beauty at the edges of McMurdo Station
Many hiking trails around McMurdo require you to log an eFoot Plan and carry a radio. This basically lets the Firehouse know exactly where you are, and to send out a search crew if you do not show up in town at a designated time. Who knows when you might fall in a crevasse!
One of the trails that does not require this is the Hut Point Loop Trail, which Dave and I hiked over our Thanksgiving break (two days off in a row!) We had beautiful, warm, sunny weather for most of the way.
the ice field from afar
blue wave crests tumbling down the mountain!
On our way out, we took a detour to check out a really cool patch of ice. This field of blue ice waves cascades down the hill below the T-Site (where our communications are broadcast from).
those "ice waves" are actually pretty tall!
It was pretty slippery, but there were some great rocks haphazardly balancing in the field. Were they placed there by some one? Did the ice melt to reveal them?
precarious rocks
Further on, we found some bones in the rocky soil....and SOMETHING GREEN in McMurdo! Yes folks, we found green algae-like fuzz on the bones where they touched the earth. We're guessing the bones are from a skua (the Antarctic seagull), or perhaps some chicken that a skua stole from some poor soul who tried to carry their food home from the Galley.
the only natural green on the continent?
We found it necessary to pause, and create a memorial to these green fuzzy bones.
an appropriate marker for fuzzy bones
Our trail took us past two of the communications hubs here- large satellites protected with Buckminster Fuller-esque domes. These domes seem to be made of structural tubes with a thin skin membrane, which might be vacuumed sealed for a tight fit. Reminiscent of Burning Man structures, anyone?
the "golf ball"
Arrival Heights: this area is off-limits to most people
At the peak in our trail, we sat and gazed out over the sea ice for some time. We could see the edge of the ice, and open water beyond- just on the horizon!
the edge of the sea ice- the blue band at the horizon is open water!
The mountains looked spectacular, especially though binoculars. Dave took a few photos of the mountains through the binoculars, which turned out amazingly well.
part of the Royal Society Range, from the Arrival Heights peak, across the sea ice
through the binoculars: this peak and glacier is located approximately in the center of the previous photo
another binocular-enhanced peak, also part of the Royal Society Range
Charlevoix bag makes it to Antarctica
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