May 19th was a milestone in the expedition. For the first time since April 25, a mountain view appeared. At first, they were just a dot on the horizon but at the end of the day, they were unbelievably close. A campsite at 1,300 meters was chosen with a mountain view after 35 km of skiing and the mood was exceptionally good. The weather continued to be on their side and they were lightly clothed the whole day. Skiing conditions were worse because melted snow makes it harder to glide. The large waves on the glacier continued where they skied down one wave and had to work hard to get up on the next one. Still, net gain in descent.
On May 20th was an early rise because they wanted to get as far as they could before making the final stretch down the glacier tongue. At the end of the day, they had covered 36 km and had only 19 km to go. A view of land was in sight the whole day and with lower altitudes, the temperatures were rising, peaking at +0.3°C. Melted snow was problematic mid-day but conditions became better later in the day. Animal life was starting to show and a lonely goose was sitting on the glacier looking rather lost.
Today (May 21) the plan was to wake up super early. The final stretch is no highway and better to be safe than sorry time-wise. Pick-up is scheduled at 16:00 local time at 660 meters.
