Thanksgiving

We got to celebrate Turkey Day down here as well. It was a really pretty fun day. Many volunteers came in to help out in various ways, and it made it feel like a fun family atmosphere. We had three seatings throughout the day. It was a great big ol' meal with all the fixin's. The only thing missing was the fact that I was not able to curl up on a couch and nap after the meal. I headed back into the kitchen after we had our meal in order to help continue to serve the other meals.


Me along with all of my fellow DA's (aka: blue shirts).


Don't tell anyone, but I actually got two dinners. In the above photo is my first meal. It was our 'family' dinner with just the galley staff. We ate that meal in the middle of the day. I got off a bit early, in time for the evening sitting, and so myself and a few friends, below, went and had a second round of Thanksgiving Dinner, but this time we dressed up a bit.

Cape Evans

At the beginning of the 20th century, one of the craziest attempts and races of mankind began. The epic race to reach the geographical south pole. One of the early explorers/adventurers who attempted this feat was a British explorer named Robert Falcon Scott. His party brought there boats right on into McMurdo Sound here, and they set up camp, and built themselves a winter hut, just a few miles north of McMurdo. This hut was built in 1911. Scott's party failed to reach the south pole. They turned around and attempted to make it back to this hut when they were within 100 miles of the pole. They had to turn around due to a shortage of food. Scott ended up losing his life on his return trip along with all of those with him. The hut was left and due to the cold down here, it is almost 'perfectly' preserved. Things down here do not deteriorate or decompose since there are little to no bacteria to break things down.

It was about an hour drive to get out to the hut. Only about 7 miles, but we can't travel too fast. We rode in the large vehicle you see below called a Delta.

On this trip I also got to see my first penguin. It was an Adelie penguin. They are smaller than the more well known emperors. It was pretty interesting. We got out of the delta to observe a seal that was hauled out on the ice. The penguin was about 1/4 mile off in the distance. We could just barely see him standing out against the horizon. He began coming towards us, and just kept coming. They are very curious little creatures. They have no natural predators on land, so they are rather bold and inquisitive.








We also had a really good view of Mt. Erebus this day. Erebus is our local active volcano. It is at the center of our island, Ross Island. It is 12,451 feet high, and its base is at sea level. Rather impressive. Although the landscape down here is so big, it doesn't appear to be that tall at all. Yes, it is active. In fact Erebus is one of only three volcanoes in the world that has an open lava lake that is observable from the rim. Much research is done here on Erebus because of this. The other two volcanoes with such phenomenon are located in the Congo in central Africa, but due to political unrest it is more difficult to support such scientific research there than it is down here, despite the frigid temperatures here.


Scott's Hut with Mt. Erebus in the background.


I'm not exactly sure what this is, but I know that it is old...hence it deserves a lick!

Castle Rock

It is always good to get outside and to enjoy some of the magnificent scenery down here. This hike was one of my first hiking trips down here. We have a few different 'trails' down here that we can hike on, and get out of town. This trail is the Castle Rock Loop trail. It is about a 7 mile loop. Castle Rock is the formation that you can see to the right in the first picture with Mt. Erebus in the center. The second picture is a close up shot of Castle Rock. We climbed up the backside of this, and had a great view all around.





It was a chilly day, somewhere below zero with windchill.

Man moments....what better way to show your manliness than to take off your shirt in frigid Antarctic weather...I mean really...




My co-worker and friend Luigi. You can see that it was a rather chilly afternoon.

Last sunset for awhile

Well, I am here. The landscape is surreal and overwhelming. Soon the sun will stop 'setting' although it doesn't really 'set' right now, but still a little bit. I climbed up to the top of Observation Hill (Ob Hill), with some friends. They all took some pics and headed back. I however, had put on all of my clothes, and I hunkered down on top of Ob hill for about 2 hours to enjoy the sunset. I listened to some Kenny, drank some cold ones (really cold ones), and enjoyed the colors. The sun is now up for the rest of the season. It will not 'set' again until February 20th.


My new home...McMurdo Station. Population, about 1,000.


Mt. Erebus and Castle Rock


Looking out the dorm window at 2 am.

Home sweet home?

Well, here I am at my new home for the next 4 1/2 months. I will be here until mid February or so. It is still hard to believe that I am actually here. It is still a bit surreal. Here a just a few pictures from around town.



My first view of town from the Ice Runway.


Town again, Ob Hill in the background.


Antarctic Motorcoach...


Sea Ice

The arrival

It has been a month of great travels. Just over one month ago I was camping on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, 69 degrees north of the equator. I am now here in the Antarctic 77 degrees south of the equator.

Here is a quick break down:

Tuk to Inuvik: 150 miles by plane
Inuvik to Skagway: 870 miles by car
Skagway to Vancouver, BC via the Cassiar Highway: 1,575 miles by car
Vancouver, BC to Beulah, ND (home): 1,350 miles by car
{side trip to see the nieces and nephews: Beulah to Pierre, SD: 570 miles by car}
Beulah to Minneapolis: 500 miles by motorhome
Minneapolis to Dallas: 854 air miles
Dallas to Denver: 650 air miles
Denver to LA: 845 air miles
LA to Auckland, NZ: 6,522 air miles
Auckland, NZ to Christchurch, NZ: 464 air miles
Christchurch, NZ to McMurdo Station: 2,250 air miles


Total land miles: 4,865
Total air miles: 11,735
Total miles: 16,600


I think that one of my fondest memories of this experience will be the thrill of feeling the C-17 touch down on 'the ice.' It was unbelievable to think that I had just touched down on Antarctica. Well, I am here now and settling in. I will be here for awhile. I'm looking forward to the friends and I will meet and the adventures I will have along the way.

Offloading the plane. It is a C-17. Its a big plane.


Inside the plane...you can see it is mainly a cargo plane...cargo netting!


My first view of Antarctica from a small window of the plane.


The ice runway just outside of McMurdo Station where we touched down.

Road trip back to ND

Well, summer has now come to an end and it is time for me to get ready to head south for the winter. Before heading south, I needed to head east, in order to stop by home and see family and friends. It was a really fun road trip. I drove a northern route passing through three national parks: North Cascades in Washington, Glacier in Montana, and Theodore Roosevelt in North Dakota. It was a good trip...with many hours in the saddle.

That's a big bear...

My first summer in Alaska came and went without a grizzly sighting. A little disappointing. Well, this summer was a bit different. I had multiple grizzly sightings this summer, with a final sighting that was unforgettable. Myself and two friends Shandra and Russell, headed out to Dyea, the next valley over from Skagway. We had gotten a tip from some friends that some grizzlies were out there. We were really hoping that they would still be there by the time we got there. As we pulled up to the river bank we got to see a mom and two young cubs wandering through the river fishing for salmon. It was quite a sight. But they continued on down the river, and quickly left our sight. That would have been good enough, but then it got even better. We went a bit further upstream, and we were able to see a lone male fishing by himself. He was about 100 yards upstream. We got out of the car and hopped on top for a better view. Well, as the grizzly continued to fish he was working his way downstream right toward us. Next thing we know the grizzly was chasing a fish in the stream literally 'at our feet.' We were parked right on the river bank, which was probably a good four feet, and then we were on top of a big 15 passenger van, so we were probably around 15 feet above him, but other than that he was 'at our feet' chasing salmon. He finally caught the salmon and ate it just below us. We could hear bones crunching and everything. It was pretty amazing. All I can say is...Hoo Yip!

Arctic Ocean

What is summer without an epic road trip? Myself and four friends had been planning this trip all summer long. We all got time off work, loaded up the mini-van and headed north... to the Arctic. It was a great trip with great friends. We drove from Skagway up the Klondike Highway to Dawson City, of the Yukon Territory. The home of the 1898 Klondike gold rush. It was great to make it to Dawson City, as that is the whole reason why our little town of Skagway exists. From Dawson City we hopped onto the Dempster Highway. It is a 417 mile gravel road. It crosses over the arctic circle and ends in the city of Inuvik in the Northwest Territories. Along the way there were two rivers to cross, but rather than bridges they have small vehicle ferries. Once in Inuvik you are not yet at the Arctic Ocean. In the winter months you can drive on the frozen rivers, but in the summer you must fly. So we bought some tickets, and flew to the arctic Ocean, to the small native village of Tuktoyaktuk, commonly known as Tuk. We spent about 24 hours in Tuk, just walking around town and hanging out. We built a big bonfire on the beach, and then did our epic polar swim in the arctic ocean. I have it on video, and hopefully I'll be able to upload it soon. After one night on the arctic ocean, we flew back to our waiting steed, and headed back towards Skagway. It was a great road trip with many great memories, and lots of spectacular views.


Looking down the dempster


Crossing the Arctic Circle...


Scenery along the way...Mt. Monolith in Tombstone Territorial Park


The van got a little muddy


We crossed out of the Yukon and entered into the Northwest Territories, a first for all of us.


One of the vehicle ferries



Inuvik...the end of the dempster


Boarding the plane for Tuk


We're here, now what?


First, we staked out a camping spot on the beach, before all of the good spots were taken.


Then we built a bonfire. This was for our epic swim. You can see some of our swimsuits lying about, drying out.


Then some locals showed us how to fish using their nets, so we caught some fish, gutted them with tent stakes, and attempted to cook them over the fire.


The next day we met a friend who gave us a key to the community 'ice house.' It is a small building that has a ladder in it that goes down into the ground. Below Tuk it is permafrost. The ground is completely frozen. The ladder went about thirty feet down into the permafrost where there were three tunnels with little rooms along each tunnel. The rooms were used by various people in the community to store provisions. It was pretty interesting.


Dawson City on the banks of the mighty Yukon River

Dawson City sunset