Out & About

OUTBACK

South Pole left its mark

After hoisting a flag at the South Pole as the first American and oldest person to trek there solo, unassisted and unsupported, Spokane native Todd (McLaughlin) Carmichael, 44, began to deal with the beating he took during his race to set a speed record covering 700 miles in 39 days, ending Dec. 21.

He called it trekking’s Holy Grail. More people have walked on the moon than have finished this Antarctic feat.

“It’s almost like a state of shock,” he said after returning home to Philadelphia last Sunday. “You’re sleep deprived, food deprived — deprived of every thing you know. … Something changes in the mind. I didn’t feel all the pain in my body until I got home and started to decompress.”

Before leaving the South Pole, an emaciated and frostbitten Carmichael sized up the trip in his last radio dispatch from Antarctica.

Going without sleep or food for the last 48 hours in bitter conditions to break the speed record by 1 hour, 44 minutes required “more than digging deep. It mandated that another person inside me take over.”

At the pole, he was hallucinating. His left eye was frozen shut. Doctors at the scientific station treated the frostbite in his feet and lungs.

“I was mentally empty,” he said, “but filled with one idea: It was done.”

OUTBOUND

Eagles departing

The party is over for bald eagles at Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Only five eagles were counted in Wolf Lodge Bay by BLM surveyors on Tuesday, down from 127 on Dec. 9.

OUTCRY

Nordic rivalry

No wonder nordic skiing continues to be a minor sport in the Northwest.

Five of the seven top cross-country skiing events in the area are scheduled for next week, leaving few events for the rest of the winter.

The Great Scott races at Schweitzer, Sterling Pursuit at Mount Spokane, Winterfest at 49 Degrees North, Methow Pursuit at Winthrop and Kootenai Cup at Blackjack trails in Rossland — all are scheduled for Jan. 10-11.

OUTLOOK

Best fishing times

Lunar tables from the U.S. Naval Observatory. Be fishing at least one hour before and one hour after peak times. Applies to all time zones.

(* indicates best day.)

Through Jan. 11

* Today

6:20 p.m., 6:45 a.m.

Monday

7:10 p.m., 7:35 a.m.

Tuesday

8:05 p.m., 8:35 a.m.

Wednesday

9:05 p.m., 9:35 a.m.

Thursday

10:10 p.m., 10:40 a.m.

Friday

11:15 p.m., 11:45 a.m.

Saturday

12:20 a.m. —

Next Sunday

— 12: 50 p.m.

See the Hunting-Fishing Report every Friday in Sports