McMurdo Station

November 9, 2008

I spent today at McMurdo Station, getting gear ready for departure to Cape Crozier in a few days.

In the morning, Katie, Michelle, Kirsten and I hiked up Obs Hill, overlooking “town”. A wooden cross on top of the hill was erected in 1913 in memory of Captain Scott’s failed South Pole expedition the previous year; it marks the spot where his men looked and hoped for his return. The cross is a little weathered but still stands strong, almost 100 years later.

The hilltop also affords an excellent view of McMurdo Station, Mount Erebus, and the frozen-over Ross Sea backed by white mountain peaks of mainland Antarctica.

From a distance, McMurdo looks like a western mining town, with heavy equipment and utilitarian buildings strewn between frozen, muddy streets. Walk inside any building, though, hang your big red jacket in the coat room, and the station morphs into a campus-like, cozy place. Carpeted floors, cushiony chairs, and art hung on the walls make you forget the bleak outdoors.

I spent the afternoon completing a light vehicle training course, organizing and weighing field gear to be packed for the helicopter, sitting in on a project meeting to confirm our field season objectives, checking off food on a 15-page grocery list to supply us for three months, and moving to a new dorm room.