We had the great opportunity to visit the past by entering Scott's Hut. The british explorer Scott had the hut built for his expedition in which he was attempting to be the first person the reach the South Pole.
Pretty robust for being a hut, Scott's Hut has been standing in the harshest weather for over 109 years.
Nice ocean view from the hut.
The plaque says: This hut is an historic monument and preserved in accordance with the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty. It commemorates the National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904 led by Capt. R. Scott, who built the hut in February 1902. This means that the hut is 109 years old!!
Commemorative plaque for Scott's Hut. Text written in English, Spanish, French and Russia.
Scott failed in his attempt to be the first person to reach the South Pole, as Amundsen beat him by about a month. But Scott's hut is still there, just as it was more than a hundred years ago. Inside lay a lot of Scott's supplies, and even the seal carcasses that have been preserved by the cold and low humidity of this part of the world. The explorers obtained oil from the seal's blubber.
Entrance to the hut, with a big warning.
At the huts entrance what I believe is the food for the ponies.
Supplies inside the hut.
The kitchen of the hut where some penguin carcasses are still preserved by the low humidity and cold temperatures.
Another view of the interior of the hut.
The hut proved to be not the best for Scott's expedition. It was prefabricated in Australia and designed to keep its inhabitants cool. Not a great idea in Antarctica. The next hut he built in 1911 was built in the UK. He did not locate the second one at Hut Point because his boat had been frozen in the first expedition.
On the small hill above the hut is Vince's memorial cross. This memorial commemorates the first person to loose his life at McMurdo, seamen George T. Vince, who died after following into the water from a steep, icy slope during a blizzard.
Vince's memorial cross over Scott's Hut stands in memory of the first person to die at McMurdo.
Lucky we did not visit the hut during a blizzard, as seen below, but by the end of our visit we did have get a mean wind that dropped the wind chill factor to below -35 F. Of all the hikes I have done at McMurdo, including the 6 hour hike I will talk about in the next entry, this 15 minutes back to the base have been the hardest to travel.
Exploring the cliffs around Hut Point