Facts About Mt. Erebus

Mt. Erebus, is the furthest south active volcano in the world. Here are some interesting facts:

Erebus is the world's southernmost active volcano and one of only a handful with active convecting lava lakes. Although it is not a major threat to McMurdo Station it offers a unique opportunity to study eruptive process from lava lakes and is monitored year round.

In 1979, Mount Erebus, 3,794 meters (12,448 feet) in height, was the site of a plane crash that claimed 257 lives on a sightseeing and photographic flight over Antarctica.

The last eruption was in 2011.

Here's a cool website that has cameras and information about the research being done at Mt. Erebus:
http://erebus.nmt.edu/

Mt Erebus From the West Near Scott Base - Pressure Ridges in the Foreground

Mt Erebus From the Area of the LDB (Long Duration Balloon) Launch Area

My Thanksgiving Weekend

Hello! I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and got some shopping in this weekend! I actually had Friday and Saturday off. The Station celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday with a turkey dinner that was outstanding! But I am getting ahead of myself! I got off work Friday morning at 0730. I went and had breakfast to fuel up for a hike on the Hut Point Ridge Loop Trail - 2.63 miles. I went with firefighters - Pat, Michael, Jesse and my roommate Rachel. We couldn't have asked for a better day! It was sunny, no wind and about 30 degrees! We started at Hut Point where Vince's Cross is Scott's Hut is located, past "Roll cage Mary", all the way to Arrival Heights, an area restricted to foot traffic and used for science. ( I think it is some kind of secret military thing going on up there!) We saw seals - even a female in labor, and plenty of Skuas. It was an awesome hike and I was thoroughly exhausted afterwards! I slept really well!

A View of Hut Point From High on the Trail

"Roll Cage Mary"

Me Standing at the Edge of the World - the Trans Antarctic Mountains are in the Background

Having Fun at the Top of the Trail with a Dome

On Saturday I had my turn to tour the Pressure Ridges at Scott Base. The pressure ridges we explored here form where a large mass of sea ice buckles under pressure as it makes contact with land (in this case, Ross Island where McMurdo Station and Scott Base are located). The wind, tides, and sun are all variables that constantly change these ridges. It was almost like a moonscape only it was made of ice! We walked a trail that was about 2 miles long and weaved our way through ice chunks reaching some 50 feet high! Again the weather was perfect - it was the same as the day before! It was the highlight of my time here!

Pressure Ridges

Me in Front of Some Smaller Pressure Ridges - Notice my "Yak Tracks" On My Boots

Our Group

Thanksgiving dinner was really good! We had turkey with all the fixings! People dressed up for the occasion, some men in suits and ties - even my boss was in a dress! I wore dress slacks and a sweater. Along with the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, we had jalapeno - cranberry dressing, asparagus and king crab legs that had so much crab in them - I've never seen anything like it! For dessert we had pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheescake, fudge and pecan pie. It wasn't quite like home, but it was pretty good all the same!

SPoT

What is SPoT you ask? That would be the acronym for the South Pole Traverse. Every years a group of 9 to 10 people drive huge pieces of equipment loaded with fuel and assorted other items from McMurdo to the South Pole Station. Here is a website to read more about it:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole_Traverse



Here is a picture of some of the conditions they have to drive through. This year there are 2 teams making the trip - SPoT1 and SPoT2. This is what the SPot2 check in message looked like for today:



SPoT2 Daily Check in

November 21, 2012

Number in Party: 9

Temp Am:Storming(not measured but over 40mph)PM: 12F SE@13mph

Elev. 284

Position (Lat/Long): S83 49.826  W172 54.933

Station (way-point + milage): RIS1JW+48.4

Milage today:  33

Messages: Fun event filled day of 0-100'viz. Wx improved in afternoon,
becoming right now, downright nice. A few mechanicals on tractors and
gen
shack.

Intentions: fly me to camp 20, let me play among the stars, let me see
what spring is like on....(name that artist)

SWoD: Corona e espanola

pic: our generator (her name is Genny)

Genny - SPot2

Stuff From Down Here

Here's a cool site with some awesome time lapse photography from a Kiwi down here:

http://www.antarcticimages.com/Antarctica/Video-Clips/5140882_DDG9nC/1892431567_Z8ZrX9r

And some more pictures!

C-17 Landing at the Annual Sea Ice Runway

And this pretty much sums up everybody's attitude about the company that employs all of us!

It's Been So Long...

Since I've written anything! We've had some changes here at the Antarctic Fire Department Dispatch office so I've been working a lot more hours. That leaves me no time to have fun! I've been training up some firefighters to work in dispatch and am thrilled they are using my training abilities! This upcoming week is Thanksgiving. I guess the kitchen staff puts on a nice spread. We will have seating times and they will have table cloths and linen napkins. Instead of overalls and Carharts, people will dress nicely for dinner! Dinner will be on Saturday, November 24th. That is also the day I will be taking a tour of the Pressure Ridges out at Scott Base. That is the one trip I have been looking forward to all season!

I saw a dreaded Skua the other day hanging out between the dining hall and the dorms. I saw it come in for a landing - it had the wingspan of a B-52! It was huge! Really, the wingspan is about 5 feet across and the body of the bird is about 3 feet long. I can't imagine getting hit by one of those!

Here are some pictures from one of the firefighters I know. He took these out by Cape Royds when he was out assisting a science team. This is Barne Glacier. Barne Glacier is a steep glacier in Antarctica which descends from the western slopes of Mount Erebus and terminates on the west side of Ross Island, between Cape Barne and Cape Evans where it forms a steep ice cliff.

Antarctic Cartoons

Enjoy these cartoons. This gives you a little taste of the humor down here!


Thanksgiving Dinner - Notice the Bunny Boots!

Happy Camper Pictures

I wanted to give you an idea about what we did at Happy Camper. I didn't take too many photos because, well, I was cold and so was my camera battery! Here's some photos from one of the instructors and another guy in our group.

Me Carrying Ice Blocks

Our Happy Camper Group

Our Camp - My Tent is the Big Yellow One up Front

Me ^ With
My Glasses Iced Up