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OHYAT: Beauty and Danger
Jul. 4th, 2011 04:30 amONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO YESTERDAY, out on the Ice Shelf south of Ross Island:
Meanwhile, back atthe ranch Cape Evans, ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO TODAY:
There was a blizzard, but meteorological readings had to be taken, so Atch (official Expedition medical man) and Griff Taylor went to check the temperatures on the hill behind the hut. Then Atch headed out over the frozen sea ice with Gran (ski expert) to check the stations out there. Griff and Gran returned to the hut before dinner; Atch did not. Search parties were sent out, but it wasn't until 11:30 that he made his way back, accompanied by Deb and Meares. Apparently he had become disoriented, and tried finding his way back to the hut by landmarks as they emerged from the snow, but he never found the hut where he expected it to be. He couldn't get his fur mitt back on, on account of it being frozen, and ended up with some pretty dreadful-looking frostbite. You can read the whole account of the episode in Scott's journal.
We had a magnificent aurora in the evening when long swaying curtains almost covered the sky up to the zenith ... swinging round from left to right in a rapidly moving whirl, constantly waxing and waning in brightness in different places, with bands of pale orange and emerald green and lemon yellow colour rippling along the borders of the curtains, and all fading upwards into the darkness of the sky, as though they were curtains hanging from the roof of a vast dark cave stirred by some winds which didn't reach us on the surface. It was so very striking that we all three lay on our backs in the snow and watched it till we were too cold to watch it any longer ...
E.A. Wilson's journal
... there was one halt when we just lay on our backs and gazed up into the sky, where, so the others said, there was blazing the most wonderful aurora they had ever seen. I did not see it, being so near-sighted and unable to wear spectacles owing to the cold.
Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World
Meanwhile, back at
There was a blizzard, but meteorological readings had to be taken, so Atch (official Expedition medical man) and Griff Taylor went to check the temperatures on the hill behind the hut. Then Atch headed out over the frozen sea ice with Gran (ski expert) to check the stations out there. Griff and Gran returned to the hut before dinner; Atch did not. Search parties were sent out, but it wasn't until 11:30 that he made his way back, accompanied by Deb and Meares. Apparently he had become disoriented, and tried finding his way back to the hut by landmarks as they emerged from the snow, but he never found the hut where he expected it to be. He couldn't get his fur mitt back on, on account of it being frozen, and ended up with some pretty dreadful-looking frostbite. You can read the whole account of the episode in Scott's journal.
