Sunday is the only day that the team doesn't work. Dr. Stacy Kim has a reputation for working her people hard (12-16 hours a day for 6 days a week). However, she also has a reputation for taking excellent care of her people.Today Stacy took the entire team on a field trip. We all met at the lab at 9:00am with all of our ECW gear. Six of us climbed into the Piston Bully, while two of the guys got snowmobiles. It was another beautiful day. We headed out and Stacy stopped several times so that we could get out and take pictures. I can't believe how beautiful this place is. We stopped to see Mount Erebus from the other side. We also stopped to look at Barne Glacier. This glacier sweeps down the slopes of Mount Erebus and ends at McMurdo Sound. It is white but it has this blue-green tint that makes it look like a beautiful gem.
he Barne Glacier is both large and majestic. My research team walked up to the glacier and touched it. It was cool!
As I watched Francois walk toward the glacier I began to realize just how big it was. It is just stunning to be this close something so massive.
The Barne Glacier is deceptive in its size. Looking at Francois gives you some perspective.
The next stop was Cape Royds. This is the location of Shackleton's Nimrod hut.
Shackleton's Nimrod hut is located at Cape Royds.
Stacy is a certified guide and can lead groups on a tour of the hut. She read to us from some guide material and the story she told made you feel as if you were right there with Shackleton, his men, horses, and dogs. The following is a brief synopsis of Shackleton and the type of man that he was.
"The British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909, under the command of Ernest Shackleton, claimed the first ascent of Mount Erebus, the first journey to the South Magnetic Pole, the discovery of the Beardmore Glacier and came within 100 miles of reaching the Geographic South Pole. The Expedition did not lose a single man. Shackleton's record later inspired Raymond Priestley, a veteran of both Scott and Shackleton-led expeditions, to pen the immortal words ‘As a scientific leader, give me Scott; for swift and efficient Polar travel, Amundsen; but when all is lost and it seems like there is no way out, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.'"
Nimrod is preserved to represent the hut as it was when Shackleton and his men used it to survive in Antarctica.
We then walked over the hill and were greeted by the sight of hundreds of penguins. This is the location of a penguin rookery, which is a location that penguins use for breeding. There are limits to how close you can get but it is amazing to be as close as we were to that many penguins. They made quite an unusual sound and here is a short video that I took.
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We finally tore ourselves away from the penguins and the Nimrod and had a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It's amazing how good something this simple can taste.
It was now time to go back to McMurdo Station. This was another incredible day. I am definitely getting spoiled.