Hello from the Continent!
Well I have finally made it to Antarctica! Not just an island that is really, really close to Antarctica. Myself and another mechanic Keith are at Marble Point Refueling Station for 3 days working on the two generators and preparing a D4D dozer for winter.
What are the good things about this trip? Well I get to step on the main land for the first time. And more importantly I get to ride in a helicopter.
Our trip is about 45 miles across McMurdo Sound almost straight across from Cape Evans. So normally our flight would be about 35 minutes across the sea ice. However, we were the second group to be dropped off and so we got to go to Lake Bonney in the dry valleys. So instead of only seeing ice and mountains off in the distance, we got to travel up into the mountain range.
Here is the helicopter that we are flying in. It is a Bell 212 for those keeping score at home.
This is traveling across the sea ice and looking south towards Black Island. There are several small islands sticking out. These islands are at the northern extent of the Ross Ice Shelf that Willy Field and Pegasus Runway are on.
When we arrived at the other side of the sound, we crossed the Bowers Piedmont Glacier which extends down and right into the sound. You can see the boundary here.
From here we traveled up the Ferrar Glacier Valley for a few miles.
And then we crossed over the Kukri Hills to Taylor Valley. The high point that we crossed over was about 3500 feet in elevation.
As you can see, not much vegitation here.
This is the Lake Bonney Field Camp. This is one of the major field science camps in the dry valleys area. The green building that you see are labs, and there is a Jamesway tent just behind them. This I am guessing is the Galley. And you can see several tents in the area. This is the living quaters for the scientist staying here. Not on the high end of comfort. We landed just to the left of the green building right on the edge of teh water.
After dropping off the two passengers at Lake Bonney we headed back down Taylor Valley towards the sound and we crossed over Commonwealth Glacier and Mount Coleman before landing at Marble Point. Mount Coleman is about 3000' in elevation.
So the facility at Marble Point consists of a trailer home, two bunk houses, two out buildings, and many fuel tanks. There are two permanent people out here, and one fuelie is here at all times. The two permanent folks are here from Oct. 1st until Feb. 10th with a few days in town from time to time. And the fuelie is a three week rotating tour. So a new fuelie gets to come out every three weeks. One of the permanent people is Crunch, who wintered with Paula at the South Pole in 1992-1993.
What are the good things about this trip? Well I get to step on the main land for the first time. And more importantly I get to ride in a helicopter.
Our trip is about 45 miles across McMurdo Sound almost straight across from Cape Evans. So normally our flight would be about 35 minutes across the sea ice. However, we were the second group to be dropped off and so we got to go to Lake Bonney in the dry valleys. So instead of only seeing ice and mountains off in the distance, we got to travel up into the mountain range.
Here is the helicopter that we are flying in. It is a Bell 212 for those keeping score at home.
This is traveling across the sea ice and looking south towards Black Island. There are several small islands sticking out. These islands are at the northern extent of the Ross Ice Shelf that Willy Field and Pegasus Runway are on.
When we arrived at the other side of the sound, we crossed the Bowers Piedmont Glacier which extends down and right into the sound. You can see the boundary here.
From here we traveled up the Ferrar Glacier Valley for a few miles.
And then we crossed over the Kukri Hills to Taylor Valley. The high point that we crossed over was about 3500 feet in elevation.
This is Taylor Valley. Taylor Glacier is located at the head of the valley, but most of the valley is ice free.
As you can see, not much vegitation here.
This is the Lake Bonney Field Camp. This is one of the major field science camps in the dry valleys area. The green building that you see are labs, and there is a Jamesway tent just behind them. This I am guessing is the Galley. And you can see several tents in the area. This is the living quaters for the scientist staying here. Not on the high end of comfort. We landed just to the left of the green building right on the edge of teh water.
After dropping off the two passengers at Lake Bonney we headed back down Taylor Valley towards the sound and we crossed over Commonwealth Glacier and Mount Coleman before landing at Marble Point. Mount Coleman is about 3000' in elevation.
So the facility at Marble Point consists of a trailer home, two bunk houses, two out buildings, and many fuel tanks. There are two permanent people out here, and one fuelie is here at all times. The two permanent folks are here from Oct. 1st until Feb. 10th with a few days in town from time to time. And the fuelie is a three week rotating tour. So a new fuelie gets to come out every three weeks. One of the permanent people is Crunch, who wintered with Paula at the South Pole in 1992-1993.
The food here is extremely good, since it is home cooked and it is for a group of 3 to 12 not 900 to 1150.
It is now 10:15 PM and the sun is shinning brightly, so I think I will now take a good walk down to the coast before bed. It is about a mile hike.
Hopefully more photos tomorrow. If not then when I return.
Good night.
R.J.
posted by R.J. at 3:39 AM
3 Comments:
It looks like you had a good helicopter flight with lots of spectacular views of the scenery.
Buffalo is looking winter-like for the first time since October 13th.
This week I have started a new job for the first time in 9+ years. I am doing Data Warehousing/Business Intelligence for PFS (Personal Financial Services). As soon as I figure out what that means, I'll explain it to you.
Awesome photos, and very interesting stuff. So... what was it like riding in "Copter 10?"
Nice you are getting out and
seeing the sights. Poor Paula!
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