The Pressure Ridges

Last night I was fortunate enough to head out on one of the Pressure Ridge tours just outside of Scott Base.  The Pressure Ridges are these spectacular looking ice ridges that are formed when the sea ice meets the permanent ice.  I had seen the ridges a couple of times while visiting Scott Base, but it was always from a distance, so I was excited to be able to check them out up close.

There were 9 people on the tour as well as one guide.  So we made our way on foot from Scott Base out onto the sea ice, where we were able to take a trail and weave in and out of these ridges.  The ridges themselves are these large jagged ice formations that come in all different shapes and sizes.  Similar to the ice berg I saw a couple of weeks back, the color on these things is pretty awesome, and when the light hits them certain way they seem to glow.  While making my way through the icy pathway, I couldn’t help but think to myself, that as a whole, this place really is more like another planet than another continent.

As we made our way further along the trail, we came across a weddell seal laying out on the ice.  As soon as our group got close enough it starting barking and rolling around on the ice.  It hung around long enough for us to get a couple of pictures before it made its way into the ridges and out of sight.  We pressed on and came across various other groups of seals along our way, each one seemingly has its own personality, so you never quite know what they are going to do, but all in all they really didn't seem to be bothered by our presence. 

The whole tour took approximately two hours, and was around a mile and half of walking.  The temperature was probably around zero with the wind-chill, but its amazing how tolerable 0 degrees seems when you have the right gear on, and after you are acclimated to the weather/environment.  So all in all, another interesting tour, and I would say that this was another one of those instances when you truly know that you are in Antarctica, and that you are seeing something that you would probably never see anywhere else on earth.  So a pretty cool experience, but I am still waiting for my first penguin sighting!

Next on the agenda....WAIS camp.  Thursday morning I am scheduled to fly out to the Western Antarctic Ice Shelf field camp.  I should be out there for at least two weeks or so, and I will not have any communication with the outside world, other than maybe one satellite phone.  I will try to update my blog with the details when I return.  In the mean time my main focus, other than searching for a Yetti, will be staying warm and getting back to McMurdo ASAP!