EXPEDITION DIARY
DAY 37 – Monday 28th March
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WE HAVE ARRIVED IN EAGLE!!
The last part of the journey was very warm, +5º on Saturday, with the snow sticky and melting, patches of open ground on the side of the river. The mountains are beginning to lose snow. Spring is coming.On Sunday we spent the night at Wayne’s Cabin and set off for the final 7 miles Monday morning. We arrived at Eagle (population 86) at approximately 1.00 pm, local time, ending our journey at Fort Egbert, which is the old army barracks. The telegraph that Amundsen used at the end of his journey at Eagle, to tell the world that he had navigated the NW Passage, has not been used for years, probably not since 1930’s. We were able to use a Satellite Phone.
We are delighted to report that we have all suffered only mild frostbite on various fingers and toes and that the dogs are well. Only one of them seems to have lost a bit of weight but will be nurtured now and all of them have loads of new straw bedding and warm kennels to go to. What amazing dogs these have been! What a feat of endurance to have pulled a heavy sledge 700 miles in bitter temperatures over extreme terrain and still be wagging their tails every morning.
At the beginning I thought we only had a 50/50 chance of achieving the journey, not achieved since 1905. It has been interesting and hard but we’ve had good dogs, a good team and the careful planning paid off. We are looking forward to coming home.
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A staggering achievement of which all concerned should be immensely proud including the dogs!
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HUGE congratulations! What an epic journey. 4 years in the planning, I am so happy that it all paid off! Can't wait to hear all the stories! We are all so proud of you.
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CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!!! What an incredible feat for you all, with incredible dogs. Hope you also have some straw and warm beds to go to, and can now relax in the knowledge that you have been amazingly successful on such a challenging trip. And now - RELAX!! It has been brilliant to follow your trails and trials, and look forward to hearing it in more detail. Amundsen should be proud, and all your friends and family definitely are! Mary G.
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Congratulations on a wonderful, and historic, feat of endurance. So pleased you all did the trip safely. Enjoy the rest and the glow of achievement! Well done team IAF.
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Fantastic news to hear that you are safe and well, having completed an amazing journey! Congratulations!!!! Jan & Geoff xx
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You are all now legends in folklore! Incredible achievement and an amazing story to follow. Enjoy the warmth and hope the frostbite isn't too bad.
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Fantastic achievement! Congratulations to everyone. Tim, I realise that you are 6 months younger than me but I'm still a bit miffed that you are able to sledge 700 miles in the most difficult and dangerous conditions whilst I am not sure that I could even make it to the village Post Office, all of 200 yards, in a light fall of snow, even with the faithful Bonnie to pull me along! I'm full of admiration. Martin
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What an absolutely amazing achievement. My first school house was Nansen but we learnt a lot about Amundsen too (another house) and the exploits of the likes of him and Scott etc. Congratulations on an amazing feit, let us know if you will be giving any talks following as I'd love to hear about the adventure. Well done.
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This is the most unbelievable achievement. MANY CONGRATULATIONS to the IAF team. You definitely deserved to succeed Tim. All that precision planning (permissions, food drops, route mapping, recces, educational programmes, risk assessments etc etc!) over the last few years paid off. We are all overjoyed for you and are going to miss tracking your progress every day. Now I can't wait to read your book and add it to my Polar collection!
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OH WELL DONE Tim and the IAF team (including dogs!). What an amazing feat of endurance and an incredible achievement. Hope you will be celebrating tonight with something other than dried packet food to eat and melted snow to drink! I'm full of admiration at the fortitude you've all shown in doing something that has not been done since Amundsen's epic feat in 1905. Something which many, much younger, people would be justifiably proud to have done. I am so looking forward to your lecture at the RGS which must surely follow. Can't wait to hear all the stories. Best, Tom.
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Great effort - well done! Enjoyed following you all the way and had a good catch-up whilst stalking with Michael in Warwickshire last week. Safe home! Graeme
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YOUR FINALLY THERE!!!! I can see a beard has grown! I hope that the flight goes well!! Oh by the way you look nice with the beard!! Love you soooooooo much! Eden
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Absolutely brilliant effort Tim and the team! I am amazed at your perseverance and incredible determination, despite some pretty challenging conditions! I have really enjoyed reading your blog which has been very inspirational! Yes please let us know if you are doing any talks as Dave and I would love to hear more stories...!
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Congratulations to you all. An incredible effort and a great personal achievement for each of you. Cheers Mark and Simon Hipgrave
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Huge congratulations to you all - we have so enjoyed following your journey and in particular the magnificent photos. Thank you for giving us an insight into the wilderness. And what an achievement for your beautiful dogs Wayne. Hope you are all having a rest now and that you've enjoyed a few platefuls of Scarlett's moose stew! Kate and Richard Charnley
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What an epic achievement of organization, planning and general heroic physical & mental determination! Puts all 4 of you into the dimension of a Nordic/Icelandic saga......Many many congratulations! Robin & Jo Bramley
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What a legendary journey! Huge congratulations to you all. Looking forward to hearing all about it Graham.
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Incredible! Such a testament to the endurance (mental and physical) of all involved. An amazing achievement that will surely go down in history.
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Congratulations Tim and the rest of the team. Great achievement - Glad all is well.
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I am in awe! What a fantastic achievement Tim. Many, many congratulations and BRAVO to the whole team. Can't wait to read the book! Luke
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Congratulations to you and your team Tim. What an amazing achievement. All the planning and hard work over the last few years have come to fruition. It has been so great to follow your progress and hear all about the experience on your blog and your newsletters. The photographs have been magnificant. I can't wait to hear more of the stories and see more photos. Surely an engagement in the lecture theatre at the RGS surrounded by the names of all those other great advernturers awaits!
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To Tim and the team. I never really doubted that you would make this epic journey somehow although I have been worrying about you all along and have told so many of my friends about you - you are almost as famous as Amundson here in the locality of deepest Essex! I hope you can keep the beard until you are back as its looks the authentic explorer attire! Congratulations on an amazing and historic achievement.xx
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Very well done! Would love to hear dog stories and time in the semi frozen Firth River canyon and not being able to use local firewood in cold temps! And, of course, other animal encounters. Cheers.
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Wow Wow Wow! You truly have proved to us all Tim that you ARE the hero we have always imagined you to be! Huge congratulations to all the team (both out there with you and at home) and the wonderful dogs for this monumental achievement. A true adventure and one that we all so look forward to hearing about from you. We couldn't be more thrilled for you all after such meticulous planning and perfect execution (just hope the frostbite really is mild). FANTASTIC! Lol R & A Xx
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Congratulations to Wayne & the whole team. Glad you're all ok & hope the frostbite heals up soon! Especially glad the dogs all made it fit & well.
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I see many congrats and lots of folks happy for you men! I have the privilege to say I am proud of my brother, Wayne for another feather in his cap. Well done! Glad you are all home safe! Dawn Hall Powell
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Tim - A Million Congratulations on achieving your dream and making it a reality. We are all so proud to have such an infamous brother-in-law! You deserve all the credit for planning and surviving such an epic journey. Bit worried this will make you want to do another one. Heaps love Oggs and Hoop xxxx
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Congratulations! Big damn heros for sure!
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Congratulations! Amazing! Well Done! Pleased to hear you all did the journey safely Cheers
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Wow - What an achievement. Delighted that all the planning paid off and you reached the goal. Congratulations to you and your team. Safe journey home to you all.
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Tim and team - A great effort by all of you - Well done indeed. The icing (!) on the cake for us was being able to read about it as it was all happening. It must have been the last thing you wanted to do after a long hard day, but heartfelt thanks for doing it. Best wishes, Stig
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Brilliant
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Congratulations Tim and all your team! Stupendous achievement.
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Truly amazing job one and all! Very humbled by your amazing journey! So... where next? :-)
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You really are all pretty amazing, dogs and humans!!! I feel very proud and quite emotional just reading your stories and imagening what you have experienced! A huge hug and many congratulations!! Sonja xx
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