More pictures - finally!

Here are a few more pictures from the field (I'm having computer problems-argh!). I leave tomorrow for Christchurch, NZ. I still can't believe that the adventure is coming to an end. The field work was great & the site was amazing! When I first arrived there was a penguin visitor walking and squalking near the helicopter pad (oh yeah I got to fly in a helicopter - so fun!)

I saw ventifacts and hypoliths - rocks sculpted by the winds and moss and lichen communities attached to the bottom of rocks, respectively. The glaciers and ridges and lakes were also breathtaking. Happy viewing! Can't wait to see everyone back in SF (I fly back the 5th - after some thawing out on the beaches of the North Island, NZ).

Lower Miers Valley Camp

Pretend that this is Jan 20, 2009 & that I'm writing to you from the field (and sorry that it took me so long to blog!!!):

I'm still pinching myself. The Miers Valley is incredible, really and truly like nothing that I have ever seen. Our camp sits to the side of the Miers Valley stream system. Uphill are the twin glaciers, the Addams and Miers glaciers. Downhill is Miers Lake. There are 8 of us now at camp - there will be 10 of us tomorrow again when Don and Eric get back. Don is a kiwi who is a professor in South Africa - he is our camp morning bugle (wake-up call). He bellows out "Good mooooorning campers" in his deep kiwi voice. We all slept in this morning with him gone at another camp.

Here is a snapshot of some of the temperatures around camp - a thermoprofile if you will (this is especially for you, Dinah!):

Outside temp: 1.7 degrees Celsius
Sleep tent in the morning (when the sun was shining on it for a few hours):20.8 degrees C (!!!)
Heated Lab Tent: 17.2 degrees C

Off to the field

Sorry, no photos. I'm leaving in an hour for the field site - the Miers Valley in the Dry Valleys region. I'll be back in McMurdo with lots of pictures (hopefully) on Jan 26. See you then!

Happy Camper School

Kiwi Rugby pitch



Happy campers pondering a Scott tent (still used in many camps & you can cook in them)



Final camp with snow wall (that took lots of sawing, shoveling, and hauling [in sleds] of snow!)



Tool garden only garden here :(



3 Happy Campers that won't be camping on snow in their field site (yippee!)



Jill trying out the iridium satellite phone all spy like



All of us minus the instructor and the "happy" camper dentist



The white out simulator (white bucket with a face drawn on it)



Back at Mactown (the icebreaker ship - Odin, is breaking its way to McMurdo - it's very close! I'm headed down to see what I can see - and take pictures!)

Min -4 C/ 25 F Max +1/34 F

Really Quickly, because we're off to Gallagher's for a beer (and to see the fruit flies that were brought here unknowingly and are surviving in the bar!)

Some of the pictures were taken with specific people in mind, so I'll put their names at the top & Matteo, please send the link on to those people (and note my new ID picture ; ) - thanks!

Pour Cedric - tes potes son ici avec moi!



For anyone who has seen Encounters & physicist nerds:

The Arrival

The amazing Mt. Erebus and the infamous Ivan the Terra Bus !




There have been so many new experiences in the last few days that I can't possibly recount them all - some highlights:

Snow! I don't know when the last time is that I've had snowflakes gather on my sleeve. The weather changed from sunny to snowy in the matter of a few hours, too.

Daylight - a blessing and a curse - I went to a wine bar here and it's so funny to see the lights out in the bar room to simulate nightlife atmosphere. I also can't get it out of my head that at some point I'll be able to put the sunscreen away (don't worry, Mom - I'm putting it on day and night - literally)

My wonderful colleagues - postdoctoral researchers Jill and Thomas - they are such great organizers, researchers, and people!

I can't wait to get out into the field - into the "real" Antarctica. Unfortunately there probably won't be any chance for me to go see the penguins I think, since the only way would be to convince the helicopter pilot to make a stop on our way to the Dry Valleys, but since the ice extends super far right now, it would be a big side trip.

The wide-eyed, blundering road to McMurdo research base

I tried on my Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) clothing - longjohns, snow bib, fleeces, parka,and bunny boots (huuuuuge white boots for on the ice)- you can see them in the picture on Jill and Thomas-






-all amidst the warm summer weather of Christchurch, NZ on Jan 4th. Then on the 5th I reported bright and early to the same office by the airport to repack and take off for mcMurdo station, Antarctica aboard a Hercules "Herc" military plane. The following story won't come as a surprise to most of you who have experienced my occasional "head-in-the-clouds" blunders:
I gratefully kept my hush puppies (or car shoes) on after getting the ok to keep our "street shoes" on while waiting the few hours for the plane to be ready, I loaded my 4 bags on the trolley and proceeded to the military check-in gate - 1 small shoulder bag as carry on, 1 orange duffel bag for check on, a 2nd orange duffel bag as a boomerang bag (to access in case the plane had to turn back to Christchurch and try again the next day), and a box of lab stuff. I passed the "make sure your ECW gear is not in your check in bag" and even thought to myself, no problem, the boots are in the boomerang bag, jacket over my arm. Only thing was that the boomerang bag got loaded up in the belly of the plane on top of all of the other pelleted baggage....along with my bunny (snow) boots. Ack! I sheepeshly went and asked for a new pair of boots, but read off the wrong # from the back of the boots and got a Men's size 9. That actually worked out well, though, since I was able to shove my hush puppies into the bunny boots and walk along in perfect comfort wearing 2 pairs of shoes. It pays to be resourceful (probably pays even more to be better prepared...)

Christchurch

First stop warm weather in New Zealand. I couldn't understand why the airport would go to the trouble of putting big blue footprint tracks leading from CHC airport to the US Antarctic Travel Office just for people like me going to coordinate the flight to McMurdo base, Antarctica - until I realized that the kooky "Antarctic Centre" is really what they were leading to. Here's a few pictures from the Antarctic Centre and also from the B&B and around Christchurch (which is a great city!).

Amazing Antarctic Dry Valleys

I still can't believe that I leave tomorrow for Antarctica! I'll be pinching myself the whole way. Here's some pictures, maps, & explanations of my destination - the Antarctic Dry Valleys, courtesy of Ed, the Professor that is making this amazing trip possible. Hopefully I'll be able to post many more of my own once I'm down there. I especially have to take a picture of myself in front of the TENT (yes - tent!) where I'll be camping in the Dry Valleys (how did I end up signing up for camping in Antarctica.....???)