EJ's Travels

I slept well last night despite the daylight that persisted outside my bedroom window. Woke for brunch and after some writing headed outside to hike up Observation Hill for a view and hopes of watching today’s flight approach, as well as familiarize myself with the station. The temperature read -22 degrees Farenheit when I stepped outside with a group of friends. In the sun and out of the wind it felt quite nice actually. I even had to discard *big red* (my parka) on my way up the hill. Sadly my camera failed due to the cold, but I managed to warm it up in my mitten and catch a few shots before it died again. It was a steep, but relatively short hike. The views from atop were breathtaking. The TransAntarctic Mountains were on display. We could see Scott Base (the New Zealand station) in the near distance edging up to the sea ice; what appeared to be open water in the far distance; the entirety of McMurdo Station; and various mountains and peaks in every direction, not to mention plenty of flat ice stretching for miles. There was a cross on top of “Obs” that was erected in 1904 by the British Antarctic Expedition in memory of T. Vince, a member of that expedition who died in the vicinity. Not far from the bottom of the hill we decided a little *sledding* was called for. With a running start we dove onto our backs and slid as far as the momentum would take us. I felt like a kid in North Dakota all over again.

After descending we took a brief tour of the station. I found the recreation building that houses the bowling alley, the arts and crafts room, the bouldering cave and the ceramics room; the sports gym where volleyball, basketball, indoor hockey and dodgeball are played and where the climbing wall and weight room are housed; the aerobics gym with treadmills and spin bikes, etc.; the library; and of course the 3 local *night clubs*.

I returned to my dorm and was reminded by my Latvian friend, George, that a sauna is always in order after a hike like that. A wise man that George.

Tomorrow I begin work. So far this has felt a lot like summer camp in Antarctica. That may or may not change with the onset of work, but it’s been kind of nice to have no agenda. However, I am really looking forward to further exploring the territory on wheels and to meet the folks who are coming and going from this big block of ice.

see more of my photos at: http://ej.smugmug.com

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 11th, 2005 at 6:10 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.