Day: 21
Location: Amundsen Scott South Pole Station
Weather: Sunny, -33F
We made it! In fact, it was a new traverse record- from McMurdo to the Pole in 19 days. And yes, SPoT2 tried to catch us in a lackluster attempt but we completely demolished them. No hard feelings- sometimes you have to remind the hen who the rooster is.
We are currently offloading about 96,000 gallons of fuel. The fuelies here are doing an amazing job and will have the bladders empty in about 4 days, which I believe is a record in itself. Other than that, we are taking showers, doing laundry, and eating well. We are also waiting parts for the tractors which will be flown in on LC-130.
We were told a day before we arrived that we will be making 30% less pay while on station. I suppose they didn’t tell us this information earlier because they didn’t want us lollygagging around out there on the plateau. And now that we are making less money on station- that alone should be incentive to get us back on the trail. Right? Hmmm. Well, I took it upon myself to inform SPoT2 of this nonsense and I have a feeling the trail conditions are deteriorating as I write this.
Beyond the Backyard 