Distance

Day 16 of the expedition

Distance traveled: 29.5 km

Position: N 45,13 E 101,33

Day 17 of the Expedition

Distance traveled: 80.5 km

Position: N 45,28 E 102,31

The last two days have shown great contrast. Yesterday was a slow and gruelling day with little wind. We still kited, but the attempt was rather sad and mostly involved a lot of waiting for the occasional gust of wind. During the gust, we would kite as fast and as far as we could until the kites inevitably fell out of the sky during a lull. Then we would begin waiting again. By afternoon it became apparent that there would be no more wind for the day; we had waited 30 minutes since the last gust. It was time to haul. In poor spirits we continued to haul into the night, eventually getting to bed around 1 am.

In the morning we woke early and set up the solar panels outside where they would begin collecting sunlight. The winds were just a breeze but it was obvious that this would be a kiting day. In our excitement, we ate and packed our gear quickly in order to get off at a decent hour.

Despite a wrong turn around mid day, which brought us further into the mountains than we would have liked, the terrain and winds cooperated. We made camp near night fall and finally checked the GPS for our distance traveled. 80 km! By far our longest day! If we were tired, we did not show it. We were excited but more importantly relieved. Since the beginning of the trip it had worried us that the winds or the terrain would prevent us from making more than 50 km in a day. Now at least we knew it was possible. Hopefully in the next few days to come, we will be able to beat that distance!

Eric