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Day 11 November 24, 2008
SITREP
1. Sitrep No 11 as at 0730 hrs GMT 24 Nov 08
2. Distance Covered Today : 12.0 nm
3. Total Distance Covered : 115.8 nm
4. Daily Average to Date: 10.53
5. Hours travelled: 7
6. Days to RV on Jan 9 at 97 Mile Point: 47
7. Distance to RV: 577.99
8. Distance to Pole: 674.99 nm
9. Required Daily Average to achieve RV: 12.30 nm
November 24th, 1908
Started this morning at 7:55, and made a good march of 10 miles 600 yards (statute) up to 1 P.M., when we camped for lunch. We marched from 2:30 to 6 P.M., and camped then for the night. When we started there was a searching breeze in our faces, which gradually increased during the day with low drift, and it was blowing a summer blizzard when we camped this evening, the temperature up to plus 17°F, and the drift melting in the tent and on all our gear. The ponies did splendidly again, in spite of soft surface, our day's run being 17 miles 680 yards statute.
The Barrier surface is still as level as a billiard table, with no sign of any undulation or rise; but if the Barrier shows no sign of change it is otherwise with the mountains. Each mile shows us new land, and most of it consists of lofty mountains, whose heights at present we cannot estimate. They are well over 10,000 ft. The great advantage of being out from the coast is now obvious, for we can see a long range of sharp peaked mountains running to the westward from Mounts Markham, and forming the south side of Shackleton Inlet on the east side of Mounts Markham, and other peaks and one table-topped mountain standing away to the south between Longstaff and Markham. There appears to be a wide strait or inlet between Long-staff and the new land east of Markham. Then trending about southeast from Longstaff is a lofty range of mountains which we will see more closely as we move south.
I trust that the buzzard will blow itself out tonight, so that we may have easy going tomorrow. Wild is much better today, and took his ordinary food. We had fried pony for dinner tonight, and raw pony frozen on the march. The going is very good, but we can only afford a little oil to cook up the meat for meals
Day 11 Report
Day 11: Overview
- Distance covered:
- 12.0 nm
- Wind:
- 20 mph
- Conditions:
- Windy, from S-SW. Heavy sastrugi.
- Temperature:
- -25°C
The Heart of the Antarctic
This is the story of the “Farthest South” expedition, told by its leader. After enduring biting winds, short rations and crevasse-ridden glaciers for over a year, Shackleton’s party faced a desperate forced march to return to their ship, The Nimrod, or face being marooned on the ice.
Taken from Sir Ernest Shackleton’s own compelling chronicle of his first Antarctic expedition, written on his return in 1909.
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