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Tagne 2001 |
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Dan's DiaryDay 30 - Friday 27th July 2001
I woke at 5:50am. No one could be bothered to move, let alone get up so we I went back to sleep. It was 7am when I next came round. No one wanted to get up and make breakfast. Andy, Jon and I finished eating all the biscuits before Andy got up and put two pots of water on to boil. He returned to the warmth of the tent and I got up and made hot chocolate for everyone. I then made warm milk to have with the muesli. I took this along with cheese roti to Alan and Steve who were in their sleeping bags in one tent and then to Jon and Andy in the other tent. I had to wait for Alan to finish with his spoon before I could eat my muesli. Jon, Steve and Alan were all very tired from the previous day and no one wanted to get up.
It was Alan who emerged first. The sky was a deep blue colour with wisps of high cloud scattered here and there. The fresh snow made peak 6030 shine majestically against the sky. I lay our down sleeping bags on the roof of our tent and took some photos for our sponsors. At 8:50am Alan said we should be leaving in ten minutes. No one had started to pack. Steve just sat on his rucksack, once he'd packed. He was very weary, with just enough energy to ask for a redistribution of the group gear. The other exhausted summiters thought this was a good idea too, and I ended up with an extra tent, another rope, and the unused gas cylinders. I felt like saying"I'll tell you what, I'll carry all the group gear and I'll sit in camp while you climb the mountain. And what's more, I'll pay you to do it." This was perhaps a bit harsh in the circumstances. Jon was slow packing. I helped take down the tent. The base of the ground sheet was wet and muddy where it had lain on the dirty ice. Wet things I can handle but wet muddy things I can't. I folded the inner up put it in the tent bag trying not to get mud all over me. Jon asked if anyone wanted some nuts. Andy said yes so he threw them to him. Andy threw them back saying they're not nuts they are peanuts.
Jon said "Does anyone want some peanuts?" "What size?" Alan replied. Jon threw the bag to Alan. The bag split and the nut went all over the glacier. It was 10:10 am and people were still faffing about. The tents had been taken down and rucksacks had more or less been packed, but objects still lay on the ice, which individuals refused to carry. Andy got up and started headed down the glacier fed up of waiting. I gave in and took an extra tent and rope, attaching them to the outside of my rucksack. I struggled to get my heavy rucksack on my back. I knew the weight would soon begin to hurt as the straps dug in so I didn't hang around. After I had a photo taken of my rucksack I set off at a fast pace down the glacier, soon catching up with Andy who had veered off too far to the left. A steep crevassed ice slope stood between him and where he wanted to go, so he came and joined me and we walked around on a gentler slope.
We dropped down to the scree on the side of the glacier before we reached the steeply sloped glacier snout. Andy stopped to take some GPS readings and bearings of the peak 6030. I continued on as fast as the terrain would allow. I dropped down the scree ridge too early at first and found myself having to frustratingly go back up and traversed across to the next scree ridge, before descending. Once going down I found the weight of my rucksack pulled me down enticing me to go faster and faster. The ridge became an elongated mound, which took me all the way down to the river confluence. I crossed the smaller of the two rivers and headed back down the valley. I looked back, the others were only just coming off the glacier. I kept too dry river beds where possible as these were relatively stable and inclined at a low angle. Occasionally I had to scale high river cliffs cut into the scree slope to get past the bends in the river. The large loose scree would slow me down as the weight on my back tried to unbalance me every time a rock moved under my foot. I dropped down off the scree as soon as I could and walked across a large plain strewn with river boulders. I stormed across at a fast speed, adjusting the straps on my rucksack as they worked loose. Before I knew it I had reached the pile of moraine at the far side and started to scale up around one large boulder the size of a small house. The scree was loose and the weight of my rucksack made me slide down almost as far as I had stepped up. I descended down the other side of the block towards the river at 11:45am.
I walked upstream along the river looking for somewhere suitable to cross. I thought about wading across and undid one boot. Then I looked upstream and I thought I saw a spot where I might have been able to jump across. I did my boot back up and wandered up to the spot. There was no chance I would make it with my rucksack so I sat on a rock and took my boots off. I put my camera on a two-second delay, put my rucksack on and picked up my boots in one hand and pole in the other. I pressed the button and walked as fast as the rounded cobbles would allow into the icy waters. I had a few wobbles as the fast flowing water lashed at my knees and in the end I had to lunge for the far bank as I was about to fall. I took my rucksack off and put it on the bank and immediately returned for my camera. The return was easier and I kept my balance. I picked up my camera. My feet were hurting with cold and the rounded rocks. I sat on a large rock until my feet had warmed slightly and the pain subsided before crossing the river for the third time. I sat on the far bank and dried my feet, putting them into the warmth of my boots. I waited by the river for the others to arrive. Andy was could be seen coming over the moraine half an hour later. He asked me how to cross so I told him to fly. He didn't look very impressed so I told him how and where I crossed. As he sat down to take his boots and socks of Jon arrived a little bit downstream. Andy crossed the river rather hesitantly. He appeared to be taken aback by the coldness of the water. The deepest part was the final section and he two dived desperately for the far bank as the water washed the pebbles from under his feet threatening to topple him. Andy made it across with nothing more than wet trousers. Meanwhile Jon had tried to run and jump across the river. The rock he had taken off on had slipped. Jon landed short and fell into the river. He spread his arms to stop his fall but the damage was done. Wet down one side from head to toe he picked himself up and wandered back through the second pile of moraine to Advanced Base Camp.
I followed through the moraine at 12pm and soon arrived at Base Camp. Jon had stripped off all his wet clothes, laying them out on the rocks to dry in the sun. Andy soon came in to camp after me. I unpacked the tent and lay it out to dry along with the other contents from my rucksack that were damp from use on the glacier. Alan and Steve arrived back at camp at 1:40pm having walked upstream to cross the river at using a rock bridge. Andy and Alan then put up their respective tents while Steve sat on a rock coughing up phlegm. I had a sort-out, and started to put dry things in my tent. I retreated inside the tent where Jon was already resting. The sun made the tent very warm. I soon swapped my Ronhills for a pair of shorts only to reveal an inch and a half long gash just above my right knee. A scab had formed. It was deep red and quite wide, but no blood had dripped down my leg. I was glad I hadn't looked at it earlier as it would have only concerned me. I checked my Ronhills but there wasn't even a hole in them. I couldn't believe such an incident could tear open my leg and yet not even rip my leggings. I ate a cereal bar, some cheese roti and a few nuts for lunch before having a rest.
It was 5pm when I awoke. Andy had set the ball rolling by putting the water on for tea. I got out the tent and put some rice on to cook. We ate it with the last of the tuna and chilli sauce. Alan came out of his tent for food, but retreated as soon as the sun poked through the gathering clouds. Blisters had formed on his face due to ultraviolet penetrating the thick cloud during their summit day. They had started to ooze pus. I made chocolate custard for pudding and Alan rejoined us for it. I then made a jelly but decided to save eating it until the following day. We discussed what we would do in the morning. Andy and I decided we would go up to camp one on the South Tagne Glacier to have another look at Pt.5800. Jon would have a rest day and then come up and attempt Tagne with me. Alan wanted to go down and Steve didn't know what he wanted to do. Steve decided he wasn't interested in climbing Tagne or Pt.5800, so we encouraged him to go down to Base Camp. He reluctantly said that he would go down to Base Camp but wanted a day's rest first. We encouraged him to go to Base Camp and then take a days rest so as not to use up all our food provisions, in case we had to stay up at ABC for some reason. Jon and I had descended from Base Camp to save food earlier on the expedition but somehow I knew Steve wouldn't repay the deal. Alan wanted to go down the next morning but Steve still refused preferring to sit around at advanced Base Camp for a day. He even paid me the compliment of saying that he wanted to stay up because the food was better at ABC. We packed up the cookware and I retreated to my tent at 7:50pm. I strapped up my feet ready for the early start in the morning before getting into my sleeping bag.
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© Copyright Steve Jolly 2001. |
