Happy Camper

Do you remember those funny-looking snow machines I took pictures of in Christchurch at the Antarctica Centre? Those were the Hagglunds! Grey, there's also a picture of one on your Christmas T-shirt! We have a few Hagglunds here in McMurdo, too!

And guess what?!  I got to ride in it!!  Can you guess where we were going?

To the pressure ridges by Scott Base?

Nope!  We kept driving past the pressure ridges!

This is the Kiwi Crossing.  Do you think there are kangaroos in Antarctica?  Do you think there are kangaroos in New Zealand?  Where do think kangaroos live?  (Silly Kiwi's!!)

Did we drive to the farthest-most south rugby field in the world?  No - we kept on driving.

When we stopped, though, we made some really neat looking tracks in the snow, don't you think?

What are those machines next to our Hagglund?  What do you think they are used for?  How do you think they might steer?

We went with several other people.  They road out in a Delta.  Do you remember these from one of my first blogs?  I bet you do!  Now you can see why they have stairs and such great, big tires!

We were a long ways from town and it was really foggy!  Do you remember the name of this mountain? 

Do you remember what kind of mountain it is?

THIS is where we were going!  But, WAIT..!!  There's nothing out here!!!

When we finally got unloaded, we had to walk a long way in the snow.  In the background is a big pile of gear - that is where we had to keep walking.  These black sheds are the bathrooms - they were a long ways away from where we were going!  What were we doing all the way out there??

We were going to school!!  It's called Snow Craft at the Happy Camper "campground"!!  This is what it looked like!  What kind of school would be out here?

We were going to school to learn how to take care of ourselves in the snow and ice!  Do you see the cord in the picture?  Our instructor was teaching us how to tie our tents down in the snow to keep them from blowing away in the wind.  Do you think snow can hold down a big tent on a windy day?

Now what is he doing??  Why is he cutting the snow with a saw?

Wow!!  That's a big block of snow, isn't it?  And see how nice and square it is?  Can you think of some things a big block of snow like this would be good for?

Our instructor was teaching us about the snow and all the things we can do with it!  We were going to use the block of snow to build a wall!

Here is our other instructor.  He dug a deep trench in the snow!  What do you think that might be used for?  Do you see his blocks?  He's starting a wall, too - just like our other instructor.  Walls must be very important out here!  Can you guess why it is important to have a wall?

He carved out the inside of his trench.  It was just long enough, and just wide enough, for him to lay down.    Hhhhmmmm...  why would he want to lay down inside there?

Here is our first instructor again.  He's teaching us how to build a kitchen where we can use our stoves.  Do you see those blocks of snow?  That is part of the wall we built!  Now can you guess why it is important to have a wall?  And do you remember tying the tents down in the snow?  The snow is so strong, it can hold these tents down in over 70 mph winds!!

We even learned fancy tricks like how to make shelves in the snow for our utencils!

We dug lots and lots of blocks of snow!!  We did lots of building!

Remember the second instructor who dug a trench he could lay down in?  This is trench I dug!!  It would be the trench I would lay down in!  This is were I spent the night!  Can you imagine sleeping in the snow??  Do you think that would be cold?  Or warm...?

But my trench needed a roof!

I needed a BIGGER roof!!  What does a roof do for us?  I took this picture in the middle of the night, can you believe that?!  Why would it be so bright outside in the middle of the night?

This big rock is called Castle Rock.  Do you see the pretty cloud over Castle Rock?  This is called a Banner Cloud.  What do you think is making that cloud long and wavy like that?

The WIND!!  That's right!!  And THAT's why we needed to build a wall for our campsite and a roof for our trenches - we needed to protect ourselves from the wind!

We also learned how to find our way around outside when it's hard to see.  This game is called Bucket Head!  The buckets made it very hard to see and hear - just like it would be for someone outside in a blizzard!

The buckets look really funny, huh?!  Do you think it would be hard to find your way around with a bucket on your head?  Do you think it would be hard to find SOMEONE ELSE with a bucket on your head?  That was the game we had to play!!  We had to find someone who was pretending to be lost outside in a blizzard!!  Maybe you can play the same game with Mommy in the backyard!

It was very pretty where we were at!  I like to be outside very much!!

This is a very special cloud called a Morning Glory!  These clouds don't happen very often - I was very lucky to see one!  It went as far as I could see in THIS direction...

And as far as I could see in THAT direction!

Do you remember this special mountain again?  This is Mount Erebus, the volcano!!  It had a very neat cloud over the top of it - this is called a Cap Cloud.  I think this is a very pretty picture.

The next morning, the clouds cleared away and we could see a different cloud - this cloud was coming OUT of the mountain.  That's what volcanos do sometimes!  This cloud was made out of steam.

I had a very good time at my snow school and I learned very much about how to stay safe and warm out on the snow and ice!  Do you think you would like to go to a snow school, too?



Thank You

I was so happy to have received this Christmas card!  Summer, you took the most wonderful pictures of our children and did such a terrific job making the card.  It really is very nice.  Grey and Joleigh, you are the most beautiful children!  Such wonderful smiles!  And I appreciate how much you love each other.  I love you, too, and am so happy to be your Daddy.

I appreciate all the Christmas cards and notes you sent me!  It is always such a nice feeling to receive mail from you!  Joleigh, I think you did a fantastic job on your snowman - he is so cute!  And thank you for the letter you wrote me, too.  I love you very, very much, Button, and I can't wait to come home to you.  You, too, Grey!  I miss you a whole bunch.  And I think both you made very handsome reindeer!  I know you must have had a lot of fun making those!  Isn't it neat that your Mommy is so creative?  I like that about her very much!

Kids, these are my new pajamas!  Aren't they nice?  Summer, I really like what you picked out for me, they're really comfortable.  In fact, I've even wearing them now!

Summer, thank you.  I was so appreciative of the videos and workbook - I began watching the series right away.  I want our marriage to grow and prosper, and be stronger and happier than we've ever imagined.  And I want to be so much, and more, the husband and father you deserve.

The ring and song.  I know the lyrics to the song are so heartfelt and I understand the message you are expressing to me.  I want to be strong for you and our children.  Every day.  And it is each day that I am so proud to place your ring on my finger, and a sense of happiness fills me each time I see it.  I am so joyed you have given me a new ring.  And I can't wait to be home and begin our new future together.  Thank you Summer.  You are so precious to me, and I love you dearly.

I get the joy of rediscovering you.

 

Scott Base

Scott Base, Capital of the Ross Dependency, is New Zealand's base of operations in Antarctica - about 3 miles on the other side of the pass from McMurdo.  Much smaller than McMurdo (about 150 residents to our 1100+), they boast a fantastic facility, a great view, and a wry sense of humor.  Their sign cracks me up - most of the advertised amenities don't exist anywhere within 2500 miles of here!  (That's an oppossum on the top left of the sign.  I don't have any idea why.  The birds are skuas - very big, assertive, "seagulls" that migrate to/from Antarctica.)

Scott Base in its "Chelsea Cucumber" glory on Pram Point.  (Immediately behind the base are some of the pressure ridges.  The distinct line towards the top is significant, too.)  Sir Edmund Hillary of Mount Everest fame was instumental in having a New Zealand base for political representation and scientific research established on the continent.  Hillary, New Zealand's most famous denizen, was the first person in the world to both climb Mount Everest and trek to the South Pole.

The buildings are all inter-connected modules - a hamster cage for humans... a nice ammenity for the "winter-overs" who are able to move throughout most of the base without ever having to brave the elements.

The flag pole was originally at Winter Quarters Bay by Hut Point - placed there by Robert Falcon Scott during his 1902-1904 Discovery Expedition.  It was found lying on the ground over 50 years later and was restored to prominence by the Kiwis.  (Remember this flag pole...)

Close-up of the sign next to the flag pole.

A close-up of the large crease I mentioned earlier.  This is the where the Ross Ice Shelf meets the seasonal sea ice (or, the open ocean, those years when the sea ice breaks up).  The face of the shelf rises between 50-150 feet above the water's surface, and extends hundreds of feet below.  The largest ice shelf in Antarctica, it is nearly 2500 ft thick in areas and covers an area the size of France.  It amazes me each time to see this boundary and I can't help but think to myself, "That is THE Ross Ice Shelf!!".

Looking south, the direction from which the shelf is advancing, with White Island in the background.  The dark objects on the ice are Weddell seals.  (Remember this flag pole...)

Weddells are abundent on Ross Island and will live their entire lives within 20-25 miles of their birthplace.  During the winter, they will chew the ice to maintain holes for which to come and go from the water.  The second largest seal in Antarctica, they can grow over 1100 lbs.  Kind of a funny story, earlier this summer a Search and Rescue mission was called out on the ice - a pretty big deal anytime a SAR is activiated.  Planes, helicopters, the Fire Department, and the volunteer SAR teams all start to scramble.  Come to find out, of the of seal researchers somehow got pinned (pinned by a pinneped - get it?) by the seal she was working on and her team couldn't free her.  I don't know the circumstances, but I suspect the seal might had been sedated and inadvertantly rolled over her leg.  Anyway, the thing weighed too much and her team couldn't get it rolled off of her, so they radioed for help.  She was seen hobbling around on crutches later, so I guess she wasn't injured too badly.

So that became the inspiration for a cartoon by one of our local artists.  Well, that, and the NSF's ubiqitous safety seminars, and posters, and briefings, and trainings, and checklists, and...  Virtually every function that takes place at McMurdo has some sort of safety procedure.  (We even have posters instructing how to "safely" wash hands...)  One of the biggest violations on base is the failure to chock the wheel of your unattended vehicle - a HUGE no-no!  Thus, our Chock Your Seal comic.

Giant sea slugs.  Weddells are very docile and will tolerate people.  Shortly after I took this photo, a Kiwi going for a walk through the pressure ridges stopped within a few feet from this group to have a look.  Not a one of them budged from their nap.

The ice shelf, for as far as the eye can see.  The shelf is actually moving: roughly 30 ft per year, but as much as 10 ft a day in some areas.  As it advances against Pram Point, it slowly buckles the sea ice into all sorts of shapes.

One of many pictures from the pressure ridges.  But this was intended to be a posting about Scott Base, so I'll try to have a separate story on the ridges sometime.

The Scott Base dining hall.

The study.  Next time I visit, I plan on chaining myself to one of their couches.  We have nothing at McMurdo that remotely compares to this.

The study overlooks Pram Point, the pressure ridges, and the ice shelf.  I was watching the seals through the telescope in this window, when I saw one of them moving.  Only, it wasn't moving.  But there was clearly some motion with it.  I couldn't figure out what was going on.  Eventually, I saw a baby seal humping its way around its mother - the motion that I had been seeing.  It paused face-to-face, and the two nuzzled noses with each other.  The pup then continued humping its way to the front of its mother and nudged her up on her side so it could nurse.  Was really amazing to watch!  Couldn't believe I was seeing it in real life - Marty Stouffer had nothing on me!!

Every year the Americans pool together their biggest, fittest guys to pit against the Kiwis on the rugby pitch.  Every year the Americans lose.  Every year the Kiwis display the trophy above their bar.

One of the interior halls.  So nice.  So clean.  So quiet...  (There's little coincidence why I have yet to post pictures of our buildings...)

The obligatory "hero shot".  My apologies.  (See the flag pole?)

The flag pole in Condition Two weather.  Condition Two being:

Winds 48 to 55 knots sustained for one minute, or

Visibility less than ¼ mile, but greater than or equal to 100 feet sustained for one minute, or

Wind chill -75°F to -100°F sustained for one minute.

Condition One weather deteriorates from there...

(As the Benny Goodman song goes, "I love the winter weather...!")