Antarctica, Day 28
The last field trip was a two-day stay at Lake Hoare, which is arguably one of the most scenic sites where you sleep right at the edge of a glacier.
I am freshly back from the field and already preparing to go back out again for a few days tomorrow. The last field trip was a two-day stay at Lake Hoare, which is arguably one of the most scenic sites where you sleep right at the edge of a glacier. Lake Hoare is a little larger, so a total of twelve people were there while I was.
Me walking around the glacier's edge.
Getting up close to the ice giant.
While at Lake Hoare, I did as much filming as I could fit in to the short time we had. I flew my drone around the glacier day and night, stayed up until midnight filming macroscopic shots of red mites barely visible to the naked eye that were on the underside of rocks, set up my tripod to film myself talking about the glory of glaciers, and got an environmental sound recording of a glacial stream until I accidentally dunked the recorder into it. It survived, I think. After a whirlwind two days, I was treated to a truly epic helicopter flight back to McMurdo Station. My internet connection is a little better today, so here are shots from the flight:
The beautifully sculpted top of the glacier.
Flying up and over the other sculptures of the Dry Valleys: the ventifacts. These are rocks that have been carved by tiny pieces of sand blown by the wind over time. They're truly a work of art.
A sand bar of sorts interspersed with the sea ice.
A couple of Weddell seals on the sea ice with the volcano Mt. Erebus in the background. You can see one lifted their head and watched us as we flew by.
Penguins! They looked like they were having a great party.
The beauty of sea ice leading up to the volcano Mt. Erebus that created the island McMurdo Station sits on.
U.S. Coast Guard ice breaker making its way through the summer sea ice to McMurdo Station.
Home base at McMurdo Station. The white-ish building towards the center top that has a central spine with rows coming out of the right and left is where my lab is located. Tucked right behind it (barely in sight) is a large blue building where I eat. The darker brown building on the left is one of a series of dorm buildings where I sleep. Right now around 900 people are living here.
Tomorrow I’m due to take a helicopter out to Lake Bonney, my favorite field site from my last expedition. It’s dirtier and smaller than the other field site huts but it is full of charm and is a place that to me really feels like home while I’m there. The main hut is a Jamesway that was used in the Korean War in the 1950s. Due to the rise in the frozen lake level over the years (likely due to run-off from the nearby glaciers), the hut borders the lake and has been scheduled to be decommissioned for a while. We might actually be the last science team to occupy it before a new, more modern hut is built. I feel honored to send off this little home away from home that has decades of history embedded in its walls.
From Lake Bonney, I’ll then be heading out to Blood Falls, which is a place that I spent so many years dreaming about that when I finally saw it last time I was here I was nothing short of gleeful. My last visit to Blood Falls was much shorter than expected, so I’m excited to get three solid hours there this year before I have to take a helicopter back to the main camp. After Blood Falls, I’ll then be headed to Beacon Valley, the site where NASA over the years has done a number of tests of their Martian rovers because the area is so Mars-like in nature. All together, it’ll be a full three days with little sleep but a lot of joy (and filming).
<3
Ariel