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 oday we can see the end of the desert and the beginning of the eastern grasslands -- beautiful green grasslands that stretch as far as the eye can see -- no more desert. We have walked across the Gobi for its entire length. Time to go home away from the wind, sand and heat.
Our camel owners who were notified by our resupply people were here to meet us and very proudly gathered the two camels for the return journey to their home. They will be well cared for the rest of their lives which is very important to us.  It was very difficult to say good-bye to them. These two camels were an important part of the crossing and their owners are very proud that they own two such camels and we are very grateful for their help. We will return to Mongolia in the future to visit Tom and Jerry and their owners.
Physically it has been a tough journey at times. The heat rising off a desperately dry desert becomes oppressive and unending. Shade became but a distant memory. The dark gray-black gravel plains were hot and seemed to go on forever. We would look ahead to the horizon that had no visual relief except for the many mirages. At least the mirage lakes looked cool even though we knew they didn't exist. My car accident injuries sometimes made walking an adventure in itself. I used one trekking pole, then two. I had to gear up and discipline myself to always remember the goal and minimize any painful periods of walking.
Mentally it is hard to keep an optimistic frame of mind day after day especially when the temps go over 110 degrees F. In the beginning we dared not think of all the miles ahead of us. We mentally broke the journey up into sections and finished one section at a time. When we passed the 1,000 mile goal we could allow ourselves to think of going home.
The dryness and loneliness of the desert made us realize how vulnerable we were. Especially when the camel rolled and broke our water bottles. Heat and thirst don't make good companions.
I write this as we fly north out of the desert in our resupply plane. We leave with a certain amount of sadness. It was a difficult journey and at times we had to push extremely hard through the blowing sand and the depressing heat. But it seems, as with our past expeditions, when the struggle is almost unbearable it makes victory all the more precious. As the desert disappears behind us we know that a part of us will always remain there and the Gobi and its resilient, wonderful people will always keep a small part of our hearts. It has been a privilege to know them.
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