Page 13 - 2007 AMA Summer

crampon into one of the fuel bottles. 3kms further we selected the spot for base camp. In some areas the snow was extremely thick and some people found them­ selves thigh deep in snow. Needless to say that this was perfect ground for snowshoes - but we had left them behind! We persevered, and luckily this was the only time snow- shoes were desperately needed.
The following day was to turn out to be the lightest day in terms of rucksack weight. We headed south-east towards the peak named ‘Nakajanga’ and on the way hand-railed a frozen lake. Before reaching the lake though, we came across the carcass of a Musk Ox, which amused us for about ten minutes as we tried to figure out the cause of it apparently unfortunate end. The frozen lake made for eas­ ier walking, and half way along we discovered a rein­ deer antler caught in the frozen water. After a few min­ utes of careful digging by OCdt Needham, it was free. I, however, was to carry it for the entire duration, its final destination: the Thunderer
Squadron Mess. It was anoth­ er good day for trekking - we had been extremely fortunate so far - there was sunshine and little to no wind. However, upon reaching our destined peak, the clouds closed in. Luckily we had just decided to have lunch on the lake, and after setting a few sliding records on the ice (and 7 pots of noodles later) the weather had cleared up - we were
Walking on frozen lake on route to summit.
good to go for our summit! Kangerlussuaq is not exactly littered with ‘Everests’, so at 625m, this peak was not the hardest challenge, but it did offer some fantastic views of the surrounding terrain.
It was a good day’s walking, but after a cracked plastic boot, torn salopettes and a lot of ice walking, we all looked forward to a night in out tents.
The next morning laughs were had at the expense of two members who had difficulties utilising a pee bottle and a ‘shewee’!
The following days were char­ acterised by long walks, some over ice lakes, with extremely heavy pack that, physics be damned, got heavier! Each morning snow would fall inside the tent from
On a frozen lake.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER 11
1
.at
--a-