Helo

Well it's my last week here and I finally managed to get on a helicopter. We've been grounded for the last two weeks due to bad weather and a lack of success competing with other groups waiting for flight time. Today our number came up.

From 20091130-Helo

Our destination today would be a quaint little place called "Butcher Ridge". Much like Deverall Island, Butcher Ridge is one of UNAVCO's GPS sites located in the dry valleys. We had more or less the same list of maintenance activities planned for the day here as before, and in the morning the weather was looking good.

From 20091130-Helo

About the time we reached our familiar friend, Mt. Discovery, the wind picked up to about 50 knots. On the ground this would be enough to knock your hat off and push you backward. In the air this is enough to put you on the ground. After a few minutes of trying to fight our way onward, our pilot announced that we'd better turn back.

From 20091130-Helo

Despite the unfortunate news it was hard not to enjoy the scenery and just the fact that here we were flying around Antarctica in our own personal helicopter. The snow-capped mountains never get old.

From 20091130-Helo

I kept finding myself staring at the unnatural shade of blue that permeated the ice below us. The patterns of rock & ice just don't look real. We also got a glimpse of open water on the horizon. It gets closer everyday.

All in all we were only out of the office for a few hours. As our pilot put it, "Better to be here wishing we had gone on, than to be there wishing we had turned back." Judging by the howling wind and the rolling clouds that dominated the rest of the day, I suspect he was right. I shudder to think that he's learned that bit of wisdom from personal experience.