Our teams awoke around 9 AM to cloudy skies, blustery winds and the possibility that the weather might prevent a return to Longyearbyen. They were told to leave their tents up until they had confirmation that the plane could in fact make a landing. There was nothing left at Barneo. When the plane did land, the reloading was a bit chaotic as everything, including all our kit, our dogs and the remainder of the Barneo Basecamp, was loaded on to the Antanov for the final flight to Longyearbyen.
When the plane touched down in Spitsbergen everyone was transferred to the Radisson for the final night of the expedition. Everyone enjoyed hot showers (ahhhh!!!!) along with clean clothes, access to internet, phones, etc. A celebration dinner offered (no dehydrated food!) and after dinner drinks gave people the first chance to relax and reflect on their experiences. A good time is being had by all.
The expedition officially ends tomorrow morning but not everyone is going home right away. Some people will be staying on to explore Spitsbergen, while others will begin their homeward journeys.
We will have one more blog posting tomorrow, but in case you don't check back we want to thank you for following all our 2013 North Pole teams. It has been our pleasure sharing their adventures with you.
Our next expedition will be the Shackleton Crossing of South Georgia Island in October 2013. This expedition was just named of of Outside Magazine's 50 Trips of a Lifetime, so be sure to follow along.
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