高一英语课外阅读.docVIP

Trekking Alone in Antarctica for My 60th Birthday November 1997 At 50 I was the first woman to travel solo to any of the world’s Poles when I soloed the magnetic North Pole. I walked and skied, pulling my own 160 pound sled without the help of a dog team or snowmobiles. I chose this Pole because it is the one with a large population of polar bears and my fascination with these dangerous but intelligent animals played a decisive part in my decision. But what should I do to celebrate my 60th? What else, but a trekking journey at the opposite end of the world, Antarctica. I began my almost 200 mile journey on November first 1997. I walked and skied alone, pulling my sled once more without the help of a dog team or snowmobile. I was entirely alone, trekking in a place white and lifeless with no other living creatures and an always circling sun that never dipped below the horizon. Just as was the case for my 50th, I was again about to embark on a journey of challenge and danger. On October 21 I flew to Punta Arenas, a small, wind swept city in southern Chile. It was there that I prepared my equipment and sled to be flown to the Antarctic aboard a Hercules aircraft.. On October 30, we received the good news that the winds and cloud cover were OK for a landing on the blue ice strip at the Patriot Hills base camp 21 miles from the edge of the Antarctic coast. After a noisy six and a half hour flight in this giant cargo aircraft we landed on the rock-hard, bumpy strip. It was exciting to at last be in the Antarctic. Patriot Hills base camp sits in the shadow of the glaciated Patriot Hills mountain range. I awoke on November 1st to a heavy cloud cover and 20 mph winds. However by early evening the skies cleared and the OK was given to fly me north to my starting point at Hercules Inlet on the edge of the Antarctic continent. My starting position was 80 degrees 00 minutes south and 80 degrees 9 minutes west. As the Twin Otter aircraft returned to base I was left alone to b