Shackleton's Watchwords
Trail marker at Shoal Bay, on Thurlow Island. A great stop-over place between the tidal rapids that separate Desolation Sound from Johnstone Strait My son, Brendan, gave me a book that provided the meme for the trip on the Inside Passage. The book is a photographic essay and commentary on the Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1954. There is a quote in the book attributed to Ernest Shackleton, whose entrapment in Antarctic ice in the early 1900s and subsequent escape pretty much define intrepid self reliance . When asked what the most important character traits for an explorer were, he replied: Optimism, patience, idealism, and courage... in that order As I prepared Ripple and myself for this journey, I returned again and again to Shackleton's words. I am no explorer, and nothing about my trip was first-worthy or courageous. In fact, I am inclined to replace the word courage in Shackleton's formula with confidence, but the fro...