Hut Point Ridge Hike

Today was Sunday, which means I had the day off, so I decided to head out on a little hike along the Hut Point Ridgeline trail, not far from McMurdo.  The hike itself is only about 2.9 miles round trip, so nothing major.  If you go on any of the farther hikes you are actually required to complete a whole check out process before you can leave; notify the fire department, check out a radio, fill out some paperwork, etc.  That way if you don’t show up or check in at your estimated time back, search and rescue teams are notified and it becomes a pretty serious issue.  But, since we were just heading out around town it wasn’t necessary for this hike.

When we started out, there was relatively no wind and clear skies, the temperature was probably around +5F or so, which is actually warmer than it has been lately.  On our way we came across a seal laying out on the ice, so we stopped and checked it out for a min and then we headed up the face of the ridge.  As you hike up the ridge there are some pretty awesome views all the way around.  On one side you have the frozen Ross Sea and on clear days you can look out across and see the mountains on the opposite side shore.  On the other side, there are various other ridges and mountains and a good view of McMurdo as well.  The trail itself wasn’t too bad, but it is steep in sections and can be pretty slippery, the lava rock is also sharp and can be challenging to walk on at times. 

As we headed up, the wind continued to get stronger and steadier.  By the time we reached the top of the series of ridges, the wind was so strong and cold that it was literally hard to stand.  There were times when I could lay back with all of my weight into the wind and be completely supported.  The wind in Antarctica is tricky and can be hard to predict, for the most part it doesn’t just come in gusts, when it blows, it blows hard and steady, and it doesn’t stop. 

So anyways, we pressed on and we were able to make it back with no issues, but it was interesting to see just how fast the wind can shift and how deceiving the weather can be down here.  When we started out there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but with the wind blowing I would say the temps were well below zero.  There are a few other popular hikes around that I hope to get to soon, hopefully it won’t be blowing quite as hard next time!

"Happy Camper"

I headed out on Tuesday morning for “Happy Camper” training.  Right off the bat, the forecast for the day was a high of 0 degrees, and a low of –35 with the wind chill…Dammit!, not a good start.

Before we actually headed out to the camping area, which is basically in the middle of nowhere, we met up in a classroom for a couple of hours to go over all the different types of risks, safety, what to expect, etc.  Our instructors were both very knowledgeable and experienced.  They have both been down here for several years and they did their best to get us prepped for the night ahead. 

After our class work was done, we loaded up all of our gear on to one of the “Deltas”, similar to what I took to Cape Evans.  We made one last stop at the dorms, and we were off.  It only took about twenty minutes to get to the area where we would be camping, which is just east of the New Zealand Antarctic base (Scott Base).  As soon as we arrived, the twenty of us were basically herded into a small tent-like structure called a “James way”, where we were given some lunch and some more instructions.  Once we were done with lunch, and all other class work, (a couple hours later) we were then issued our sleeping kits, which included a sleeping bag, blanket, and two sleeping pads. 

Our instructors then gave us a quick overview on the stoves, how to set up the two different types of tents, the proper way to make water from snow, and a few other necessities.  We basically had two options.  We could either choose to sleep in one of the tents that were provided, or we could choose to build our own snow shelter to sleep in.  Out of the twenty of us, about 5 of us decided to go for the snow trench! Myself included.  Our instructor gave us a quick demo on how he usually goes about building his snow shelters, but it was ultimately up to us, after all we would be the ones sleeping in them.

So at 6:30pm the instructors gave us one last talk before they headed out, and we were left to fend for ourselves for the night in the middle of Antarctica, which is a little intimidating I have to say.  Before we could construct our snow shelters, all of the tents had to be set up, and we had to create a wall out of snow blocks, to block the wind.  We used saws and shovels and were able to cut and stack good sized blocks, and within about an hour or so we had a nice sized wall constructed, and we were then able to put up the tents.  Finally, around 8:30pm or so, I started on my snow shelter.  The snow is very solid and heavy, but easy to work with and can be molded into blocks using saws and shovels.  I dug out a rectangular trench about six feet long by 3 feet wide, and approximately 3 and a half feet deep.  After I had this done I started cutting blocks to make a roof, which was pretty challenging.  All the while it is below zero temps, and the harder you work, the more you sweat.  This is a bad thing because as your clothes get damp, they literally freeze within a few mins, but luckily the wind wasn’t blowing too hard and we all had brought along dry clothes to change into.  Anyways, by the time I finally had my shelter ready, it was about 11:00pm, but still bright daylight outside.  I curled up in my sleeping bag with several layers of clothing and headed to bed not really knowing what to expect.

Well, talk about a LONG night.  Within a couple of minutes of getting in bed I quickly realized that my socks were damp from all the work I had done, which is bad news.  My toes started freezing pretty quickly, so luckily I had some toe warmers with me, and I was able to stuff them into a pair of dry socks and change them out.  After that, it was okay for a while, but still pretty uncomfortable with the cold all night long, and every hour or so I found myself waking up to make small adjustments.  My shelter did do a good job blocking the wind and actually, the reason it was so hard to sleep had more to do with the light than the cold.  When you wake up and look at your watch and its 3:00am but the sun is shining in your face, it totally messes you up!

Anyways, I just realized that I am basically writing a novel here, so to make a long story short, I survived the night!  Come to find out, it never got down to –35, but we radioed the station this morning and they say it did reach –22 F, which is still COLD, believe me!  While it was a cool experience to be able to actually go camping in Antarctica, At this point I am just happy to be back to my dorm with all my fingers and toes in tact.  I am pretty much exhausted physically and mentally at this point and could probably use a day to recharge, but of course I have to get up bright and early for work…oh well, better be off to sleep.

A Trip to Cape Evans

A few days ago I heard that there was going to be a group of people going out to a place called Cape Evans.  Cape Evans is a historic area here in Antarctica, where early explorers built a shelter on their route to the south pole nearly 100 years ago.  So anyways, I checked into it, and I was able to get the last slot on the list to join the tour.  We headed out this morning at 11:00am and boarded the "Delta", which is basically McMurdo's version of a bus (even though it is more like a monster truck than a bus). 

It took apporximately an hour and half to drive out accross the frozen Ross Sea and arrive at Cape Evans.  Along the way we were able to get out a couple of times and take some pictures of the area, and we also saw a few seals along the way.  The hut at Cape Evans is awesome! It is a very interesting place in that it has remained completely untouched for 100 years.  Everything in the shelter is exactly how it was left in the early 1900s when the expedition was called off and the starving explorers dropped everything and just fled the area.  All the shelves are stocked with food and supplies, there are pictures and tools all over the walls, and there is even a frozen penguin laying on the table that they were prepping for food, completely preserved because it is so cold.  There is also a stable area where the horses and dogs were kept, and in the last stall there is a dog chained to the fence, well the remains of what was once a dog that is.  A complete skeleton with the leash and colar still around its neck!

After we looked all around the hut and surrounding area we loaded back onto the delta and started back, but on the way we were able to stop at a huge Ice Burg, which was by far the coolest thing I have seen since I have been here!  This thing is the size of a small mountain, and two thirds of it are still under water.  We got out and it took about a half hour to walk all the way around this thing.  I tried to take some pictures, but the camera does not do it justice.  The color of blue on this thing is undescribable, almost like it is glowing, but unfortunately my camera just doesnt pick it up very well. 

The whole trip took 6 hours and I just got back a little while ago.  Today was by far my favorite day since I have been here.  Truely sights that you could only see in Antarctica, and the type of things you think of when someone talks about the South Pole or the Arctic, etc.  Never in my life would I have thought that I would have seen something like the glacier I saw today.

The Food

The food here at McMurdo has a couple of good things going for it.  One, it is buffet style for every meal, and two, you can eat as much as you want.  They tend to have a pretty good variety of food each day to choose from and they always have a couple of different meat choices, which is good.  They even had pizza one night, and although it wasn’t the greatest, I can’t really complain.  Although the food isn’t the highest quality, it’s not bad and I have always been able to find something that works.  I’m pretty sure that the overall goal of Raytheon is to try and keep their employees fat and happy.  The best part of the food is probably the dessert selection and they even have a “frosty girl” frozen yogurt machine, which is awesome.  Every Thursday at break time the kitchen serves all you can eat honey butter biscuits.  In fact we are encouraged to eat a lot because your body tends to burn a lot of calories just trying to stay warm.  So for now, I will continue to go for seconds and/or thirds, and when I get home I will probably head straight to the Philadelphian, and pick up a cheese steak sandwich and some onion rings…cant wait.

The Daily Routine

Well it has been a few days since I have posted anything so I figured I would try to write a little bit about a typical day working in Antarctica.  In the morning I basically get up, and grab some breakfast in the galley before walking over to the electrical shop and starting work at 7:30am.  Before we head out we check the weather report to make sure it is safe to go outside and to determine what type of gear we need for the day. 

In the morning it is a requirement that all the shops have a daily safetly meeting before work and also that we all go through a series of stretches to get the blood moving and stay warm etc.  After that is done we are told what the plan is for the day and we are sent out.

There are currently a total of 8 people in my crew.  We have four Journeyman electricians, three apprentice electricians and a general helper, at this point I am the youngest in our group by a couple of years.  So far our group has been working on one main project, running conduit for a NASA satellite, however we are also responsible for all of the service calls around town.  Today myself and another guy were in change of the service calls.  We ran around town (literally), with our list of work orders and did things like repair lighting, outlets, inspections, etc.

Today I found out a couple of things, the first is that I am scheduled to attend "happy camper" school sometime soon, which is a type of survival training where they send you out into the ice and you build your own snow trench shelter and spend the night in the freezing temperatures.  Some people are dreading it, but I am actually looking forward to it.  The second thing I found out today is that I along with another Journeyman are being deployed to set up a science field camp approximately 500 miles away from here on WAIS (Western Antarctica Ice Shelf).  We are scheduled to be out there for two weeks, so its going to be pretty tough, it has been getting down to around 50 below out there so hopefully it will be bearable by the time we head out. 

Other than that, not too much going on down here.  I hope everthing is going well for everyone back home, I will write more when I get more info.

The Crary Lab

Since today is Sunday, which means the entire station has the day off, I decided to walk down to the Crary Lab and go on a little science tour they were holding this afternoon.  The Crary Lab is the main science facility here at McMurdo, and throughout the course of a season approximately 1,000 scientists will cycle in and out of the lab conducting all kinds of experiments.  The scientists are studying all kinds of different things from the area; Mt Erebus (the volcano), sea life, meteors, etc.

They took us through the lab and we were able to check out some of their various displays.  Along the way we heard from some of the scientists about different types of experiments they are conducting right now with some of the different species of fish in the area.  We were also able to go into the science aquarium area and check out some of the different types of fish species that live under the ice, and they also had a “touch tank” set up that you could stick your hand in and touch some of the different animals which was pretty cool. 

Other than that not too much going on for today, the temperature has been around –3 degrees F, for most of the day and with the wind chill, they are saying it is more like –14.  I guess tomorrow is my first official day of work down here so should be another long busy day, but makes for the time to go by a little faster.

Arriving on the Ice!

The day started off bright and early with a 4:00am wake up call from our hotel in New Zealand, at which time we loaded up all of our gear on to the shuttles, and headed to the airport.  When we arrived we were given time to change in to our extreme cold weather gear, which is comparable to an astronaut getting ready to go into outer space.  In order to even board the flight, we were required to have on heavy-duty carhartt parkas, bibs, thermals, gloves, eye protection, and various other cold weather accessories.  After we were all geared up, and ready to head out, we boarded a C17 military cargo plane, and set out for the five hour flight to McMurdo.

It was very interesting flying on a C17.  There are only a few small windows, but we were able to take turns looking out, and about two hours or so into the flight we were able to see snow-covered mountains and valleys of Antarctica.  We were also able to take turns going into the cockpit and meeting the pilots, which was really interesting. 

Our plane set down this afternoon at McMurdo at about 2:00pm.  When we got off the plane the temperature was 1 degree Fahrenheit, which happens to be the warmest day they have had so far this season.  It was blue skies in all directions and we could clearly see the volcano in the background with a cloud of smoke rising from the crater.  We were quickly loaded on to Ivan, the huge “terra bus” that took us from the airstrip, to our dorms.  After a quick orientation we were issued dorm rooms and met with our supervisors and crews.

My crew seems like a pretty cool group, and my supervisor informed me that we would be handling all the electrical service calls around McMurdo.  We will also handle the science field camps, and at some point everyone in my crew should have a chance to take a helicopter ride out to at least one of these different field camps located at various points in Antarctica.  We will also be working on some kind of satellites for NASA so it should be interesting work.  I am completely jet-lagged at this point and am about to turn in, tomorrow should be a busy day!

Aftershocks!

Since I have been here in Christchurch there have been two earthquakes!  The first happened about an hour or so after I arrived in the hotel, which I found out today was a 5.0.  This one was the bigger of the two, and shook my room pretty good, but lasted for just a few seconds.  The second, which felt a little smaller, happened just a few mins ago.  Apparently there was a huge 7.0 quake that hit here not too long ago, and they are still experiencing these aftershocks.  There is still a lot of damage that can be seen around town from the bigger quake, and even here in my hotel room there are cracks running up and down the corners of the walls.  Must not be too big of a deal, otherwise I would imagine they would have evacuated me by now.  Well time to get ready for tomorrow, ice flight leaves at 6:00am.

A Whole Lot of Travel

Well the last time I wrote I was just arriving in Denver for orientation and training.  Orientation was as whole lot of information packed in to a very short amount of time.  The majority of the training had to do with basic safety, travel, and information on what we can expect when we get down to the ice. I quickly learned that there are two different types of people going to the ice this year.  There are those who will be going to Antarctica for the first time, like me, and there are also those who have been going down to work on the various bases for many years.  There are many interesting people here from all accross the United States who have lived and traveled all over the world.

After training was finally over, we set out on Monday around noon, and started our long journey to Christchurch, New Zealand.  Between the extremely long flights, bus rides, lay overs, transfers, etc., it took me 24+ hours to get here...but somehow I did manage to get here.  I also managed to travel into the future somewhere along the way and am now a day ahead of what I was when I started off, which is going to be tough to get used to.  New Zealand seems like a very interesting place, I was able to go walk around town for a couple of hours this afternoon and check things out, but because I am so jet-lagged at this point I will probably wait till tomorrow before doing any more exploring. 

Tomorrow I am scheduled to pick up my ECW (extreme cold weather) gear, and from there should have the rest of the day to check out the town, until I head out to the ice on the 15th. 

Ready or not...

I can't believe its already time for me to leave!  The first leg of my trip began this morning at 8:30am, as I boarded my flight to Denver, Colorado.  So far so good, no problems getting to my hotel in Denver.  I will be here for 2 and a half days of safety training and orientation before I start the long journey to Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealand on Monday afternoon! 

Reality Setting In!

Well the time is nearly here.  Strange to think that at this time next week I will be in Denver, Colorado attending orientation, and from there in Christchurch New Zealand, and Antartica shortly thereafter!  Seems like since I found out I had been officially moved to a primary position just last week, things have been crazy!  I find myself scrambling to get things done before I depart on October 9th.  Although I am excited for the adventure I am also sad to be leaving my family and friends for the next few months, though everyone has been very helpful and supportive.