South America

Well... this is the end of the road.
With a lot of luck and the correct playing of our cards, we made it from our high camp to Punta Arenas, Chile in one push. I was awake for about 30 hours ¨yesterday¨. We carried heavy loads from high camp all the way down to Mt Vinson base camp, picking up the items we left at the other camp along the way. As we were setting up camp, we recieved a radio call informing us that the twin engine otter ski plane was on its way. We were also informed that there was a posibility that the Aleutian jet would be in the air that night and could bring us back to Chile. This was a stroke of luck for us since that flight was supposed to come to Antarctica on the 4th of December. So, after a long day of hiking and an absolutely fantastic flight from base camp to Patriot Hills landing strip we waited for 10 hours to fly back to South America, arriving a day early! We had all been planning on waiting for several days at base camp or Patriot hills because of weather or other delays. In fact, our return flight tickets were all scheduled for just before Christmas to allow for weeks of bad weather and delays. Anyway, we are in Punta and are scheduled to begin our two day air trek back to the states this afternoon. What a surreal experience this has been. I think a couple of good meals and a bit more sleepwill allow me to put my thoughs in a little better perspective. Adios for now...