9 January 2019 5 Days of Training Complete. The Wormherders Are Flying Into The Field Tomorrow.

Early morning hike up Observation Hill

Summit of Observation Hill. This was the hill that Robert Falcon Scott's men climbed each day to look across the McMurdo Sound hoping to spot his team returning from the South Pole. They did not return.

Last day of preparation before our helicopter flight into the Dry Valleys tomorrow.

We spent today making final preparations for our 11am helicopter flight into the Dry Valleys. I have been away from home for 10 days now, and it has been one big adventure after another. But, I have a feeling that what has happened to this point will be nothing compared to what is about to happen during the next month. We will be dropped off in some of the most remote locations on the planet. Conditions could be very harsh, but I am very confident in our team's skills, experience, and abilities. Dr. Adams and Dr. Jeb Barratt have almost 40 years of Antarctic exploration so when it comes to experience, it doesn't get much better than that.

Receiving radio and sat phone training. It is important to always have good communication when out in the field, just in case there is a need to call back to McMurdo. Our field equipment, which includes tents, sleeping kits, packs, food, science equipment, and other stuff, all needs to be weighed and labeled. The helicopter pilot will need to know the weight of his cargo and passengers. He will also need to know where to drop it because he will drop us off at one location and the camp gear at another. We have experiments to conduct at one location, then hike to our campsite for the night. Our McMurdo science talk tonight was presented by one of our own. Ruth is also a Dry Valley LTER scientist. She gave a great presentation discussing the ecology of the Dry Valleys. To sum up her findings, as the title to her presentation says, different factors of the ecosystems show more connectivity as temperatures increase. Her sketch describes these findings also. This concept will be discussed more in future journals.

The next journal will be coming to you from the Dry Valleys (if the weather cooperates), so stay tuned as I finally get to put eyes on the locations I have heard, and dreamed about, for years now.