Sir Ernest Shackleton’s big dream was to cross the Antarctic continent on foot. In 1914 he set out with a team of 28 men to do just that.
They failed.
What they did was survive. Amazingly all 28 made it out alive. The expeditions ship Endurance had threaded its way though the Weddell Sea before becoming trapped in ice. For 10 months they were carried by their ice “captors” until Shackleton ordered the team to abandon ship in October of 1915. For 5 months they would walk, dragging their small boats, back toward the open sea. Amazingly, nobody went nuts and nobody died.
Once they made their way to the open water, it was 3 days until they would set foot on Elephant Island. Exhausted and nearly out of provisions, they would survive on birds and fish. The journey wasn’t over. Elephant Island was in the middle of nowhere and nobody was going to find them there. Soooo..
Shackleton and five others set sail for South Georgia, an Island that was 680 miles away. After 17 days through gales, snow squalls, and heavy seas they finally reached their target: the whaling station at South Georgia. They couldn’t land their little boats on the whaling station side of the island due to the fact they were landing in the middle of a hurricane.
Exhausted, famished, and parched they lapped up rain water on the beach like wild beasts. Now they had to cross overland a distance of about 24 miles as the crow flies, across South Georgia’s mountainous interior. Twice on the mountain they literally took a “leap of faith” into the fog not knowing if they were jumping off a cliff or a couple feet. Both times they landed in snow in less than 100 yards without incident. Finally after a 24 hour walk across the mountain range, they made it into the whaling station. They survived.
BTW, the other survivors were back on Elephant Island, waiting. Shackleton sent a rescue squad for them. They too made it out alive. This story just amazes me. Everytime I’m starting to feel a little down, a little worn out, a little dejected, a little out of sorts, and a little “woe is me,” I remind myself of stories like this. These stories serve as as a solid anti-whine pill, at least to me. Thanks, Ernest, for the reminder. Endure, dumbASS. Endure.
Live hard. Love ❤️ harder…
BUILT TO LEAD 