Our version of Charlie's Angels (during Sea Ice Training)
I've had to attend 4 different trainings this week so I can be a volunteer leader taking people out to the historic Cape Evans and the ice caves. This is looking up the hole you enter to get into the caves.
The ice mass on the left is an iceberg locked in "first year" ice. All the flat part you see will melt in a few months and the ice breaker will come through here.
The crystals are amazing. The caves are at the foot of the colossal Erebus tongue glacier.
Somehow we will have to keep people from disturbing all these delicate features when we lead tours.
Such a gorgeous shade of blue...
Cape Evans is where Scott was based before his ill-fated trip to the Pole. The place is steeped in history and left exactly how it was. In fact, the only way to see things is with a flashlight, or you can be silly like me and forget your flashlight and have to take pictures into dark corners and see what is there when you get home and download your pics.
This was an officers bed believe it or not. The hut is especially magical after reading some of the books, like the one by Apsley Cherry-Gerard. None of the men were ever the same after their trip here.
It's a gorgeous spot if it wasn't so darn cold all the time!
It takes over an hour to drive the Deltas over the sea ice to get here. Time is of the essence, as all this will melt soon. For the next month, a good chunk of my time off will be spent volunteering, but it means so much for folks to get out and see things, so it is worth it.
For sea ice training, we traveled across the ice in a Haglund. Cozy to say the least.
Gorgeous day!
We drilled holes in cracks to test safety. Anything over about a meter thick is considered safe for vehicles.
The sea ice is quite a bit deeper than that in sections.
Sea ice training was the most fun training I've had here so far.
Me taking a little stroll, enjoying just being here...
Seals! They poop and pee all over the ice, but we are supposed to strip down and pee into bottles when we are out on the ice. No fair! I had overalls on, so you can imagine that little ordeal...and there are no trees to squat behind!
The haglund with Erebus in the background.
Near the iceberg frozen into the sea ice.
Hand drilling tent pole holes for practice. The ice is actually different temperatures. This day it was about zero Fahrenheit. There is a whole complicated science to looking at cracks in the ice, and it feels like a big responsibility driving people out here and making sure it is safe.
1 comment:
Your blog is always so interesting! That first picture is awesome, and I also saw you have one picture with the cool ground perspective... nice job! Love you!
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