Sled repairs, pick the best dogs,
Bartlett returns
and the dash to the Pole is on...
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(left) Matt Henson repairing a sled.
He is using a hand drill to make a new hole for the lashings.
(right) Wally Herbert's 1969 Trans-Arctic Camping Expedition
re-discovered Henson's repair techniques. |
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[Peary's Diary]
"...culled the best dogs from their teams
to replace poorer ones in the other teams...took latitude observation (87˚ 46' 49")
...We are ready now for the final
lap of the journey,...dogs the pick of 133, ...& men in training. It
is the time for which I have reserved all my energies, & I feel
tonight as if I was in trim & equal to the demands upon me of the
next few days..." |
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Captain Bartlett wearing snow shoes at his "farthest North" camp
approximately 133 nautical miles from the Pole.
You can see on his sled the bottom layer of white colored cases -
that is the pemmican food they eat. Each dog needs a pound a day to
keep Going. That can add up; 40 dogs need 400 lbs every ten days!
This is why the supply camps were so important. From this point Bartlett had to Go back. Matt and Peary, Egingwah,
Ootah, Ooqueah, Seegloo and about 30 dogs went on to the North Pole.
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Note the light-weight pickaxe in the foreground. They
used ice axes to chop paths through ice rubble, or to make foot holds up
pressure ridges. |
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| Copyright © 1997 Bradley Robinson. All rights reserved. |
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