Hell of a Season!

Four months ago when I started my journey to Antarctica I didn’t really know what to expect.  Now, a few days from leaving, when I think back on some of the things I have seen and done within that time I can’t help but feel privileged to have had this opportunity.  Being so far from home there have been many highs and lows.  I have missed my family and home, friends, my dog, but along the way I have met a lot of great friends and interesting people from all over the country/world.  I now know why they say that Antarctica is the harshest continent on earth; I have experienced, and worked in, some of the coldest and windiest temperatures/conditions on the face of the planet.  I have seen things that I never thought I would have seen in my lifetime, from massive glaciers and icebergs, to a 14,000ft active volcano right in my backyard.  I have come face to face with wildlife and soared over the icy Ross Sea in helicopters.  I have flown 800 miles into the heart of the continent and experienced the bitter cold temperatures of WAIS.  I have spent the night in a snow trench at –22F weather and I still have all of my fingers and toes to show for it.  I have been to the Taylor Valley’s and have seen seal mummies and skeletons.  I have climbed Castle Rock, Observation Hill, and the Hut Point Ridgeline.  I have lived with the never-ending daylight.  I have flown in the cockpit of C130’s, C17’s, and A-star helicopters.  I have worked on projects for NASA, and have ran thousands of feet of rigid conduit for the National Polar Environmental Satellite System.  I have accomplished all these things, despite working 54-hour workweeks, attending school online, and living with 5 other dudes in close quarters. 

Yes, I think its safe to say that I have been through a lot in the past few months and while I am definitely ready to head home, I can now see why people decide to come back year after year.  Though I arrived with some uncertainty, I would like to think that I will be leaving with a new found confidence, the way I figure it, if I can make it through this, there’s not much else out there that I can’t do.  For everyone back home who has been following my blog, I just wanted to say thanks for your support and I will see you soon!

I am scheduled to leave the ice on February 9^th, and after exploring New Zealand for a couple of weeks, will be home toward the end of February.  So with that, I guess its time to retire the blog, and the only thing left to say is that it’s been one hell of a season!

 

Blasting the Ice Pier!

There is a large ice shelf that has formed in the pier that is blocking the ships from coming in.  Today they used explosives and blasted it out, it was pretty awesome to watch.  Here is the footage....

I guess when its costing $60,000/day to have the ships anchored just outside of McMurdo, you have to do something!...

Ships Arriving...

For the last week or so there have been two ships arriving at McMurdo.  The first ship to come in was the "Ice Breaker".  The Ice Breaker comes in to clear a path through the ice, in order for the other ships to follow behind.  It moves super slow and basically just crawls up onto the sea ice and the weight of the ship smashes through the thick ice below, foot by foot.  So, after the ice breaker had cleared a path into the McMurdo ice pier, the second ship to follow behind it was the Nathaniel B Palmer.  The Palmer is actually much bigger and it is used for science expeditions all over the world, from Greenland to Antarctica, to South Africa and South America, etc.  I was able to take a tour of the ship and it was pretty cool to see.  The ship itself is huge, and pretty high-tech with all kinds of science equipment and different labratories on board etc. 

So for now, the ice breaker will continue to circle around the area and clear a path for any of the other ships scheduled to come in.  As soon as enough ice gets cleared out, I am hoping to see a whale or two in my last couple of weeks on the ice, but we'll just have to wait and see I guess.

New Harbor & the Dry Valley's

Last Wednesday I was scheduled to fly out to do some work in place called New Harbor. New Harbor is located about 50 miles from McMurdo.  I was especially excited about this job for a couple of reasons, the main reason is that the only way to access the camp is by helicopter, and the second reason is that New Harbor is located right at the mouth of the “Dry Valleys”.  The Dry Valleys are unique in that they are not covered in ice; in fact they look more like a frozen desert than anything.  A frozen desert that is surrounded by mountains that is, which means there are hikes in the area.  Not to mention that it is just another one of those places where not many people have the opportunity to go, and those are usually the coolest places.

So, the helicopter picked us up as planned on Wednesday morning.  There were four of us in total scheduled to fly out, along with three others waiting for us at camp.  Well, all I can say is that flying in a helicopter is pretty awesome.  As we lifted off we shot straight up into the air like a rocket…. held steady for a second, and “boom!” we were off!  For the first part of the flight we flew over the frozen Ross Sea where we could see open water in the distance.  Below us, along the cracks in the ice, you could see seals basking in the sun and the mountains on the horizon.  As we got closer to the Dry Valleys we flew along side the base of some mountains until the snow and ice eventually turned into a desert-like terrain.  After about 30 minutes, and a few more ridges we could see the small camp in the distance.  New Harbor camp is located right at the edge of the Ross Sea in the Taylor Valley, which more or less looks like the surface of the moon.  Surrounding the camp there are snow covered mountains and glaciers in every direction.  The main purpose of the New Harbor camp is to support diving.  From my understanding the ice in the area is much darker and the sun has a hard time penetrating though, therefore the environment is more like one that would be found in much deeper waters.

After landing, we were led into the Jamesways and were shown what we needed to do, which was a simple task, just swapping out some old wiring and doing some inspections to get the camp ready to be closed up for the winter.  Well, within about 4 or 5 hours we had completed all of our work and were ready to go check out the area.  We decided to hike out to the Commonwealth Glacier, which was about two miles out.  The hike was slow going because you are pretty much walking through sand and rock for the most part, but the rocks are really interesting.  There are billions of them, and they are all different shapes, sizes, and colors.  After about an hour we came to the edge of the glacier, which was pretty incredible, every once and a while it would crack and pieces would break off and come crashing down.  So, we took some pictures and hung out for a half hour before starting back.  On the way back we came across a seal carcass, which was interesting because it was miles away from the ocean, and it looked like something you would be more likely to find in Death Valley than in Antarctica.

That night we slept on cots in the Jamesway and were scheduled to be picked up by helicopter the next day.  So in the morning, we woke up and packed up our sleep kits and got ready to head out.  Well, not long after, we got word on the radio that a big storm was hitting McMurdo and that there would be no flights going out all day.  Everyone was fine with this; after all there are definitely worse places to be stuck, however there wasn’t much food for the seven of us, and there wasn’t much to do.  There were a few snacks here and there so we ate those throughout the day, and went on a few walks/hikes around the area as well to make the time go by a little faster.  When we woke up the next morning, the storm that had hit McMurdo, was now hitting us.  There was wind blowing and snow falling and yet again, the flights for the day were cancelled.  Again…no big deal, but now we were getting seriously low on food, but luckily there was a survival box that we were able to tap into, that was filled with nasty, salty, powdered soups, and a few chocolate bars.  So we ate that throughout the day and figured that if our flight got cancelled again, we would take a 12-mile hike over to Marble Point, which is another camp in the area, and grab some supplies there.

Well, to make a long story short, we woke up the next day and the storm had lifted enough to get the chopper in.  On the way back I was able to ride in the front seat of the helicopter so it was a pretty cool experience.  Although it was kind of nice to get back to McMurdo, it was a pretty cool adventure and it was nice to have a break from the normal town activities and work.

Penguins!!!

Well…penguin that is, singular, but a penguin nonetheless!  Today I officially have exactly one month left on the ice, and to celebrate my one month anniversary, I saw one penguin tonight!  This guy is an Adelie penguin, and he is officially the first one that I have seen up close while on the ice.  The other day I was able to see about seven of them but they were way off in the distance. 

We sat and watched this one for about twenty minutes and he never took a step, just stood there like a statue basking in the sun.  Sometime within the next week or so, a big Ice Breaker ship is going to be coming in to smash up all of the ice and allow ships to come into McMurdo.  Word is, as soon as that happens, more and more penguins will start popping up, so hopefully this one is the first of many that I will be able to see in my last few weeks.  It would also be really cool to see Emperor penguins, which are the bigger ones, but we’ll see what happens, for now I’m just happy that I was able to see this guy!

New Years Eve, Antarctica Style

For New Years Eve here in Antarctica the main festivity was “icestock”, which is basically McMurdo’s version of Woodstock.  All week long they had been preparing/setting up for today’s big event.  There was a stage, bleachers, and a few booths set up just outside of the main dorm room area, and we had several different bands play throughout the night.  Despite the fact that there really aren’t too many people here in town, I was surprised d to see how many decent bands they were able to put together for the concert.  The show lasted from about 6:00pm to 1:00am, but because it was so cold people tended to filter in and out throughout the night.  They also roasted two full pigs for ten hours, and barbequed some hot dogs and burgers, etc. 

So I guess once again all I can say is that I never thought I would be bringing the New Year along side a bunch of hippies and nomads in the middle of Antarctica, but all in all I must say that I had a pretty good time, and surprisingly they really did manage to put together a decent show. 

Christmas in Antarctica

Christmas in Antarctica was a lot different than back home to say the least.  They do their best to try and put up some decorations around town and all, but no matter what they do, it just doesn’t seem to have the feel of Christmas.  In fact, for Christmas Eve this year I spent my night (if you can call it night) hiking to the top of Castle Rock once again with a couple of buddies.  I will say this though, never in my life would I have guessed that I would be spending Christmas on the top of a huge cliff in Antarctica, that’s for sure. 

On the other hand, it was nice to get some packages from back home, and Christmas dinner was awesome!  They served all kinds of food including lobster, steak, duck, lamb, mashed potatoes, etc…and the list goes on, not to mention all of the desserts, so that was probably the highlight of Christmas for me this year.  It was also nice to have a two-day weekend this weekend, and because its New Years next week, we should be getting another long weekend next weekend, so that should be nice.

Other than that, I just wanted to wish everyone back home a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!