The sketch comes from Uemura's diary of crossing the Greenland Ice Crown alone from north to south. The dotted line was an ice crack, and the short black line marked where his two dogs had fallen into the ice gap.
On February 26, 1984, two climbers found a diary in a snow cave on the slopes of Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, in Alaska. The owner of this diary is Naomi Uemura, a Japanese. He disappeared for two weeks after planting the Japanese flag on top of the mountain.
Uemura was born in Japan, and due to his natural shyness, mountaineering catered to his love of solitude. Soon, he was known for his own achievements that only teams could achieve before. He has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (the tallest mountain in Africa), Aconcagua in Argentina (the tallest mountain in South America), Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe, and Mont Mathorn, another mountain in the Alps. In addition, he traveled all over Japan, drifting 6,000 kilometers along the Amazon River on a raft alone. In 1970 he successfully reached the summit on Japan's first Everest expedition and achieved his first solo climb to Mount McKinley.
In 1978, Uemura embarked on his first sea ice crossing journey from Ellesmere Island to the Arctic with 19 Eskimo dogs. In the 57 days he spent on his trip to the Arctic, he endured hundreds of atmospheric high-pressure ridges, nearly lost his dog while crossing thin ice, and escaped polar bear attacks. In that attack, the polar bear ate all of his dog's food and destroyed his tent and sleeping bag, which Uemura was still in.
Naoji Uemura arrives at the Arctic Circle (Credit: National Geographic)
Although the solo climb of Mount McKinley was achieved in 1970, Uemura decided to re-climb Mount McKinley in 1984, this time with the goal of climbing in the winter. He quickly reached his goal and managed to reach the summit on his 43rd birthday. He relayed the news to a Japanese photographer via radio waves, and then gleefully returned to the camp. The next day, a small plane saw him for the last time. Immediately after, a fierce storm of snow swept across the mountain.
The diary left by Uemura describes the harsh environment he encountered during his last ascent to the summit — the ice gap, the temperature of minus 40 degrees Celsius, not enough fuel to thaw food, while showing his humor and inner strength, recording the song of his heart that stuck to his goals.
This is the layout of the tent, with a sleeping bag in the middle and a rifle behind the head for backup.
Uemura's body is still somewhere in Mount McKinley, unseen, and his spirit remains there. In 1988, Alaskan mountaineer Vernon Tejas became the first person to summit Mount McKinley in the winter and return safely. Tehstein admits that he once said "hello" in Japanese when he was sheltering from a snowstorm in a snow cave because he felt that the spirit of Uemura was still there. Uemura had done all his plans, and perhaps the mountain was the last refuge best suited to this illustrious traveler and gentle and humble man.
Content source: China Pictorial Publishing House" Explorer's Notebook