Notes on daily life:
Wow, what a day. You would not know it from the weather observations but it is a beautiful day. Very clear blue sky and only a trace of clouds with unlimited visibility so that we can see forever. There is even melting snow and small pools of water forming on the ground. Normally you do not see pools of water because the snow sublimates or turns directly from the solid snow to water vapor and is carried away in the very very dry air. Zach did his daily walk up observation peak again today and noticed again that because of the very dry air you just do not feel sweaty when you exercise. All the moisture from your body is quickly evaporated into the air. The ground around McMurdo is all volcanic rock. This rock material is very porous and any water on the ground quickly percolates into the ground.
The flight from New Zealand with Paul, Gordon, Chris, and Bert was delayed again this afternoon because of weather. The flight might still make it in tonight depending on how the weather is between here and New Zealand. We are looking forward to see our colleagues make it to Antarctica. There have been other flights that have left McMurdo today to deliver supplies to "deep field" camps like Byrd camp. The camps that are not on the coast are called deep field camps. At Byrd camp there is a crew that has started to open the camp and prepare for the arrival of more gear and the science team.
We saw another Skua today. It seems strange to get excited about a single bird but when you have only seen two in the last week it is a big deal. Despite the warm sunny weather there are no seals today on the ice. We realized that we have not even seen any bugs. They must be here and we are actually looking forward to seeing a bug.
Today the team was involved with checking and packing camping gear. We need to check all our sleeping bags, sleeping pads, stoves, and tents. A broken zipper on a sleeping bag or a stove that does not light could be a disaster on the expedition so every item was carefully checked. Each member of the team will be issued a sleeping bag, three sleeping pads to get up off the cold ground, a sleeping bag liner, a water bottle and insulated bottle holder, and their own tent. We all get along very well but it will be nice to our own tents on the expedition.
Date: 11/3/00
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: -15° C( 2° F)
Wind speed: 10 MPH
Wind Chill: Not Given
Wind direction: Southwest
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
It has become very cloudy and windy today. There were planes scheduled to arrive today from New Zealand but as of now they have not arrived. The rest of the team, Paul, Norbert, Chris, and Gordon are scheduled to arrive on that plane from New Zealand. If the plane does not land today they will have to wait for another day. It is very typical for flights to be cancelled due to weather. There were also planes scheduled to fly to the South Pole and Byrd camp today. The planes to the South Pole were cancelled due to conditions there and the planes for Byrd were delayed 6 hours. The ITASE team is waiting for the Byrd camp crew to get to Byrd and set up camp. The sooner that Byrd camp is set up the sooner the ITASE team can fly to Byrd and start the traverse. Brian, Ben, Marcus and Zach are busying themselves with repacking and testing their scientific gear. Life in McMurdo remains great! There was an acoustic music show last night at the coffee house in McMurdo. Such shows give everyone a chance to relax and unwind after working under these harsh conditions. Big preparations are already underway for the upcoming holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. It will be exciting to celebrate the end of the year 2000 here in Antarctica.
It is cold enough that there were no seals sunning themselves on the ice today. In a month or so all the frozen sea ice in front of McMurdo will be gone and ships can dock with supplies. Currently the runway for all the planes to and from McMurdo is still about a mile out on the frozen sea ice. As the ice starts to melt the air strip is relocated to an airstip called Willey's field on the ice shelf about 5 miles away.
From looking at the map it seems that there is an adelie penguin rookerie about 2 miles from McMurdo. Hopefully we will get a chance to visit there in the few days remaining before starting the traverse.
Date: 11/2/00
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: -16° C( 3° F)
Wind speed: 15-20 MPH
Wind Chill: Not Given
Wind direction: Southeast
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
Last night the sky cleared completely and it has been clear ever since. It is so bright here that you really need your sun glasses every time you go outside. We accomplished a lot more today with organizing our equipment for the expedition.
Brain and Zach took a walk today back out to see the seals. There was one large seal, probably 10 feet long and must have weighed a couple hundred pounds, and one smaller seal, probably only 5 feet long and 100 pounds. They were very content to just lay on the ice and bask in the sun for hours. On the way back from seeing the seals they stopped at the aquarium tanks to see the Antarctic cod. The cods real name is Dissostichus mawsoni . They can be up to 5 feet long and 100 pounds. They are very strange, almost prehistoric looking creatures. The scientists catch them by fishing through the ice and lowering their lines to almost 1000 feet deep. After that Brian and Zach walked up Observation Peak with Cobi. From there you can see miles. Mt Erebus the volcano was smoking only slightly today.
Life in McMurdo is really nice and a lot more comfortable than expected. Among the many important classes that Brian, Zach, Benjamin, and Marcus have attended are radio class, to learn to proper way to use field radios, and a snowmobile repair class. The classes are taught by people that live and work here in McMurdo for the summer season. These people come from all over the United States and often do the same type of work here in Antarctica that they do back home. In McMurdo there are carpenters, fireman, electricians, plumbers, and people that do just about every kind of job you can imagine.
Time for dinner, I hope they have more of that rubarb cobbler from last night.
Date: 11/1/00
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: -20° C( -4° F)
Wind speed: 10 MPH
Wind Chill: Not Given
Wind direction: Southwest
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
Today was a little brighter than yesterday as the clouds are starting to move out. As a result, a number of flights were able to take off for Byrd camp with some of our supplies. Ben, Marcus, Brian, Zach, and Cobi took a walk out on the sea ice to look at a seal. There are two or three seals that have come up through holes in the ice to bask in the sun. The Antarctic Treaty prevents people from disturbing any animals, so we stayed about 100' away to view them. We also saw a bird we think is called a skua. It seems strange to say that we saw a single bird but it was about the first bird that has been seen here this spring. Later in the day we took a walk to Scott's hut which is only a 10 minute walk away. The hut looks as if it was only recently constructed but it has been here since 1910. The dry air preserves thing very well including 100 year old buildings. When we looked inside the hut windows we could see the supplies that Captain Scott's men left here long ago.
The building that we are staying in is very large and is only one of 30 - 40 buildings here in McMurdo. Our dorm sleeps probably 300 people and has a small store, a barber shop, and a cafeteria. Our room sleeps 4 people comfortable in two bunk beds. The windows have wooden shutters on the inside to blockout the light that shines all day and night. The sun will continue to shine here 24 hours a day for the next few months. The cafeteria serves food to all of McMurdo's residents. It seats about 200 people at a time and serves breakfast lunch and dinner. The food is very good and there is plenty of it. Last night there was make your own tacos along with many other delicious choices. The cafeteria also has a self serve soft ice cream machine. Imagine eating ice cream when it is zero degrees outside.
We are still very busy preparing our scientific equipment for our research. We are still scheduled to leave here for Byrd camp on the 15th of November so we only have another week and a-half to ready everything we will need for our expedition.
Date: 30-31 Oct
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees 40 minutes East
Temperature: High: -17°C/0°F Minimum: -23° C/-10° F
Wind speed: 5-20 (knots)
Wind Chill: Not Given
Wind direction: Northeast
Meters of ice collected: 0
Notes on daily life:
Yeah! We have arrived! What an incredible and beautiful place this is! Flat sea-ice for miles around, surrounded by mountains. Zach, Brian, Markus and Benjamin arrived at McMurdo Base, Antarctica, after months of planning, packing, coordinating, and organizing. We landed on the sea-ice runway at 2pm New Zealand time after a 5 hour flight from Christchurch, New Zealand. With the exception of Palmer Base, all of Antarctica operates on New Zealand time, which is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. The flight was in an enormous C-141 military cargo plane. Everyone received ear plugs because the engines were so incredibly loud! There were about 65-70 people on the plane, including an Italian Science team, American science teams, numerous support staff for the base, and flight crew.
McMurdo Base is the largest American base in Antarctica. It is located on tip of Ross Island, near the New Zealander's Scott Base. Ross Island is located on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. We are all very tired, but excited to be here.
While we are here at the base, we will be checking all supplies, and completing last-minute tasks before our long journey ahead. Our Antarctic adventure has begun!