9 November 2009 I Will Miss You Camp

Today was our last day in camp. We woke up early in the morning and started packing all of our personal belongings and taking down our tents. Scott and Tim would be on the first helicopter flight back to McMurdo at 9:30 in the morning. Brent, Mark and I would be on the second flight at 11:45 am. Before we could leave, we had to sling all of the rest of our gear together, take apart our kitchen, and seal up all of our waste barrels and buckets. There was a lot to do in a short amount of time and we were all running around like crazy. With some help from the helicopter pilots and technicians, we got it all done and were on our way.

My tent kept me "warm" for over 3 weeks and it will be weird to sleep in a bed for the first time in awhile tonight. The kitchen is almost done being put away. We used the kitchen polar haven for eating all of our meals and hanging out in, so I have a lot of memories here. I spent a lot of time in and near the Taylor Glacier. It was an amazing view to wake up every morning to. Tim and Scott were on the first flight back to McMurdo, but I would see them again in a couple of hours.

The helicopter flight home, of course, was amazing. We flew over Lake Bonney and down the Taylor Valley. The mountains were still dusted with snow from the day before and it was beautiful. I could get used to getting around in helicopters.

We flew over the end of Lake Bonney and down the Taylor Valley on our way back to McMurdo. The Dry Valleys were amazing and I will definitely miss them.

Once we got back to McMurdo we did a sprint to the galley to catch the last 5 minutes of lunch. We hadn't eaten anything all day and we were starving. After eating the next matter of business was to take a shower. I hadn't taken a shower in over 3 weeks and I was disgusting. I didn't notice it so much when we were in the field because everyone smelled, but as soon as I was around people who shower I knew that I smelled horrible. After showering, we spent a couple of hours returning gear, but we were all so exhausted we decided to leave a lot of the work until the next day. Tomorrow we will have a lot of unpacking to do, but for now we will settle for dinner and a bed.

After a beautiful helicopter flight, we flew across the sound and could see McMurdo again. My hair had so much oil in it that it didn't even look blonde anymore and I could put it out in any direction and it would stay there. Gross.