Hello Trekkers,
What a wild couple of days. On Wednesday of this week here on Antarctica we, my teammates and I, loaded all our suitcases and participated in a "bag drag". This is when you lug all your stuff including all you extreme weather gear up to the post office building in McMurdo and it all gets weighed. Even I had to stand on the scale with my stuff. This is so the plane does not get overloaded for the trip. We left everything there except for our carry-on luggage. Our suitcases and duffel bags were then placed on pallets which would be loaded onto the plane the next day.
Thursday morning in McMurdo was nearly 40 degrees. We once again made our way to the post office to prepare for the flight. It was so dry and warm that dust blew around town as it would through a ghost town in the Old West. Not what I expected in Antarctica.
Nearly 40 degrees and sweating the Cresis guys drag bags for the flight tomorrow.
We rode in a LC-130 military cargo plane. We were right in the belly of the plane with the cargo.
Everyone in the plane has to wear ear plugs as it is so loud. The most fascinating part of the trip was as we landed they opened up the back end of the plane and the cargo, which was right in front of us rolled out the back and onto the runway while the plane was still moving. The plane, which is on skis for landing, then came to a stop and "the packages were delivered." That means the people were leaving the plane.
Our ride to Byrd on skis.
We had finally arrived at our field camp. BYRD's first science team of the season was finally here.
"No worries", a common expression, was spoken as the two following flights were canceled due to winds. We did have our sleep kits and tents, so we had plenty of things for us to do. Here at Byrd they are expecting 50 people to be living here once all the science teams arrive, so they have staked out a tent city. It is organized in a grid pattern so that even in a white out storm it will be possible to find someone in their tent. I haven't experienced a condition 1 storm, but I was told to put a white bucket over my head and try to walk around to get to the outdoor toilet. Good thing I didn't really need to go because I got nowhere near it. You should try this.
Gary trying to find the outhouse in a white out condition drill.
To put up a tent here in Antarctica so the wind doesn't blow it down takes some work. First if the wind is blowing while you are trying to set it up you're faced with some real challenges. You always have one of you team hold the tent. NO MATTER WHAT THEY DON'T LET GO OF THE TENT. Otherwise you might not see your tent ever again. We were fortunate. Although the wind was blowing we didn't have to battle it too much.
setting up tents
Staking a tent is the snow is also challenging. Remember, here at Byrd camp the ice is a mile thick. You can't just pound you tent stakes into the ground. THERE IS NO GROUND unless you have a VERY long tent stake. You do put three foot stakes into the ground to hold the tent down, but to anchor the side tie ropes you have to make a "dead man anchor". You dig a narrow trench and bury a bamboo stake horizontally to the surface of the snow and perpendicular to the side of your tent with the tie rope around it. Refill the trench and jump on it to pack the snow down and then tie you tent rope. Sound simple doesn't it, but I was pretty tired after digging 12 of these trenches. I was sweaty too. Just as we finished it was time to eat in the galley tent. We had been working for 3 hours and had 5 tents up. After dinner it wasn't long before we all started off to bed.
After a long day the guys head to their Byrd homes.
I am in a Scott tent. This design has been the same for 100 years. I like it because I can stand up in the middle of the tent. This comes in really handy when you have so many clothes on. I wish I could tell you I slept well, but I was so tired I didn't take the time to look for my ear plugs or sleeping mask to cover my eyes. I kept waking up to the sound of flags flapping and then it was really bright yellow in my tent.
Today, Friday here Thursday there, was my first live IPY event. Most of my team was in our science hut right after breakfast. I was so excited to hear that so many of you were participating!!!
I hope you enjoyed hearing from us and keep enjoying the journals. Remember you will be going on Christmas vacation soon, but I will still be posting journals. Keep watching and I love those questions.
From Byrd Camp south 80.0365 degrees, West 119.61 degrees, Elevation 5230 feet
Mr. W