A few more photos.

I don't have a lot to write today so I figured a few photos would keep everyone entertained.  Hope all it is well with everyone.

Tim

Cape Evan and Scott's Terra Nova Hut

This year I helped out set up for the Halloween party since the party was the weekend we transitioned to nights and I had helped last year I knew it would help me stay up and would be a fun time.  Little did I know that by helping out I would get the trip to go to Cape Evans out of it.

To give you a little back ground, this hut was built by Robert Falcon Scott in 1911 and is about 12 miles north of McMurdo on Cape Evans.  This hut was built by Scott for his expedition to the South Pole.  Having been inside the Discovery Hut here at McMurdo as well, I can say that Scott learned from his mistakes.  This hut was built better to withstand the environment down here.  The size is bigger and the furnishings seem to have made it more comfortable for Scott and his team than what they would have lived in the Discovery Hut.  Scott even added an enclosed stable and storage area to this hut for his horses, dogs and supplies.  Not sure why someone would have brought a bicycle with them here back than but there is a bike hanging up on the wall.

On our way out the the hut we stopped and saw some Weddel seals, the Erebus Glacier tongue and Ice Cave and on our way back we stopped at another glacier that was much bigger and higher.  To get out there and back we rode in a Hagglund and the whole trip lasted about 7 hours.  All in all, I can't say how lucky I am to get to see some the most historic and endangered places in this world.  I need to remind myself this everyday that I am down here.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Tim

Some Weddel Seals

The Erebus Glacier Tongue

Looking at Tent Island from on the Glacier Tongue

 Looking out onto the Ross Sea from the Glacier

Inside the Ice Cave

The cool Ice Crystals

Looking up at the icicles 

An Ice Crystal

Scott's Terra Nova Hut

The Plaque at the Entrance to the Hut

It is hard to read but a member of the expedition was keeping track of who died.

Another view of the hut

Looking South at Castle Rock (the tall point in the distance on the right, I hiked there from McMurdo last year) the 2 islands are Big Razorback on the right and Little Razorback on the left

Looking at Tent island and Inaccessible island on the right

A memorial to the 3 individuals lost that were written inside the hut.

Looking back at the Hagglund.

The other glacier we went to.

A sea ice crack

The following pictures are from my friend Dacre Dunn who won his trip for his Halloween Costume and got to go with us.  Hope you enjoy his pictures as well.

 The bike I talked about earlier

Inside the hut

We did a group shot of all of us in front of the big glacier

This is a map of the trip we took, McMurdo is at the bottom and Cape Evans is at the top.

A few new photos!

So I found out tonight that I get to go to Cape Evans on Saturday night and see Scotts hut out there.  I will take lots of pictures and post them when I get back on Sunday morning.  Hope you all enjoy these for now.

Tim

 The sun peeking around OB hill!

 Mt. Erabus, I got this photo early on in my shift at the airfield, when I went back into town a few hours later it looked like Mt. Erabus was very active by the amount of smoke and steam coming out from the top.  I didn't get any photos of Mt. Erabus than.

 One of a few beautiful days at the airfield this week.

 Looking back at McMurdo from the airfield.

 I got a new camera and have been playing with the features, I liked how blue the sky is in this one.

 This is the Basler (Modified DC-3) I rode in last year.

 We have an Ice Pier so hopefully all the vessel work goes a whole lot easier this year.

If you look carefully you can see the old ice pier just off of the point in this picture.  There is not much left of it.

New Season of Challenges!

I haven't written in a while since I have been busy working and just enjoying life as it is here in Antarctica.  Things are going well and getting back into the routine of life and work here has gone well.  Last year being my first year here everything was new and exciting, this year that isn't the case so it has taking some getting used to the feeling that I am now here for the money and not for the excitement and adventure of working in Antarctica.  I have talked with a few ice vets here and they all have agreed that the second season is the hardest as of right now I have to agree with them.  Though working 12 hour days has helped get into the groove of things. 

As for life down here this season it is different than last season for the above reason but also due to some changes made both by the NSF and the contractor Lockheed Martin.  All staff that is scheduled to be here longer than 98 days have been moved into what is called the upper case dorms.  These dorms sleep 2 persons to a room and are suites so you end up sharing a bathroom with your neighbors.  In each room we have our own sink.  These rooms are smaller than where I lived last season and I hate saying it are not any nicer than what I had last year.  I sort of wish I was able to still live in my own room, but housing down here has been a problem so I can't complain when they are trying to work on solving the problems.  Other changes have been hiring few staff members to work here.  This has helped the housing situation but has caused problems in other areas.  Working on nights, some of the food options that we had last year have gone away due to the staffing issues and population issues.  My breakfast choices are more limited at night than in the mornings here so I usually end up having dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.  The food has gotten somewhat better but certain items just don't seem appealing waking up and eating for breakfast.  The bars close earlier here which hasn't effected me working on nights but we will see how things change as the season goes on.  Our equipment that we use for work has been in short supply because of the staffing cuts.  Fewer mechanics have been hired on so getting equipment repaired has been challenging along with just the preventative maintenance that goes with equipment as well.  Normally we have 9 loaders 4, delta and 3 5-ton trucks to help build and move cargo with.  As of right now we only have 5 loaders working and 3 deltas running for moving cargo.  2 of the loaders are always at the airfield for flight operations so it has taken some juggling of equipment to make sure that cargo is safely handled and transported.  

Last season we had cargo teams of 6 all season long, this year we are teams of 4.  In the end I don't think that the loss of 2 members on a team will be that bad for the rest of the season but I also feel that we have gotten lucky this year.  Right now the LC-130's that do the bulk of the flying down here for transporting staff and cargo to the South Pole and the various Field Camps have been having equipment issues.  So fewer flights have been flying on a daily basis which has allowed us to build ahead for future missions.  This could be a blessing in disguise for us or it could be bad for us.  By being able to be ahead of the game with fewer staff it makes things look like it is working, but on the other hand maybe it really isn't.  Only time will tell.  I am glad that we are finally building cargo cause it helps for shifts to go faster.  

Well that is all for now.  I haven't taken any photos this week.  I will try to get some tonight and post them later on.  Hope all is well with everyone who reads this.  As always if you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them.