The best days are those that you’d never have guessed would be just that…

Monday.

Missed the second half of the work day when Galley-Sally (our Executive Chef – basically the CEO of the dining operation) told me I’d be going out with some fish scientists to Cape Evans.

Below...
Shelton.
Karen & Shelton.
Our Catch.

Polar Plunge

You only live once, right?

The cynic might say the same can be said for dying.

Despite a slight fear that my heart would stop from the shock, I peered into a hole through 6ft of ice, and took a dip in the 28°F waters of the Ross Sea.

The Claw

Me… “How are your hands?”

Fellow DA, Carrie… “Fine, I guess.”

Me… “I wake up in the mornings and my fingers are stiff and curled up like this. (pause… hold up arthritic mitts) I have to concentrate and work them straight... bending and straightening to get the blood flowing again. I’m falling apart… falling apart I tell you!”

Carrie… “ha ha... that’s funny.”

Me… “Look at me… look at me! It’s not funny at all!”

Carrie… “I meant funny terrible… not funny Ha Ha.”

Me… “Oh, okay…”

Theme Music of This Day...

...Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (rediscovered this album from this past spring - forgot how good it was)

...Sufjan Stevens – Seven Swans (beautiful. love it in the morning)

...Say Hi to Your Mom – Numbers & Mumbles (one of several discs from Cooler Than He Knows Brother*)


*side note… I received a Christmas package from my loving family two weeks ago. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to stare at all those wrapped gifts for 5-weeks, I made a compromise with myself. I get to open one gift each week on my day off. Funny how I need to reason these things out.

Blue Tray Special

Yesterday I went on my second hike around the Castle Rock Loop. At McMurdo, off-station exploring is limited to routes that have been thoroughly surveyed to ensure safe passage. Castle Rock Loop is the longest of the permitted hikes and affords one a feeling of remoteness that should seem commonplace, but is often absent in the hustle and bustle of McMurdo Station.

The 9.3 mile hike starts at the Firehouse in McMurdo Station. A hiking party has to check out a radio from the Fire Station and forecast a time of return. Knowing that even 5 minutes of tardiness could result in dozens of phone calls and a Search & Rescue Team out in the field, we gave ourselves a couple of extra hours to complete the hike.

This week I was accompanying a group that included DA-Jeff, Baker-Christina, DA-Ben, Shuttle-Erica and DA-Richard. Last week I did the same hike with Karen, one of my supervisors. On both outings, the weather Gods graciously smiled down on me.

This week, unlike the previous, we were treated to an utterly windless day, and so we attempted a climb up the 200ft Castle Rock. The backside of the outcropping was a relatively easy scramble that leads up to the flat tabletop. Where the climb was slightly exposed, fixed-lines had been set-up to provide some protection. The panoramic views were breathtaking.


DA-Richard, one of probably four people on the ICE who can make me laugh without fail, strolled off toward the sharp edge. Inching forward and peering out, he called back to us, “Oh my God, this is so beautiful… I think I’m going to puke.” He’s scared of heights.

In turn, we each find ourselves resting on the warmth of the rock beneath us. We soak in the sun’s rays and are utterly intoxicated by the pristine landscape that fills the space between our perch and the distant horizon.

We descend Castle Rock and exchange childish smiles at the base. Our glances say, “Are you ready for this?” as though the question actually needed to be asked. Tearing our backpacks open, we pass around the bright blue lunch trays we borrowed from the galley.

Before bombing down the hill, DA-Ben tells me, “Dude, my brother Nick brought some wax with him for his skis… next week we’ll wax up these trays and see what we can really do…”

CHECK IT OUT: click on either picture and you'll be linked to other photos from the hike.