Lookin' out my backdoor: September 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Conditions were . . .

Yesterday the temperature was a blazing 16 degrees Fahrenheit - ABOVE ZERO! Man! this ain't your South Pole Antarctica! That's not to say it doesn't get cold here. On Sept. 3 it was -47 ambient with wind chills of -80. Around these parts that's referred to as Condition 2. Under Condition 2 people don't leave town and don't go outside unless absolutely necessary. Condition 1 means people stay wherever they are at until someone comes to get them. I'm not sure who these 'someones' are or why they have to go out and get other people. As far as I know, I'm not one of them. It was certainly a lot colder at Pole, but no where near as windy. I'm not sure if it was harder walking uphill into the wind or downhill with it behind you. The wind could almost take your feet out from under you. Today it was at least 7 with no wind. I saw a fellow walking down the road in flip flops, no socks. At 2 PM. Sober. One of the fire chiefs, a long time participant . . . maybe too long. Anyone who cares to can check current conditions down here by logging on at www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/mcmwebcam.cfm I'm a mere mortal in the presence of giants and titans. I've met self described -Arctic field camp cook/Middle East warrior several times over/crabber/union foreman -farmer/truck driver/ cat skinner - heavy equipment operator/world traveler -deep sea fisherman/ Arctic explorer/herbalist/charter boat operator/psych therapist -photographer/boat captain/Southeast Asia warrior/out-of-retirement electrician Most are/were hard drinkin', hard chargin' Harley Riders. They've been all over the world, worked on most of the major projects - did he say the Suez canal or was it the canals on Mars? - and made bazillions of dollars. I'm just not sure why they're muckin' around down here with us. Most are on their first or second trip to the Ice. You don't hear much of that kind of talk from veterans around here, the OAE's (Old Antarctic Explorers). Their reputations, for good or ill, are known, a matter of record around the Antarctic stations.

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Daily news and announcements

Sometimes temperatures were listed. The season high of 23 above zero was reached while I was in camp. Since our internet connection was so slow, other important information such as the latest NFL results were posted. Educational improvement was provided by a daily word picked at random from a collection submitted by the camp population. The individual who picked the word had to use it in a sentence. This day's word was fugly. Trust me, that was an easy and relatively . . . innocent one.

Sleeping quarters

Unlike some of the other field camps, these Artic Oven tents were provided to each of us. They are quite a step up from the backpacking tents. At about 6 or 7 feet square and 5 feet high in the center, they are almost roomy. Add a folding cot and a wool blanket for a rug. I saw a couple small shelving units in one and another flamingo outside the door. One fellow had a portable solar panel charging unit hung on the side of his. I didn't see a TV antennae, however. You have to take into consideration, this was home for almost three months for some of these folks. Pretty plush for a deep field camp in Antarctica - even if the temperature was sometimes zero or lower when we were climbing into our sleeping bags.

The cores are kept in storage until there are enough to fill a cargo pallet like the one at the end of the room. The pallet is loaded on a C-130 as close to take-off as possible. The plane is actually cooled as low as possible for the flight. There is a cooler to store cores at McMurdo. From there they are loaded in a refrigerator van and onto the cargo ship. A refrigeration tech goes with them on the trip to California where they will be shipped by truck to the Denver Federal Center. The tech told me that in the past they had used two trucks, just in case one broke down. This trip there will be a truck with two separate refrigeration units in case one fails. There are over 40 projects examining the ice. Some of it is kept in cold storage in Denver as an archive.

McTown and the off-load

Don't ask me to translate McMurdoese - instead of unloading the ship, it's an off load. Instead of setting up and tearing down a camp, it's put in and take-out. Whatever, the ship is at the pier. It's been unloaded and they are slowly getting it reloaded with waste, wornout vehicles, helicopters for the out-going contractor, and - the ice cores. With a little luck, a lot more hard work and good weather, they should be in Denver within a month or so. I had a day off and it was (obviously) beautiful. I hadn't hiked up Ob Hill in a few seasons, so I climbed up and took this picture. After I got down, I remembered why I don't do that more often. Gettin' older ain't for sissies.

"How long does it take?"

From time to time, people have asked me how long it takes to get here. This time I kept track. As it so happens, I think this was the fewest flights I've ever had. For one thing, a stop for a few days of orientation in Denver has been eliminated - unfortunately. Also, in the past when we flew to Sydney, we went to Auckland, NZ and then to Christchurch. And I actually flew from Johnstown instead of Pittsburgh but that didn't eliminate a flight, just cut down on travel time. Here's the breakdown -

I left about 9:30 AM, Sept. 28
Johnstown to Dulles, about 1 hour.
Dulles to Los Angeles, about 5 hours.
Los Angeles to Sydney, about 14 hours.
Sydney to Christchurch, about 5 hours.
Christchurch to McMurdo, about 5 hours.

Including layovers, 31 hours to Sydney, 38 to Christchurch.

We arrived in Christchurch in the afternoon. The next day we received our extreme cold weather gear and sat through some orientation lectures. the next morning we took off for McMurdo about 9AM.

The total from Johnstown to McMurdo was about 80 hours.

A Solid Foundation

These are the footer pads, posts and beams that the floor sections were put on. The pads are 36" squares of 2X6's enclosed in 3/4" plywood. It was all two of us wanted to move them. The posts are sections of 12x12. The beams are 4X8's. It was all bolted together with 1/4" steel angle brackets and 1x2" x 6" lag bolts driven in with impact guns. The floor sections were 2x6's on 12" centers with 3/4" plywood top and bottom. All this for a 12' by 16' shack to house a generator that probably doesn't weight more than 1,000 lbs. Now that's some heavy duty construction.

Seal

On the way back from Canadian, we came across the desicated remains of a sizeable seal. It was the third we found between camp and the Canadian Glacier. There was at the edge of Lake Fryxell and another very close to the side of the glacier. This is miles and miles from McMurdo Sound. No one seems to have an explanation although there is a rumor that when the Navy was running this show, the helo crews might have been having some fun with the scientists by planting these. they went to a lot of trouble if that's the case. And if not, again, why are these seals up here?