Journal entry: 2 July 2019.
Freshfield Pass, 4280 m / 14,040 ft. Rwenzori Mountain Range, Uganda-DRC borderlands. First proper view of Mt. Stanley. Shit. Savoia Glacier is gone. It has been lost and I missed it. “I think that glacier disappeared about ten years ago. I remember it well. It makes me sad.” My guide Uziah says. With my arm extended toward the mountaintop above me, I was scrutinizing a 1963 illustration of Mount Stanley’s Savoia Glacier and comparing it to what I was witnessing. I was holding the most recent scientific report on Savoia Glacier our party had been able to locate. The ‘Mountains of the Moon,’ as ancient Egyptians called them, are not heavily trafficked—they are much too remote, and Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are often politically unstable. And then there is the elevation, steepness of the terrain, and rainy seasons. As tough and resolved as mountain glacier scientists are, fieldwork here is a major undertaking. I was traveling with an undaunted scientist and a fellow artist. We were there to document some of the last sub-tropical glaciers on the African continent. Savoia Glacier was one of our objectives. I had seen a 2007 photograph of the glacier taken from where I was standing on Freshfield Pass. In that photograph the glacier looks to be about 600 meters long and 150 meters wide, like what the Duke of Abruzzi’s party had witnessed in 1906. I was looking at a light-colored, newly exposed rock basin devoid of snow and ice. Had I known how quickly things were changing in the Rwenzori mountains, maybe I could have traveled there ten years prior. I missed my chance. Savoia Glacier (d. ~2009) taught me to GO! If not now, when?
Todd Anderson is a visual artist who focuses on the global climate crisis www.ToddAndersonArtist.com
For Every Jewel There is a Question:
Is it possible that the “perfect moment” you’re waiting for has already passed?
