Just Between Us

Castle Rock

Castle Rock has been in the distance in a number of my posts, and I'd been anxious to get out and see it first hand. New Year's Day, we had wonderful weather, so a couple of friends and I struck out on the trail and left McMurdo behind for the day...

The trail head.

Starting the long, slow, climb. Uphill. Both ways. In the snow...

The trail, the same used by the Heroic Explorers, follows the spine of a glacier. Today, our FSTP teams flag the safe passage, but off the trail, on either side, lies several hidden crevasse fields. In 1986, two hikers were killed taking a shortcut when they fell through a snow bridge and into a crevasse 75' below.

An "apple". An emergency shelter in the event of sudden storm conditions.

"Bright, bright, sun shiney day..."

Castle Rock. Geologists believe this is the core of a volcano that formed under the glacier, when the glacier was much thicker.

Erebus, still active, in the background.

The face of Castle Rock stands about 300' high.

Chris and Jeramie starting the climb.

A climbing rope for the dicey portions of the climb. Basically, the upper 2/3 of the climb. Just up ahead, the rope slipped off of a snag and I found myself with about an extra 7' of slack I wasn't anticipating. After swinging like a tetherball for a bit, I landed back on the ledge - about 7' over from where I started! (Just don't tell Summer!!)

Chris, nearing the top.

Looking back.

At the summit, with the Royal Society across the thawing McMurdo Sound.

Don't tell Summer about this, either!!

Jeramie.

Looking east. Mt. Erebus, and Erebus Glacier, on the left. Mt. Terror and its glacier on the right.

Looking north. From left to right: Tent Island, Inaccessible Island, Razorback Island, and (the tiny one on the far right) Little Razorback Island. The point of land directly behind Little Razorback is Cape Evans, where Scott built his hut during his second, Terra Nova, expedition in his quest for the Pole in 1909. Beyond is the open water of the Ross Sea, about 12 miles north of us.

Looking west again, with Mt. Discovery (8796') on the far left, the southern extremity of the Royal Society range.

Mt. Lister at center. Hobbs Glacier to the right, and Blue Glacier on the far right edge.

This point of Castle Rock was covered in black rock - giving it a burnt appearance.

The way back down.

Waaaaaayyy down...!!

Inbedded in the rock were these black lava/rock/mineral things. I suppose if I went to the Crary Science Lab, some geologist would be happy to give me some explanation of them; I just thought they looked pretty neat.

NOT the way down. After making a wrong turn and realizing there was no rope, we had to scramble back up. Right after I took this shot, Jeramie dropped his water bottle. It's interesting to note: Nalgene will survive a 250' fall onto volcanic rock! (The lid, not so much...)