Beaver Lake, Saturday, 29th December 2001
During the morning, a foul 40 knot wind from the SW was still driving snow and ice crystals about, making outside activities fairly difficult. Anya and I stayed in our huts reading until 1 pm when the sky became clear and sunny with the wind easing down to 30 knots. The sound of ice cystals hitting the apple huts is a bit similar to being at a sandy beach on a windy day, but as soon as the particles hit something warm, they melt. The temeprature was hovering between -3 and -1 degrees. During the afternoon we set about certain domestic tasks, such as digging out fuel drums and RTA gear, digging a waste water sump about 20m above the tide-crack, and organising stores. After one of the afternoon skeds, we got a garbled message (because the persistently bad HF comms) that choppers were coming our way. I quickly organised the bundle of GPS and survival gear, to take advantage of a quick load lift up to the GPS site. At 7pm the wind had died down to almost nil with absolutely no cloud and strong sunlight. Leigh in his S76 arrived with Tom shortly afterwards and we quickly transferred loads before taking the five minute flight up to the GPS site. We found the location covered in thick snow, with the GPS equipment slightly buried in drifts. The GPS antenna's radome luckily was still sticking out. Tom and I scouted around for suitable site for the pyramid tent, about 30 metres South of the GPS at the end of the small promontory and assembled it. The PCON was still ticking, and despite the solar panels being partially submerged by snow drift the battery voltages were still 12.65 V. The GPS however would not boot completely, indicating that an internal reset is required. Because we had limited time and gear I downloaded the 440MB DSCC flash card, resealed the warm box, rationalised our return gear and we headed back towards the camp 4km to the East. I was carrying a fair load, including the computer and often sank up to my knees in the soft snow. It was initially hard going, only doing about a mile an hour, but the sun was sinking behind the massif, and we decided on walking on the shaded side of the small valley. The walking was much better as the northern aspect of the slope cops a lot of radiation during the middle of the day softening the snow up and during the evening the snow freezes nicely forming a hard, weight bearing crust. The final km of the walk was spectacular, deciding to walk out along the north shore of Pagodroma Gorge. Here, cliffs of shale, sandstone lined with seams of dark coal are easily accessible. The low evening sun was illuminating these cliffs and the adjoing pressure ridges of the tide crack really well. We arrived back at the camp at 12.30 in the morning, and whet our thirsts with some delicious and fresh brews from Davis, and recounted all the latest gossip from there. At 2.27 am (the local "midnight" the sun just set behind Flagstone Bench, and we enjoyed the ultra-still dusk, before retiring to our beds.

Beaver Lake (BVLK) Technical Inspection

Beaver Lake, Base Camp S 70°48'11" E 68°10'46"

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