army detachment atthe Eureka weather station, and Peter Jefford, ourhelicopter pilot, Scott was plucked from the ice;transported to Iqualuit, the capital of Nunavut; andthen to Ottawa for intensive medical treatment—allThe east coast of Ellesmere Island, photo by James Shedd
Geoffrey E. Clark, third from left, and his party unfurl the explorers club flag at Greely’s Camp Clay at Cape Sabine. Photo by Gino Del Guerciowithin seven hours of the accident in one of the mostremote spots on the planet. Scott’s accident clearlydemonstrated that even with modern equipment, wewere still at the mercy of the elements—conditions asunforgiving today as they were in Greely’s time.Meanwhile, the team questioned whether theyshould continue with the expedition. Fortunately,Scott’s injuries were limited to “only” a puncturedlung, five fractured ribs, a dislocated clavicle, andsevere soft-tissue trauma. From his hospital bedScott urged his team mates to continue—whichthey did, albeit shorthanded.Steve paddledthe damaged kayakalone, and James Shedd,who had already provenhimself an accomplishedstill photographer, tookup Scott’s video cameraand continued shootingen route. The rest of theexpedition’s long stretchesover open waterproved to be uneventfulexcept for numerous encounters with enormous,easily provoked walruses; the team was acutelyaware of their unpredictability and how easily theycould destroy a kayak.After six weeks of kayaking down the coast, theteam arrived at its destination on Cape Sabineand met up with Gino, Tom, Simon, and me. Wewere all very moved to see the remains of CampClay where so many men had suffered and died inmisery. As a final tribute to Greely and his men, weheld a brief ceremony on Cemetery Ridge wherethe first of the many to die were buried.I read a passage to the team from Greely’sown Book of Common Prayer—lent to us by JaneGreely—which he had used to conduct Sundayservices and to bury his party’s dead. Our lastact before leaving was to unfurl the ExplorersClub Flag at the plaque placed at Camp Clay byCommander Donald Macmillan for the NationalGeographic Society in 1924.To this day, the question of cannibalism andwho participated remains unresolved. We foundGreely’s tent site and the burial ground—CemeteryRidge—only a few meters apart. It seems inconceivablethat bodies could have been neatly dissectedwithout being observed by at least some of the survivors.Perhaps Greely himself was so incapacitatedthat he was unable to get out of the tent. We willnever know for sure just what happened.From our retrace of his route, it was clearthat Greely’s expedition was a extraordinary accomplishment,considering the time of year, thelimitations in equipment, and the relative inexperienceof Greely and his men. In his memoir, ThreeYears of Arctic Service, Greely noted, “The retreatfrom Fort Conger to Cape Sabine involved overfour hundred miles’ travel by boats, and fully ahundred with sledge and boat; the greater partof which was madeunder circumstances ofsuch great peril or imminenceof danger asto test to the utmost thecourage, coolness, andendurance of any party,and the capacity of anycommander.”Despite a great dealof subsequent criticism,the fact remains thatGreely accomplished hismission, bringing all of his records and supplies toCape Sabine. His records, meticulously tabulatedin a large two-volume report, were eventually compiledby NOAA, along with data collected by theother expeditions of the First International PolarYear—information contained within the baselinefor studies now being carried out under the aegisof the Fourth International Polar Year. Had theWar Department completed their mission and leftthe promised supplies, Greely no doubt wouldhave been able to winter over without loss of life.As late as 1924, an article in the New York Timescriticized the expedition as being a tragic wasteof time. In a furious response Greely replied thatit was not a “pole-seeking adventure,” but a scientificenterprise, and “the Greely expedition was anextraordinary success. The relief expeditions managedfrom Washington were ghastly failures.”biographyA member of The Explorers Club since 1988, Geoffrey E. Clark,M.D., is a retired gastroenterologist and entrepreneur fromPortsmouth, NH. He has traveled extensively in the CanadianArctic doing research and reconnaissance for the productionof the highly acclaimed film, Abandoned in the Arctic.the explorers journal
Page 2: the explorers journalWinter 2007/20
Page 5 and 6: THE EXPLORERS CLUB TRAVELERSA World
Page 7 and 8: The 6th AnnualExplorers ClubFilm Fe
Page 10 and 11: fields and rugged icepackin unchart
Page 12 and 13: 12Fossett Searchcontinuesmissing pl
Page 14 and 15: Oceans 8around the worldby kayakby
Page 16 and 17: in croatiaWe paddle beneath a 12-me
Page 18 and 19: square-kilometer halo of sea ice fo
Page 20 and 21: shore by two-meter seas, first one,
Page 22 and 23: sir WallyHerbertmaster of the icete
Page 25 and 26: polar bear on the icethe explorers
Page 27 and 28: a pioneering journey: Sir wally her
Page 29 and 30: An Illustration from Frank Leslie
Page 31: fiction than a factual account. Dur
Page 35 and 36: A dani war leader exhorts his men P
Page 38: Coming HomeA wounded warrior is bro
Page 43: Preparing a FeastDani villagers pre
Page 46 and 47: Secret Lifeoficebergstext by Kennet
Page 48: Iceberg W-86Researchers found abund
Page 51 and 52: Iceberg A-52Swarms of krill and oth
Page 53 and 54: the world, particularly those in Pa
Page 55 and 56: Pressure dressing and elevation are
Page 57 and 58: monterey nachosJamaican Jerk Chicke
Page 59 and 60: seizes the spirit like a drug,and h
Page 61 and 62: THE EXPLORERS CLUB LEGACY SOCIETY
Page 63 and 64: T H E E X P L O R E R S C L U B c h

the explorers journal the global adventure issue - The Explorers Club

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?