Sandwich and I were able to secure spots on a helicopter with another science group, B-134. They needed to fly 60 miles out to New Harbor. That is where my friends Dannie and Hilary (on B-043) have been diving for the last two months. Sandwich and I went to help B-134 pull up some instruments they have had deployed underwater for the last few weeks. We also went to have a ton of fun!
Here I am in helo passenger terminal with my helmet on. I was pretty pumped up already!
The whole group (except me) from left to right: Pauline, Sandwich, Geoff, Emily and Evan. A huge thanks to Evan and Pauline for making this trip for Sandwich and me possible.
Pauline, me and Sandwich. For some reason, the helmet that Sandwich chose had the word "Wolfman" written across the front. She didn't know for quite some time! Hilarious!
Loading up! Evan doing his best to look the part.
Evan and Sandwich.
Emily and me. Can you tell we are all just a bit excited? :)
Looking out of our window, we could see the Taylor Valley. The pictures of the landscapes we saw on Tuesday do not do them justice. In a word: breathtaking. The part of the continent we traveled to is called the Dry Valleys. That part of the continent does not get much snow at all. The entire continent is a massive desert, but the Dry Valleys get even less precipitation than anywhere else. you will be able so see just how dry they look later.
Here is what the field camp for B-043 looked like as we approached it from the air. The upper half of the photo is land and all of the ice in the lower half is the frozen sea. You can now start to see just how dry the Dry Valleys really are. There is quite a difference between McMurdo and New Harbor.
The helo taking off after it dropped us off.
Walking up to camp.
This was one of the most exciting moments of my entire trip. I know that it doesn't look like much, but these are my first steps on the actual continent! Remember that McMurdo is on Ross Island. Every day we can look out our window and see Me. Discovery and the Royal Society Mt. Range which are on the actual continent. But I never dreamed that I would get to actually step foot on the continent itself. It was pretty overwhelming. Very few people can say they have ever been to Antarctica, and a significantly smaller percentage of the population can say they have actually been on the continent. Sandwich and I were pretty pumped! Plus, we were in the Dry Valleys, which are like some of the most remote places to access in Antarctica as well!
This the kitchen and dining area that B-043 has used all season. Their sleeping quarters are just around the corner to the left. They have a bathroom outside, a small bathroom and a dive hut. That is about it! Now that is intense!
Here we are in the dive hut getting ready to pull up B-134's instrument.
We needed to wait for the divers to go down and tie a rope to the instrument before we could pull it up so here they are preparing to dive. Don't Cecil and Evan have amazing smiles?
Me waiting for the divers to return.
Sandwich and I called helo ops to see if we could extend our stay in New Harbor and fly back later with Cecil. It worked! We got to stay till 8pm instead of 5pm! Then we all went on a hike to go see a mummified seal. Evan and I on our hike.
Here is the whole group hiking up to see the seal. Nice spacing guys!
Here are pictures of the mummified seal. Because the weather is so cold all the time and there are really no other organisms to decompose a dead animal, finding "mummified" seals is not an uncommon occurrence. One side of the seal still had remains of blubber and skin while the other side was completely wind blown and all the bones were exposed. The third picture, courtesy of the amazing Sandwich, shows a really great up close view of the skull. We could still see some whiskers near the nose. We have no idea how old this skeleton is. It could be well over 100 years old or perhaps even older than that!
The six of us continued on our hike to get some better views of some of the glaciers that enter into the Taylor Valley. Here, Emily, Pauline and Sandwich are crossing a newly developing melt stream.
Sandwich and I got to continue our hike but B-134 had to turn around because their helo was on its way. As we continued our hike, we noticed that we were not the first people to have hiked in this area. While moving rocks around like this in the Dry Valleys is generally frowned upon, it did make for a cool picture. In the middle of the picture, you can start to see the Commonwealth glacier.
The Commonwealth glacier is in the foreground and behind it is the Canada glacier.
Panoramic of the Taylor Valley and both glaciers.
After our hike, we made our way back to B-043's camp. Dannie had just finished making dinner and we had a great meal with all of their team. Look at all of these Southpaws at one table!
Saying a sad goodbye to our great friends at New Harbor from the helo.
We had to get a few hero shots in the helo while flying back. Here we are, Cecil, Sandwich and myself, all loving life at this moment!
Probably the coolest part of the flight was when we flew over this massive iceberg. It had cracked in two but was still together. Our pilot flew really close to it and turned in all directions so all three of us could get some awesome shots. The fifth photo is courtesy of Sandwich. Then, we got to fly directly over it!
The last three shots are of McMurdo as we approached. It was such an incredible day!
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