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Published: August 14th 2019
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Today 4 of us took a 10 mile hike to see Qooroq glacier. Sheila and John dii not go (John did hike a short distance with us and then turned around) because Sheila’s knee is hurting a lot. In the beginning we were hiking on the road, which is quite rocky, and I walked on the grass next to the road. My toe got stuck in a lump of grass and I pancaked face first in the grass. I wasn’t hurt, just embarrassed. This was Fall #1.
Angela, Rick, Jan, and I continued on the road up to several small lakes, then climbed up to a ridge. The fohn winds had arrived during the night and were blowing about 35 miles per hour. Jan told us it would get worse.
We arrived at the viewpoint where we could see the glacier and part of the icecap, but now the wind was about 60 mph with gusts to 70 mph. I was having a miserable time taking pictures and losing my balance while trying to take photos. At one point Jan was helping me stand up and I tripped over his boot. Fall #2. This time my right knee and
ankle hit a rock. In the attempt to get me upright in the wind, my hat flew off. Jan wanted to get us away from the viewpoint because it was dangerous and we were all losing our balance.
We moved back on the trail and I stopped to put my balaclava on (because my hair was blowing in my face and I couldn’t see anything). When I did this Jan went back to look for my hat. I’m sure it had flown off to the ocean by now. Nick joined him, and found my hat. This may seem silly but the hat protects my scalp from sunburn, and also my face. I would need to buy another hat without it.
We continued hiking back till we got to a sheltered valley and had our lunch. In some areas the trail was a ditch about 6 inches deep in the tundra. I rolled my foot from the tundra into the ditch and had Fall #3. It flipped me on my side and put pressure on my ribs. This caused soreness the rest of the day.
We continued almost non-stop back to the hotel. Nick tracked our hike: about
10 miles, 5 ½ hours, 1200 meters gained (which seems like too much to me), and incredible wind. I have never hiked in wind that strong. It was blowing me sideways. I would pick up my foot to hike, and the wind would move it over. It was very tiring to walk in that wind, and we were very happy to get back to the hotel.
For dinner that night we had cod appetizer, chili con carne made with reindeer, and couscous. Very tasty. Jan is not sure we can take a boat out of this harbor tomorrow, which currently has white caps and wind driven moisture coming off it. He has to check the conditions tomorrow. He said we might have to backtrack the way we came in which means the luggage goes in a car to the port on the other side and we hike up and over the hill to the other port, about 2 hour hike without this wind. Sheila and I both want to get a ride if we can. My knee and ankle swelled up, and my ribs hurt. The Australians have ibuprofen gel, which is a prescription item in U.S., and I
put some on the hurt areas. Tomorrow will be interesting.
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Jean
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Tipping Over
Poor you! Sounds like an interesting day but difficult hike due to high winds.