Delta!
Robert Falcon Scott was a famous British Antarctic explorer who met a tragic, frozen end. In 1912, he and Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian, raced to the South Pole. Amundsen was clearly the better prepared, with plenty of dogs, sleds, and knowledge about the environment. He reached the pole a month before Scott did. Scott's party, who made the trek mostly on foot, reached the South Pole on January 17th, 1912. The entire party perished on the way home. They were later found frozen in their tents, not far from One Ton Depot, one of their supply depots.
Map of Scott's route to the South Pole (top). The location marked "TENT" is where Scott and his party was found on their return from the Pole.
There are so many books that recount this saga- many of them are in the little library down here. You can read more about it on wikipedia.
Scott's Hut at Cape Evans served as the base camp for this expedition. Scientific research and exploration of the coast were two other main goals of the expedition. Around 30 people made up the expedition, and they brought with them 17 ponies (which fared very poorly), 32 dogs (Scott did not understand dog mushing, and therefore did not trust dogs), 2 motorized sleds, 30 tons of food, and a prefabricated hut that was 50'x25'. This hut, Scott's Hut, still stands at Cape Evans today.
Scott's Hut, with the immense Bairn Glacier in the background
A few weeks ago, we took a tour out to Cape Evans to tour Scott's Hut. All of the shuttle drivers went- it was a company outing! We took two Deltas out onto the sea ice. Our drive took us past a couple of islands which jut steeply out of the frozen sea. We also passed by an iceberg, stuck in the ice, and a seal hole! There was a seal in the water that we could see, but she was too bashful to pop out- too many people taking pictures!
one of our Deltas, with Razorback Island in the distance
Inaccessible Island
an ice-trapped glacier
another Delta shot- this one with the Bairn Glacier in the background
a bunch of Big Red clad shuttle drivers, with Scott's Hut in the background
Scott's Hut
the expedition used the great outdoors as the biggest freezer in the world. These boxes have recently been excavated from the ice and snow.
one of the boxes recently "defrosted"
We were able to tour the inside of Scott's Hut. Inside, it looks like the expedition went out for an afternoon walk, and just never returned. Cans of food, old socks, scientific experiments... all have laid ready for almost 100 years.
wooden skis in the foyer
an array of tools are neatly strapped to the walls in the foyer
a handful of kettles (must be tea drinkers!)
the ponies brought down were not very good in the severe weather and broken terrain. one of the expedition members took a great liking to the ponies, and stenciled their names near their stalls.
the expedition crew utilized everything they had...such as foodbox ends to patch the walls of the hut
the photographer built a small studio space in the hut....and slept in the space when he wasn't working in there
an ancient penguin, probably waiting for disection
the small laboratory space in the hut
the old apothecary
food stores in the kitchen
food store boxes were used to create divider walls
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