After Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving weekend and I am at our field camp at Lake Hoare. It's a tradition that we host Thanksgiving dinner here for our LTER team and any other science groups in Taylor Valley. This year the whole LTER team got together on Thursday for a turkey dinner and we invited two other research groups who are out in Taylor Valley in tent camps. Lake Hoare camp is a fixed field camp with some buildings including small labs, a generator shed, tool shed, out houses. We have the main hut where we cook, eat, relax and work on our computers. We also have internet access (which is how I manage to post to my blog even while doing field work.) We have a full size oven, so we can cook a whole turkey. It's a regular size propane oven, similar to what you might have at home, so the day before Thanksgiving is reserved for all the baking of pies and side dishes to go along with the turkey.
One of my jobs is to help with pies. We made seven pies this year. It's was more than enough for the 22 people we had here for dinner, but isn't the best part of Thanksgiving the leftovers? Our guests could take pie home with them and there is still some left for us. (Sorry I did not take a "before" picture.) I made a mistake and grabbed the bag of chopped walnuts instead of pecans for the pecan pie. I did not realize my error until right before I poured the filling into the crust. I decided it would still be good, especially if I added some orange extract and cinnamon to make it extra special. It was a hit. I made a regular pecan pie for the traditionalists too.
This is the 15th year of the LTER project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. When our project first started we did not have the nice camp that we have now. The new camp was built starting at the end of our first field season in 1994. Before that we had a simple camp with a Jamesway, generator hut, outhouse, and a small lab. The old camp is still here, by the shore, and the building are still used. The Jamesway, which used to be the main hut, is mostly used for storing boxes and for sleeping quarters in case people are stuck here without tents. It's hard to imagine having 10 people in there sitting around the table, working and eating together. The old lab is now used on Sundays for taking showers. Eventually these buildings will probably be moved as the lake level rises. For now, they are not too close to the shore and are in no immediate danger. Although, we have seen that one warm summer could change that. For now, they serve as a reminder of more simple times, before we had phones and email in Antarctica.

Minus 5

It has been getting warmer as the sun moves higher in the sky every day. This morning it is -5 degrees C here at Lake Hoare, still below the freezing point of water. In spite of that, there are signs of melting. I took advantage of the midnight sun and walked around our camp to take a few pictures last night. The glacier calved over this winter. A sliver of ice from the cliff face peeled off and came crashing to the ground. This is good news for us because it provides a source of drinking water. We collect these ice chunks and melt them in a large stock pot for drinking, cooking, washing up. It's also nice because as we stand at the east window of our hut to wash dishes, we have a slightly newer view of the glacier cliff.
Standing near the cliff face last night I could hear water dripping from everywhere. The sun warms the face of the glacier, so even though the air temperature is below freezing, the solar radiation can cause the glacier to melt. Water is trickling down the face of the glacier and starting to accumulate in the stream channel. The stream is not really flowing yet, but there is liquid water. The stream team will be happy to have more work to do. Liz from the glacier team is hoping to sample the cryoconite holes on the glacier before they melt. Everyone is watching the weather.

Lake Hoare

I'm at Lake Hoare. We had weather in McMurdo this morning. Nothing serious, but lots of snow and low clouds. The helicopters were on a weather delay, but we finally made it here! The internet is slow right now and I'm here at Lake Hoare for a week, so I will keep this short. I hope to get lots of fresh pictures and write more about my trip soon. In this picture taken from a helicopter, ice-covered Lake Hoare is in the foreground, the camp is situated on the shore near the Canada Glacier. It's a lovely spot for a field camp.

Condition 1

I'm still in McMurdo. I feel fortunate that I got here when I did because the weather has been bad and no flights have come in from New Zealand yet this week. They are going to try to get a flight in late today because there is a small window of decent weather before the next storm.
Antarctica is known for extreme weather. The normal weather condition is Condition 3. Condition 2 weather means that people have to travel in pairs between buildings and cannot leave the station on foot. During Condition 1, which is defined as less than 100 feet of visibility or more than 55 knot winds, or wind chill less than -100 degrees F, people are not allowed to leave the building that they are in. Last night it was Condition 2 in McMurdo and then it went to Condition 1 around 11:30 PM. The "herbie lights" were on to warn people of the dangerous situation. Snow was flying. Visibility was poor. As you can see from this picture of the NSF Chalet, the snow was not falling down, but flying up. It's Condition 3 again this morning, so life returns to normal.

I'm still waiting for "Condition 4" which is the unofficial term for weather that is too nice to be inside, time to go out and play.

Springtime in McMurdo

I'm back in Antarctica, working at McMurdo Station. I've been back for almost a week. It's good to be here although I was a little surprised by how many people greeted me by saying "welcome home". Considering that this is my 15th summer here in McMurdo, working in Crary Lab, I guess it feels like home.
It's spring, which means the weather is very changeable. This morning started off like a typical early November morning in McMurdo, but the weather has gone downhill. This picture of the flags at the Chalet shows how windy it is now. At least it's warmer than it has been. Now it's about 10 degrees F, but it has been about -20F for the past few days. I just checked the weather and it's Condition 1 out on the sea-ice. In the picture we are looking out over the sea-ice and visibility is "poor". The flight from NZ was canceled and people are stuck where they are for the moment. It sure is nice in the lab though!