Airton adventurer Alastair Humphreys completes desert trek (From Craven Herald)
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Airton adventurer Alastair Humphreys completes desert trek
9:00am Monday 21st January 2013 in News
Aliastair on the desert trek across the Empty Quarter
Airton adventurer Alastair Humphreys has completed another expedition – walking 1,000 miles across the Empty Quarter desert.
The venture was organised at the last minute after a scheduled trip tracing the tragic journey of Captain Scott to the South Pole and back was called off.
Instead, 35-year-old Alastair joined Leon McCarron, a Northern Irish adventurer and cameraman, and followed in the footsteps of another of his heroes, adventurer and travel writer Wilfred Thesiger.
The two men recreated the adventures recounted in Thesiger’s book, Arabian Sands, which was written 60 years ago.
Alastair said: “The main aim of the expedition was to produce a short film comparing our adventure and our experiences in Arabia with Thesiger’s. Working on the film is my top priority for 2013.
“It was a difficult journey, but wonderful too. We hauled a cart containing food, equipment and water – weighing up to 300kg – from Salalah in Oman to Dubai in the UAE.”
The journey ended at Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, in downtown Dubai.
“Leon and I wanted a finale that really highlighted the incredible changes that have taken place in Arabia since Wilfred Thesiger’s expeditions here in the 1940s,” said Alastair.
The desert adventure was Alastair’s third major expedition of 2012. He began the year by rowing across the Atlantic Ocean and then headed for the Greenland icecap to train for his aborted South Pole trek.
“On the surface they appear very different, but actually they were very similar journeys,” said Alastair. “They all contained a hearty dose of misery, as well as all the laughs and memorable moments that make expeditions so rewarding.
“They were all self-sufficient journeys in harsh environments where safety and success depended completely on careful decisions, good equipment, and excellent team mates.”
Alastair first made the headlines ten years ago when he cycled around the world – it was a journey that covered 45,000 miles and took four years to complete.
