Castle Rock

Once again the weather cleared for us this week, so my colleague and I decided to go checkout Castle Rock up close.

From 20091118-CastleRock

Unfortunately the Class 3 route to the summit is still closed, but we were still able to get some stunning views of the rock and Mt. Erebus off in the distance. The weather was clear enough that you could even see a small plume emanating from the top of the volcano.

From 20091118-CastleRock

The full Castle Rock loop is about 7 miles and continues on passed the rock to Scott Base. From there you follow the road back to McMurdo. We decided just to do a quick run out to the rock and back.

From 20091118-CastleRock

Along the way you pass a lot of "golf balls" which contain our satellite dishes and also "apples" which function as warming huts for hikers passing by. In our case the apples served as relief from the constant direct sun. It was hot!

From 20091118-CastleRock

Coming back we had a nice view of Mt. Discovery off in the distance across the Ross Sea and lovely McMurdo station beckoning us home.