Well, the bags are all checked in and I've got my Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear all laid out for tomorrow's flight into the field. We meet at 8:15 am for transport out to Pegasus Airfield for our flight to CTAM - Central TransAntarctic Mountain camp. The team and I have been waiting anxiously for this to happen. We've been pushed back a couple of times due to a backlog of flights. At one point flights were delayed because the wind was so strong at CTAM that people couldn't set up tents and nylon tents were being shredded by the wind!
But, we got word this afternoon that our cargo had been loaded and we were a go for tomorrow. We had bag drag at 7:30 this evening. This is where we take all our luggage to be checked in up and turn it over. Here it gets palletized and loaded into the belly of the LC-130. At this time, we have to show up dressed in all our ECW gear - heavy parka, bunny boots, the whole works with our carry on luggage to get weighed. (They weigh everything that goes on the plane - this is very important for calculating the amount of fuel the flight needs.)
It is about a two hour flight out to CTAM (our estimated departure time is 10 am). Once we get there, there will be a flurry of activity. We'll have to collect our gear and assorted scientific cargo, inventory it to make sure it all arrived with us, set up camp, meet with flight operations to determine when we'll be helicoptered out to our remote camp, and set up communications. It's going to be a crazy, overwhelming day tomorrow.
I may not be able to post a journal for a day or two depending on what goes on out in the field and how smoothly we make the transition. I'll be taking LOTS of pictures and soaking everything in so that when I next have email I'll be able to send an update from the field.