15 May, 2003

Weather: 44 mph winds, blowing snow, little visibility, -16 degrees c

Beautiful blooming apple trees surrounding a wonderful beach with warm open water was spotted across the ice sheet. We could see people in their Bermuda swim suits eating fresh vegetables, drinking unfrozen cokes while jumping and splashing in the liquid water. It was only 1km away, what would it hurt to run over there and enjoy in the fun. We ran to our tents, grabbed our warm gear and met at the poop tent to enjoy the beach not far away. As we looked again it was no longer there!!!! What was going on? Who was playing this criminalistic joke? Our hopes were quickly dashed as we headed back to the cook tent to let this 4 day storm continue to slow our progress.

Fata Morgana, a special type of mirage, is common in the Arctic. Many early explorers, who were producing maps, often drew in mountain ranges and islands that never really existed. Fata Morganas are caused by reflections of water, ice and snow through a temperature inversion. These reflections often times make well defined features that are really not there. In the past, these images have confused explorers who did not trust there maps but trusted their eyes only to become lost. Fata Morganas have also proved to transport images long distances. Normal visibility at sea is 18km however, sightings of islands, cities and ships that are hundreds of kilometers away have been reported.

The five of us have not been disillusioned by the Fata Marganas, however, this storm that has prevented us from collecting data has provided some time to think of the personal items that each person is missing…. pizza, coke, warm toes and new books. The camaraderie of our group is still strong and I have not heard too many of the same stories twice.

Frosty Work!