Even though we were extremely worn out due to the time intensive drills at the happy campers, we had to take care of a lot of things to prepare for our field camp further away from the South Pole.
So, we have two systems to be set up at the South Pole and we have another system to fix or pull out from a place which is quiet remote.. The site is about 650 km away from the South Pole and about 2000 ft higher (an altitude of 12000 ft). Some of us will stay and finish the work on the systems here at the pole and some of us will go to the remote site. A twin otter plane will drop us off around 27 th December. We first need to set up our own camp near the system at the remote place. Then work on the instrument, if required, pull it down and bring it back with us. Now, here is a catch. We will be ready to be picked up in 2-3 days. But, there is just one twin otter in this area and several such groups to be dropped off and picked up from various places. The weather plays the most crucial role in deciding the flights. So, in worst case, we can be there waiting for the plane and praying for the bad weather to calm down for about a week extra.
For the two days, we were simply trying to get all our cargo including all camping gears such as sleep kits, tents, shovels, kitchen box, survival bags, Gamow bag, toilet cans etc. at one place. We also had a food pull out where we took food for 4 people (including mountaineer) for four days and 7 days worth emergency food (dehydrated meals). Food included breakfast items such as cereals, instant oatmeals, lunch items such as energy bars, soups, trailmixes with loads of dry fruits and nuts, and dinners including rice or pasta and meat.. I might have to pass on steak etc... but we do have veggie soup options to go with rice.. Powdered energy drinks and hot cocoa was of course included.
2 comments:
Actually, the food options are not all that bad :)
whew ! that was lots of preparation..
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