Ob Hill Loop

Here are some shots from a hike I went on around Observation Hill. It's a short hike, but it does get you away from McMurdo.

This rock was eroded by sand and/or ice crystals, and thus is apparently referred to as a ventifact.












Two seals near a hole in the sea ice. Pretty sure they are Weddells.













This seal ended up diving through that hole, but I didn't get it on film.













Here you can see the three different rock colors of Ob Hill, well of Ross Island for that matter.













Another perspective of McMurdo













There are people that get to commute to work in the Dry Valleys in these.













The fuel for this year was bought when fuel prices were high, otherwise NSF would not be so selective.













And what better way to finish a hike then to end up on a secluded beach on a tiny, sparsely populated volcanic island.











It's hard to believe we had the whole place to ourselves

Update

CREAM was cut down last night as they had been continuing their northerly spiral. At this point it looks like we will be going around again. NASA had been arguing to keep us going, and was willing to pay to keep us up there, but NSF wanted to cut us down. I'll let you know if I find out anything, but I've been told to always be ready for recovery in 20 minutes notice.

This is photo taken by a CSBF employee of the ULDB launch. I was on a hike to Castle Rock when this was occuring. The ULDB launch preparation is a little different, from what I can tell they use the tow balloon because they fill the ULDB from the top. The balloon manufacturer also sent down two representatives to assist in the launch. One of whom follows my blog and happens to have a blog of his own that definitely worth looking at. So far the ULDB has been quite successful, it has held it's altitude to within a few hundred feet, whereas the LDB with ANITA has fluctated well over 12,000 feet during our flight.








There are four ANITA team members left now, with one leaving tomorrow on an Airbus. It turns out different countries are involved with the flights between Christchurch and McMurdo. The C-17 flights stopped in early December and are set to resume later this month. The ski equipped C-130's have been handling the majority of the flights, but the South African air force has flown a few wheeled C-130's and the Australian air force is responsible for the Airbus 319 flights. Not only do the Airbus's make the crossing in 5 hours(like the C-17's) and not the 8 hours of the C-130's, but they are also quieter, have a lot more windows, and are rumored to have drink service.

The weather had been pretty warm the last couple weeks, with daytime high's in the low 40's. It has been snowing on and off for the past couple of days which has been nice.

The warm weather though means the snow road to Willy Field and LDB has been getting pretty soft and even though only the Deltas and Ivan can now go on it, vehicles still get stuck pretty regularly. There are some drivers that have been stuck noticeably more than other drivers though. This was my first and so far only time being stuck, it can take up to 45 minutes before somebody comes to pull you out.

Castle Rock Hike

I've done the Castle Rock hike twice now, once on Christmas, and once a few days later. These photos are a mix from both trips. The hike to Castle Rock is the longest hike I am allowed to go on, it's about 7 miles roundtrip. To go on the hike you have to first attend and outdoor safety lecutre. I then had to file an efoot plan online, which basically provided contact information, route plans, and estimated return time. After the efoot plan was filed, I stopped by the firehouse to check out and grab a radio. The hike to Castle Rock is the only hike in which solo travel is not permitted. The search and rescue response process is started if you miss your return time by five minutes.

Two skuas hanging out on the food waste bins.













Part of the trail near town. We had been having warm weather, highs in the low forties, and so the trail conditions were notably different between the two trips.











The bottom of the melt streams actually freeze, which I thought was interesting.

















ULDB happened to launch during my second trip to Castle Rock.












Looking back towards town, you can see the top of Ob Hill in the center left.













One of the two safety shelters. These have blown away in bad weather.













The trail to Castle Rock with Erebus behind it.














The second of the two safety shelters.



























Erebus in the center, Castle rock on the right.













Looking back towards town.


















On Christmas, the Kiwi's were using a Haglund to drive skiers up to the base of Castle Rock.












One the right side of this shot is a glacier. About a decade or so ago, some hikers happened to be out here when a storm came in. They wanted to make it back quickly, and so cut across the glacier. I believe a couple of them died when they fell into a crevasse. Needless to say, it's important to stay on marked trails, but even those are not without risk.






Castle Rock.















































The climb up.



























A view from the top













You can see Mount Discovery in the background, the top of Ob Hill, Scott Base, some pressure ridges, and the road out to Willy Field and LDB all in this one photo.










Almost the same shot, but from further back.













You can make out the second of the apple shelters in this shot.













I believe this is the Taylor glacier flowing down from the Plateau.













On a clear day, the view from the top is pretty spectacular. I will work on stitching together a 360 degree panoramic photo, but I know it couldn't do the view justice.

Ice Stock 2008

Ice Stock is a concert that is thrown every year on New Year's Eve in McMurdo. The same local bands that have played together a few times before get together once again. Scott base has their own New Year's Eve festivities, but I did not attend, and know little more than that their posters advertised circus animals. I've only seen a gorilla costume, so I imagine the Kiwi's may have had to get a little creative or they have a special stash of costumes.

This is early on in the night. I went inside the coffee house/wine bar after this band.













Some McMurdo humor on the back of a big red. I should have included some photos of all "If you yield to safety, we all win" and the like posters around town, but maybe in another post.










A surprisingly good cover band that played everything from Stevie Wonder to Wild Cherry. The bands are usually all Raytheon employees, so the members do anything from clean dishes all day to work on heavy machinery. That's also why they stopped playing in the middle of song, because Raytheon likely told them if they played past 12:30 they would lose their bonuses.







An example of possible trademark infringement.













Father time handing it over to the baby new year at midnight.

Discovery Hut

Before work this morning, I was able to go on a tour of the hut at Hut Point. I believe this hut was used to stage Scott's ill-fated expedition to the Pole.















I didn't quite understand these windows, as they were above the porch.


























While the inside of the hut had a musty odor of sorts, the 100 year old seal didn't have any smell.



























I don't know why this photo is rotated, it is oriented correctly on my computer.

























































































I didn't realize any of the items were in color until I looked at the photos; it was pretty dim inside.












Again, I don't know why it isn't oriented correctly. I believe this to be seal meat. It was actually our guide's first trip to the hut, so I don't have any interesting tidbits to add.
















Apologies again.


















They did have ponies for the expedition. I don't believe any made it to the Plateau.

















After a week or so of 40+ degree highs for the day, the weather got a little more exciting today.