9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2002 - Page 0042
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2002 |
| Transcription |
40 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) mr/es from the permanent roe pack bears at a safer distance. As we made our way across the loose surface, I was informed that unarmed encounters with polar bears didn’t get much closer than this. The Walkabout gene runs strong in my family. I had been given a two week window and was determined to use it to full effect. After much telephoning, I found a hire car company that offered unlimited mileage. I studied a map of North America and decided to focus on the north. I decided to take an ambitious approach and set my sights on Barrow, a remote Eskimo settle- ment on the northernmost point of Alaska - 340 miles inside the Arctic Circle. By the way, in case you are wondering how Barrow got it’s name, Frederick Beechey, a British explorer, vis- ited the area in 1826 and named the point after the British geog- rapher Sir John Barrow. Now, in order to achieve this, I had to drive from Medicine Hat to Fairbanks, andpick up a flight from there as there is no road link to Barrow. The requirement to fly would mean that the car would be static in an airport parking lot for two days. As I worked on my timelines, I realised that it would also be static for a further two days on days 13 and 14 of my 2 week leave period as I had committed myself to participate in EX WHITE-KNUCKLED LANCER - the officers’ white water rafting weekend. So, that meant that, once on the road, I had to maintain an average of 650 to 700 miles per day for ten days. I packed a tent, a sleeping bag and a significant amount of army rations and set off. For the next 3 days, I travelled up the Alaska Highway running parallel with the Rocky Mountains through British Columbia and Yukon. Words cannot describe the scenery; it is literally breathtaking. Crossing the border into Alaska with a Canadian hire car, an Australian passport, a British Army identity card and a German residential address proved to be very entertain- ing. I arrived in Fairbanks on the morning of Day 4 and imme- diately purchase an air ticket at the airport. By mid-afternoon I was in a 737 passenger/ freight plane heading for the northern- most community in North America. Ninety minutes later, as the aircraft descended over the Arctic Ocean for its final approach, I saw the permanent ice pack which, I found out later, was 40 miles off the coast. The climate in Barrow is artic - the temperature drops below 0”C on 324 days of the year. The sun does not set between 10th May and 2nd August each summer, and does not rise between 18th November and 24th January each winter. I booked into the Top of the World Hotel, which resembled my accommodation in Bosnia in 1999, and slept soundly. The following morning I toured the settlement before handing over a fistful of dollars to a dodgy local guide in order to drive out to Barrow Point in the hope of seeing some polar bears. Apparently, the bears regularly swim in from the ice pack whenever the locals slaughter a whale - I heard that a whale had met its maker within the last ~ _ sail; . r -» . .- After yet another o/ose encounter tn/s t/me wrtn a gr/zz/y, / decrded to d/ton the tent and s/eep /n the car week. After a 20 minute drive in a barely roadworthy 4 X 4, I had the privilege of observing several bears in their natural habitat. I flew out of Barrow that evening and, upon landing, immedi- ately left Fairbanks heading due south towards Anchorage and Valdez. I had heard that the Chugach Mountains just to the north of Valdez were heavily glaciated. I wasn’t disappointed; over the neXt 3 days, I saw over 30 glaciers. Indeed, throughout. the return journey south, the scenery was as spectacular and wildlife as abundant. All in all, it had been a most successful road trip. I had driven 7,000 miles in 10 days and had achieved all my aims. I even made it back in time for EX WHITE-KNUCKLED LANCER. KLB CC C San , master of a// that he surveys |
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