completing castle rock

I neglected to write much this week because few events have directly affected me. A ship, the American Tern, came into port. We unloaded and loaded it back up in 6 days. After watching all the delays, strikes, and frustrations over containers and ships coming for products Sweetener Supply purchased, I found it to be quite a relief that everyone here had an attitude of expediting the process. Last night we sent the cargo ship out and this morning, the Coast Guard Icebreaker departed behind it.

Our first two large groups of personnel left McMurdo last week. I assisted with the passenger transport for the first flight, on Tuesday, when two passengers boarded the plane and were then told they had been “bumped” to the next flight on Friday. They both had booked non-refundable travel for the next day and were not happy when their plans changed. A woman had to be medevaced and ended up taking more seating space than anticipated. So, J and I ended up transporting two crabby passengers the 45 minutes back to McMurdo after we took care of the flight paperwork and watch the C-17 take off.

Laura, once again left for the South Pole. This time it is for keeps. Well, I suppose, not forever, but I watched her plane until I couldn't see it anymore. It felt to terminal. I realized how much I hoped to travel with her after we left here. Now I'll explore the world by myself. I look forward to hearing about her austral winter South Pole season. There is a chance that I will be back in McMurdo again next November when she flies through back home.

After our brunch today, Lucas, Bodie, Michael, and I took another tour of the Castle Rock trail. The Rock reopened to climbers a month ago, and this was our first (and possibly last) opportunity to hike it together. Our hopes were nearly gone to get back up to this volcanic precipice, since wind, clouds, and cold weather have taken over Ross Island. In addition to weather concerns, we are only here for two more weeks before leaving The Ice!

There was some concern over the safety of climbing to the top of the rock this season. New ropes were slung around the rock to assist climbers. This rock scramble was my favorite part of the trail. There is just enough care and consideration required in each step to make it a thoughtful ascent, but not so much that I felt like I put myself in harms way. From this picture of Lucas and Michael, you will also notice the lack of snow on this rock. For a few minutes, despite dressing in 5 layers of long underwear, sweaters, jackets, and carharts, I looked up and thought we could be in a hot West Texas dessert, rather than a 17 degree day in Antarctica!

The weather is much cooler than the past weeks, we wenjoyed the time outside in the sun together for a long Sunday afternoon walk! Now we can all feel like we finally "completed" the Castle Rock Trail.