Mud season

Even though it is still below freezing here, it's officially mud season in McMurdo (or is that MuckMurdo?). It is -5C (23 degrees Fahrenheit) today and it feels warm, just like spring, but without the crocuses. The air temperature is still below freezing, but the dark roads absorb solar radiation and they are warmer than the air above. As the summer progresses, the snow continues to melt and the snow drifts get smaller, and crustier. Ya gotta love all of the changes that happen in McMurdo through the summer. That is Ob Hill in the background. "Ob Hill" is short for Observation Hill. I won't get the details exactly right without looking up the story, but one of Scott's parties was left in the McMurdo region and they spent the winter in a hut near here. Every day one of the members of the team would climb to the top of Observation Hill to see if a ship was returning to pick them up. These days, most of us come and go on planes, but Ob Hill is a great place to climb and take in the view.


Here is the road sign that marks the road that runs along the Crary Lab. It is affectionately called Beeker Street (you know, the muppet) and it may be the only street in town with a name. All scientists in McMurdo including biologists, chemists, geologists, glaciologists, and astronomers are called "Beakers". Some Beakers think this is very strange because they never use beakers. I am an aqueous geochemist, therefore I use beakers in my job on a daily basis. I work in the Crary Lab analyzing water samples from the glaciers, streams and lakes in the dry valleys, so I guess I really am a Beaker.