Amber on Ice

09 Nov -- On November 1, 1911 Scott and 8 members of his crew began their famous Polar Expedition from Cape Evans towards the Pole. As they started out only 10 of the original 19 ponies remained alive. They still had dogs, but none of the men had learned to tem, and Scott felt dogs were unreliable. After 6-weeks of trekking, they had reached their Safety Camp on 20 December at which time Scott sent 1/2 the party back to Cape Evans. Two weeks later, three more men were sent home, and 5 remained on the trek South. During the first week of January 1912 as they past the 89th parallel and walked towards the Pole they began to see something in the distance. It turned out that Amundsen and the Norwegians had beaten them there. Can you imagine a race like that, after so long and in such harsh conditions, to look up and see you'd been beaten. Wow! Soon after they left the Pole to return to Cape Evans, the weather worsened. Near 11 February 1912, Scott's crew had come upon tragic times. They had taken a wrong turn and ended up trekking through a horrendous storm. The remaining men perished in their tent and that is where their bodies were discovered in a search party led by Teddy Evans, Scott's Second in Command. Next to them lay all of their journals and final letters home.