Lake Hoare

I spent last week at Lake Hoare. Lake Hoare camp is the main base of operation in the Taylor Valley and is the "home" of the McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER program. It has been many years since I was in the field in October and I have forgotten what it was like to be there so early in the summer. For one thing, the sun is not very high in the sky yet, so we spend most of the day in the shadow of the mountains. The lake ice is frozen solid. There are still snow patches on the ground. Here I am on Lake Hoare with the Canada Glacier in the background. It's not often that people can walk to work on a lake, but in Antarctica it is possible. This trip was a reconnaisance trip so that Kelly and I could start to look around at the ice to determine his sample locations. The lake ice becomes more treacherous later in the summer as it warms up and starts to melt. The part I am standing on might be melted later in the season, but for now it is somewhat like walking on a beautiful pale blue sidewalk. The ice at the center of the lake does not melt completely, but it will develope melt pools near the surface. The center ice is very rough and is about 4 meters thick. The lake itself is 30 meters deep at the deepest point.

Here is a picture of a Bell 212 helicopter. Helicopters the main means of transportation between McMurdo and the dry valleys. When we are in the field, the helicopters become our main physical connection to the outside world, transporting mail, supplies, food, and people. The helicopters also bring us back McMurdo when we are finished with our field work. It's hard not to love helicopters when you are in the dry valleys. The helicopter support is provided by PHI. Those pilots are so skilled at their jobs with many years of experience. The helicopters were transported back to the US this summer to undergo maintenance and they came back with shiny new red and blue paint colors.


Here is a picture of the camp at Lake Hoare showing the main building and the labs. Most of our power comes from solar power and there are three solar panels in front of the main hut. There are several other structures including a generator shed, a tool shed, an outhouse, two propane fueled "Rocket Toilets", and a Jamesway. We sleep in tents, but we have heat in the main building. The facilties are very comfortable, so we are not exactly roughing it. Although, sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we are working outside and sleeping in the cold so it is very important to eat enough and constantly monitor our physical condition. We do have warm shelters, but it's best to try to avoid getting too cold when we are outside. We use the main hut for cooking, working, and relaxing. We have a phone and internet access there. On our last night in Christchurch, we went out for Thai food and Kelly said "We won't be eating like this at Lake Hoare." I said, "Oh, yes we will." We have a wonderful camp manager at Lake Hoare who does not like to have her picture taken, but she makes sure we have delicious, interesting and nourishing meals every day.



At this time of year we have direct sunlight from about 6AM to 2PM every day. The sun does not set at this time of year, but it is still low in the sky. It is hidden behing the mountains in the Asgard Range for most of the afternoon and evening. It feels like nap time. Then the sun pokes out from behind the mountains for another hour in the late evening. This picture was taken looking to the west from our camp. It is about 9PM. There is not much to say about this image except that the late evening is often the nicest time to be outside in the field.

More preparations

Today was a day filled with more training and preparations. Kelly and I went to our Dry Valleys Environmental Protection briefing and our Communications briefing and Kelly went to ATV training school while I worked in the lab. We also picked up our radios and camping gear. It was a busy day. It's so great to be here and we are very excited to go to the field on Wednesday.

It must have been a snowy winter because the snowdrifts seems very big. Here is a picture of the outside of the medical clinic. It still surprizes me how much snow we have here. Well it is Antarctica, right? But it is also considered to be a polar desert, which means that evaporation is greater than precipitation. It also means that I keep lip balm around at all times.

Here is another snowdrift outside of one of the buildings. I know that the General Assistants (GA's) must be working very hard to shovel all this snow to keep all of our steps and paths clear enough to get where we need to go. Thanks to the GA's!
It looks as though the "snow drift" contains almost as much volcanic grit and dust as snow. When the winds blow here, it is hard not to eat grit. It gets everywhere. We are living on the flanks of an active volcano, Mt. Erebus. It sits above us, venting away every day. It is not visible from McMurdo Station because we don't have a good vantage point, but it is only about 25 miles away from here.

It's cold here

I have been in McMurdo Station since Thursday. It was a very smooth trip overall. We did have to wake up at 3AM for the flight to Antarctica. It was delayed about an hour, but we got here, pretty much right on schedule. It is Sunday here now. I have been busy getting unpacked and getting the lab set up. Here is a picture of my lab space in Antarctica.

I have also been making all of the required preparations for going to the field next week. Before you can go to the field, you have to go through lots of training! I did my refresher snow school last week. It is a half day of training. The primary goal is to refresh our memories of what to do if we get stranded someplace. We learn what is in the survival bags, how to use and troubleshoot the stoves, how to use the radios, how to set up the tents, how to avoid getting frostbite and hypothermia. So far I have never used my survival bag, but I know what to do if I need it. Tomorrow we will get our sleeping bags and field gear organized. We will also learn how to drive the ATV and how to do our daily check-in with MacOps.


Here is a picture taken outside of the Crary Lab today. As you can see, it has been snowy here and there are many large snow drifts. It seems like more snow that usual, but sometimes it's hard to remember what the weather was like in the past. Everyone seems to be talking about the cold and wind. Right now it is -17C, which translates to 1F. The wind chill temperature is -22F. Yesterday the air temperature was about -20F, and the wind chill temperature was -40F. The winds have been about 20 miles per hour, so you can get cold quickly if you don't have enough layers on. Today feels balmy compared to yesterday!

Getting ready

We have our plane tickets and it's really time to get ready now. I hope I bought enough coffee. Tonight is the official Bon Voyage party to kick off the 2006-07 Antarctic field season. The first two people from our team from Ohio State University will be headed south this weekend. The plan is to arrive in New Zealand on Tuesday, get our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) clothing at the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) at the Antarctic Center in Christchurch, NZ on Wednesday, and fly to McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Thursday morning. Sometimes things go as planned, but it is advisable to be prepared for change. Also, if you do become a regular reader of my blog, you will see that we use many acronyms in the United States Antarctic Program (USAP)!

Here is a photo of me at one of the upland ponds near the Marr Glacier in Taylor Valley. I should probably show you a picture from Columbus, but wouldn't you rather see me in Taylor Valley?

Two weeks to go

I am still in Columbus, OH, but I have mentioned to several people (too many?) that I was going to attempt a blog from the ice this season. It's hard to imagine, but in two weeks I will be headed back to Antarctica as part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER field team. This will be my 14th field season in Antarctica. These days my field season is more like a "lab season", but working in Crary Lab in McMurdo Station, Antarctica, can be a great experience. For those of you who know me, you know that I still get VERY excited about travelling to my home away from home. At this time of year, I seem to do alot of shopping for coffee.