Wow....................
I had been invited by Dan Moe to join the expedition but I declined since I was in my early years of marriage and mortgage. That was the Christmas before the trip.
In March my wife and I joined our friends from Laramie Wyoming for a hut to hut ski trip in Canada among the group was Sharon who had joined the Baffin expedition. During our ski trip we talked about the Baffin trip - plans, provisions, logistics, riding into crevasses and away from polar bears. Things seemed to be coming together.
Summer came and the expedition had been going well. While visiting Laramie we were told by Sharon's boyfriend Dan that the group had reached the other side of Baffin and were waiting for their arranged boat ride. That is where the trouble began.
The boat owner was a week late and they had run out of food. When he showed up he had a much smaller boat since his larger boat (the boat they had originally hired) was not working. The boat was overloaded with five people in it and its stability was very tender. The boat owner did not bring their dry suits as he was instructed to--though he did bring
a leaky survival suit for himself which saved his life but the leak caused him to lose both lower legs later due to frostbite/gangrene.
Mikes pack with his journal was found a year or more later. He wrote that the group had serious doubts about getting into the boat but they had no food and were already starving.
The boat owner was weakest link in the expedition. The lesson:--the core members may be super competent but they at times need to be able to trust that "supporting members" will be competent enough to do the right things as well.
Mike and Dan Moe were consummate adventurers. As far as biking they rode Continental Divide in the early 80s(?) a year after they hiked the trail and saw then that they might be able to ride most of it. Maps were studied, a route was created, sponsors gathered, and they got 'er done. Mike McCoy who wrote CYCLING THE GREAT DIVIDE called them the "trail blazers of the GDT". There was also a trip to circumnavigate Australia.
Sharon was a sunny spirit with an underlying resolve to finish whatever she started.
I didn't know Brad but I bet he was a stellar individual judging by the company he kept
I miss these guys.
(see the link above to Mark Jenkins Outside article for more info)
Jim
