Hiking in Antarctica

People have been asking me if we can wander around. They answer is yes and no.  We can wander around on set routes that range out for about 6 miles and the longest of which creates a 12 mile loop.  The hikes are not always open and you CANNOT stray from the flagged trail.  For the longer ones that take you out of sight of town you have to file an "efoot plan', an agenda that states who's going, how long you'll be and who your point of contact back on base is, then you check out at the fire department,  get a radio  and you're off.  Ones that require an "efoot' plan are ones that  also require a buddy to be hiking with you.  

This is all good policy.   We are in Antarctica and, while relatively safe, there are still hazards and dangers.  It's important not to take anything for granted. To make sure you don't forget this here's the narrative on the first page of a hiking guide:

"'…The two entry sites into the crevasse were approximately thirty feet apart.  Looking into the crevasse we could not see the bottom, nor was there any response when we tried to yell to the victims….'

'Once a rope to the first victim was established, (Mr.) Petty prepared to rappel down, and observed a repeated tugging on the rope from the victim below.  Upon entering into the crevasses, it was noted that the crevasse width decreased from three feet at the top to approximately fifteen inches, seventy-five feet below the surface, where the victims were.'

'Both had slid down the slick suface vertically, and appeared to be tightly wedged in…Petty (McMurdo Medical) was the first to assess victim #1 and found him able to talk although he appeared in a shock state.'

'Victim #1 was able to grab the end of the rope an dciil it around his wrist but was unable to hold on when it was pulled.  His only word were to the effect "Get me out of here…I'm really in a mess aren't I?'

'On victim #2….a final extrication attempt…we were able to secure a grappling hook under his arm for a fairly secure hold. With eight rescuers hauling on a 2:1 pulley system, the patient remained jammed, showing how tightly #2 was in fact jammed in…'

Both victims died in the crevasse accident. They had left the safety o fthe designated Castle Rock flagged route and had attempted to take a "short cut" to scott base. A third member of the party was between the two when they dropped through the hidden snow bridge and into the crevasse. He crawled on his hans and knees to the flagged route…and ran to Scott Base, instigating the Search and Rescue call-out. "

All that is written on the first page of the "Ross Island Hiking Guide Book".  That incident happened in 1986.  Since then, nothing so preventable has occurred. Unfortunately it was the impetuous act of these two men that has driven the lesson home for the rest of us.  I think it is very smart to have this be the first page of the hiking manual. Living here it's very easy to forget that Antarctica is wild and dangerous.   We mostly stay in town, I can walk from building to building without a jacket, we are on land, I look out and see cars driving around, fire fighters on patrol and the daily maintenance and actions of life in any town.  But it is Antarctica.  Wandering outside of this safe little area without being alert and diligent can, as you just read, lead to some tragic accidents. 

All that being said, Jamie and I love hiking and so we've been going out on as many adventures as time and energy allow.  On one of our days off we hiked the aforementioned Castle Rock loop.   We went with three of our friends and had a variety of activities between us.  Two of us were going to snowboard, Jamie and I brought sleds and another was running.  It was extraordinary fun! After checking out at the fire department to get our radios and picking up our pee bottles (can't pee on the pristine antarctic snow), we wandered out to find the start of the trail.  To get there you have to walk past the Vehicle Maintenance facility,  supply storage and a variety of other large buildings.  Walking around in town is visually uninspiring.  However, as we walked out on the trail, with town to our back, all you could see was mountain and snow and you really begin to get a sense of the craziness of living here.   I understood why "stark" is the word to describe Antarctica.  It is black and white. and (occasionally) blue. That's it. There is NO OTHER COLOR in the natural landscape.  The seals and penguins fit into this color scheme.  The human fauna will add some color to the view but it's clearly foreign.  When you see a person out there you will never think, "Wow, look. They belong there."    It's more like "oh look, a dot of red! I wonder if I know them."    On this loop around Castle Rock we didn't see anyone other than the 5 of us and it was amazing.   

About a mile in we came to an emergency shelter. It's a little red round portable hut called an "Apple" .  The weather here is unpredictable and the idea is that you can shelter there if need be. Also, as you can imagine, even if they weather isn't crazy it can still be cold and windy so it's nice to have a place to get out of the wind, sun and cold to have a snack or drink some water.  The apple has a variety of reading materials, a little heater, food stuffs if you get stuck there for a long time, benches to relax on and extra cold weather gear and sleeping bags.   We, however, had just started our walk and so we didn't linger. 

We walked on direct until we reached Castle Rock-a gorgeous outcropping which, as it gets warmer, you can summit.    We stopped there to have some lunch and found a nice perch to sit on overlooking the landscape.   It was gorgeous.  The frozen bay was dotted with seals and on the other side you could see glittering snow and ice on the sides of the craggy mountains.   There was only the tiniest of breezes so we were able to sit there comfortably and eat our lunch.  After lunch, the fun began!  At this point, we were at the top of a hill.  The snowboarders were off first, followed by our runner and then Jamie and I on our sledding adventure.   This was a bit terrifying beucase the hill didn't go straight down and we didn't want to sled off the trail so we had to keep stopping and getting back on track.  But it was super fun.    When we all finally made it to the bottom of the hill there were high fives and comments of awesomeness being tossed in the air.  After we all settled down and got ready to walk across the ice we looked back and Mt Erebus was in full view, the sun came out and we got to see the Fata Morgana out across the bay.  As we walked we had to stop every 15 minutes to try to get a better picture because the entire experience was so amazing.   

By the time we had gotten back to town the five of us had decided that we would have a "Super Tuesday" every week and so far we've gone out somewhere each week.  It's pretty amazing just being here but being able to go out and be IN Antarctica has been mindblowingly fun.  We are loving it. 

Entrance to the Castle Rock Loop and Trevor! 

Apple Shelter 

Hiking in Antarctica! 

trying to get it right. 

There we go

We are in Antarctica!  Wow.  

Castle rock with Dugan and Josh leading us up the trail . 

Castle Rock. 

Castle Rock and Trevor  

Lunch Picnic View 

Sledding?! 

YES! 

It gets a little cold out here. 

Is that a Volcano in the background?  Why yes, it is. 

Notice how at the bottom of the mountains on the left side you can see what looks like an error in the computer file. Like a windows error. that is the Fata Morgana, a mirage created from the cold. It creates the appearance of cliffs in out in the distance. Awesome. 

Frozen hair and frozen face.  

Fata morgana

Fata Morgna