Jb

New Zealand

2010-01-05T08:25:00.003-07:00

I've been back a few weeks now, but I've only just finally managed to get my pictures together from New Zealand. It was spectacular! New Zealand is one of the finest countries I've ever visited. We only had about two weeks to explore and we easily could've spent a year getting to know that country.

There's almost too much to describe, really you should just take a peruse through the album. But if you'd really like to know our itinerary, I'll do my best to break it down for you.

From 20091204-NewZealand

We started in Christchurch. I got there on December 2nd and Amy flew in to meet me a couple of days later. The Twisted Hop brewery was one of my favorite establishments, but really the botanical gardens were the highlight of the city.

From 20091204-NewZealand

From Christchurch we caught a bus to Dunedin (south along the eastern coast of the south island) to go visit a friend of mine. We figured it would be good to start the trip visiting people rather than starting out on our own. Somehow my friend managed to concoct a double-rainbow for us shining off the patio of his home. We explored the Otago Peninsula a bit, visited a few breweries, and then we were on our way back to Christchurch a few nights later.

From 20091204-NewZealand

Once back in Christchurch we picked up our camper for the rest of the trip and started off toward the north end of the south island hoping for warmer climates and sandy beaches. We weren't disappointed, as the first stop we made was in Kaikoura - an absolutely beautiful beach not far from Christchurch.

From 20091204-NewZealand

We didn't stay in Kaikoura though, that day we were destined for Blenheim. We had heard Blenheim was the place to go for vineyards, and we were not disappointed. Every summer holiday should include a day of drunken bike riding from one winery to another.

From 20091204-NewZealand

From Blenheim we were headed to Kaiteriteri for some beach time, but before we got there we did a nice little hike on the Kawa Track.

From 20091204-NewZealand

Once at Kaiteriteri we had a fun time collecting shells and playing with starfish.

From 20091204-NewZealand

From Kaiteriteri we headed off to the Golden Bay area which was more or less our destination for the trip. Our first day there we took a friend's advice and went to visit Wharariki beach. The surf is too wild for any kind of swimming here, and the spray in the air makes it a less than pleasant place to work on your sun tan, but nonetheless this is one of the most impressive beaches in the whole country.

From 20091204-NewZealand

The next day we decided it was time to finally get inside Abel Tasman national park and see what the fuss was all about. We did a ten mile loop and saw more endless beautiful beaches.

From 20091204-NewZealand

After you've seen one perfect golden beach with blue skies and overflowing with lush vegetation you've seen them all...

From 20091204-NewZealand

But one day in Abel Tasman simply wasn't enough. The next day we decided to attack the park by boat. For a reasonable rate we got a double kayak for the day and paddled off to chase the seals around in the water and get to some of those beaches you can't reach by foot.

From 20091204-NewZealand

Amy says being able to pilot a kayak together as a couple is a good relationship test. I'd say we did pretty well considering we left all of our fellow kayakers in the dust once we launched from the beach.

From 20091204-NewZealand

It's probably safe to say that kayaking in Abel Tasman is one of the most fun things you can do in New Zealand.

From 20091204-NewZealand

But at some point the trip had to come to an end. After kayaking we started the drive back to Christchurch stopping here and their for refreshment, but the trip was mostly finished after that and we spent our last few days relaxing and preparing for the 24-hour trip home.

I've left quite a lot out and there's so much we didn't get to see. We never got to the north island and we have a long list of places on the south island we wish we could've visited. Hopefully this post has given a rough idea of how wonderful our time there was.

Suppose we'll have to save all of the rest for our next New Zealand vacation!

Moving On

2009-12-02T16:57:00.001-07:00

I'm writing this from a fabulous hotel in Christchurch. My time on the ice is over. What a long strange trip it's been!

Now it's time for a long awaited holiday in New Zealand. A sweet woman who's been graciously patient with me while I've been off frolicing with the penguins comes to meet me in Christchurch. We'll drive a campervan around and go kayaking, tour vineyards, see wildlife, swim in the ocean, and lie on the beach.

Does life get any better? I've never heard a sound so nice as the birds outside my window right now.

Discovery Hut

2009-12-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

The sign pretty much says it all :

From 20091201-DiscoveryHut

As an aside, isn't "an historic monument" bad English? I mean a snake wouldn't make an hiss sound would it? Nor do you go skiing down an hill. But I digress...

From 20091201-DiscoveryHut

Discovery Hut, as the sign says, was constructed during Captain Robert Falcon Scott's first expedition to the Antarctic. Shackleton was with him on this voyage, though the story goes they didn't get along well. This expedition was not intended to reach the pole, but rather to explore the nearby terrain and perform various science. Unlike the hut at Cape Evans, constructed in 1911 for the Terra Nova expedition destined for the Pole, Discovery Hut was not meant for berthing. It was used as a storage area, an office, and a science laboratory. It was revisited many times later, so it is not clear which of the goods are from the original party and which were deposited later.


From 20091201-DiscoveryHut

One of the first things you notice when you step inside is the smell. It's probably the slowly decaying seal, penguin, and whale carcasses that does it. It's remarkably well preserved for century old dead meat, probably due to the lack of bacteria on the continent.


From 20091201-DiscoveryHut

Once you get over the smell, you'll notice various signs of hut life. There's pots and pans and various tools on the shelves.

From 20091201-DiscoveryHut

And no expedition would be complete without a tin of Morton's kippered herring.


From 20091201-DiscoveryHut

And of course all the biscuits the dogs & men could eat!

From 20091201-DiscoveryHut

It's a pretty cool little hut, an interesting artifact of historical times long gone, and a great place to take a walk to on a fine day at McMurdo.

Helo

2009-11-30T20:49:00.003-07:00

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.

Deverall Island

2009-11-23T12:55:00.002-07:00


From 20091120-DeverallIsland

Last week we had a beautiful day on Friday and we finally got a chance to get out of town for a while. Our destination was Deverall Island a few hundred miles south along the coast of the continent and our ride was a Twin Otter "fixed wing" aircraft. This was my first time flying in one of these, and let me tell you a ski landing on sea ice is a hair raising event. They're impressive vehicles though. We touched down with no trouble and even taxied over to within a few hundred yards of our site.


From 20091120-DeverallIsland

Out here in the middle of nowhere a steel frame with a pile of batteries, antennas, wind generators, and solar panels sticks out like a sore thumb. It's a very elegant design though, and it's satisfying to think that we can deploy these things with nothing but a ring of satellites tying them back to the mainland and be able to continuously collect data. We spent about four hours monkeying with various parts that needed maintenance of some kind.


From 20091120-DeverallIsland

On the way home we needed to make a quick stop for gas. No stations in sight, but we did find a pile of six fuel drums half buried in the snow. Fifteen minutes of shoveling and fifteen minutes of pumping later and we were gassed up and ready to go. The fuel cache site offered some splendid views of the surrounding rock & ice.


From 20091120-DeverallIsland

As we got nearer to McMurdo we started seeing some familiar sites. Here's Mt. Discovery - yet another resident volcano. Doesn't the bluish tint in the sea ice look strange?

From 20091120-DeverallIsland

Home sweet McMurdo! We got home just in time for dinner. Another fine day in Antarctica.

Castle Rock

2009-11-17T14:34:00.003-07:00

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.

Observation "Ob" Hill

2009-11-11T14:03:00.003-07:00

From 20091109-ObHill

A few days ago the weather was so nice we just had to take advantage. After dinner we decided to run up Ob Hill for a quick "night hike".


From 20091109-ObHill

Ob Hill juts out right from the center of town in McMurdo, so there's no need to checkout with the firehouse or be too worried about getting caught out in the weather. It probably takes 30 minutes to get to the top and on a clear day the view from up there is amazing. The proximity also makes it a great staging area for mock field sites.


From 20091109-ObHill

If the visibility is good you can see Mt. Erebus off in the distance, McMurdo's active volcano in residence, with Castle Rock in the foreground. Also nearby is Scott Base which is home to our Kiwi neighbors. There's a loop you can do as a day hike out to Castle Rock. Scott Base is normally closed to visitors except by invitation or if you're headed to the store, but on Thursdays it's "American Night" and McMurdo residents are welcome in the bar. Might be headed there tonight actually.


From 20091109-ObHill

This cross is an historic monument and preserved in accordance with the provisions of the antarctic treaty. It was erected in January, 1913 to commemorate Captain Scott and his party who lost their lives on the return journey from the south pole in March, 1912.

Happy Camper School

2009-11-09T01:51:00.004-07:00

From 20091102-HappyCamper

First order of business for a grantee deploying to McMurdo is Snowcraft I AKA Happy Camper School. Happy Camper School teaches you how to survive the night (or day since it's never night here) should you unexpectedly find yourself stranded off station on your own with limited supplies. You are required to take this course before you're allowed to leave town in any kind of vehicle (think helicopters). For most people this is a lot of fun.

From 20091102-HappyCamper

There's a brief one hour lecture in town before you're whisked away in the "Delta" transport vehicle. Happy Camper School takes place a few miles out of town just passed Scott base. Despite being out in the cold you're never really that far away from help should you need it.


From 20091102-HappyCamper

You learn a variety of skills throughout the course, but most important is setting up shelter. The more obvious options are mountaineering tents and Scott tents (named for the Antarctic explorer), but some of the more interesting choices are quincy huts and snow trenches. Igloos are also an option, though we only got as far as building wind walls from snow blocks. I slept in one of the Scott tents (tall pointy and yellow).

From 20091102-HappyCamper

We were fortunate. The coldest temperature we saw that night was 7F. A cold night for sure, but nothing compared to what the antarctic can throw at you. Many folks spend Happy Camper School shivering at well below zero. If things become unbearable, you always have the option of sneaking off to the warming hut for safety. This is, of course, highly discouraged. We spent most of the night drinking hot chocolate and laughing. When it came time for bed, the cold was nothing a nalgene full of hot water tucked down in your sleeping bag couldn't take care of. I slept like a baby.


From 20091102-HappyCamper

The next morning we went back into the instruction hut around 8AM to go over things like radio basics and risk management.

Though I was pretty comfortable throughout the experience, I must admit I was pretty happy to see the Delta on it's way back to pick us up. Antarctica is not a place you want to sleep outdoors in the cold if you can help it.

Hello from McMurdo

2009-11-02T02:20:00.002-07:00

From 20091029-IceFlight

We're here!

I've arrived in McMurdo safe & sound. We made it in one shot - no boomerang flights this time. For those that do not know, when you fly to McMurdo from Christchurch, sometimes the C-17 turns around midflight if the weather at the landing strip doesn't look good. A five hour flight one way turns into an eight or ten hour flight only to bring you back right where you started. When you pack your bags you have one set aside just in case this happens. If it does, it's called a boomerang and you have to start the whole process over first thing the next day.

Despite our good fortune it was still a long flight in the noisiest machine I've ever heard.

From 20091029-IceFlight

Lucky for us it's been blue skies and sunny since the day we landed (24-7). Hopefully we'll see weather like this for the rest of the season.

ECW (Emergency Cold Weather)

2009-10-28T21:08:00.003-06:00

Well here I am in Christchurch, New Zealand. Today we were issued our ECW gear for Antarctica. Looks like it's about 15F right now where we're headed, but that could swing quite a ways in either direction throughout the season. It's extremely important during this opportunity to make sure all your gear fits, the zippers and everything work properly, and that you've got everything you think you'll need that they're willing to give you.

I was in Colorado last week, Chile the week before that, at sea the week before that, and Palmer Station, Antarctica the week before that.

Tomorrow I go to McMurdo Station. The world seems a small place these days.

Torres Del Paine

2009-10-20T08:19:00.002-06:00

Torres Del Paine! One of the most spectacular national parks in the world. If you go, budget 4-5 days for a trek along "the W" to get the full experience. You can see the route of the W in green in this map. Later in the season you can turn the hike into a full loop if you add on another 5 days or so, but we just did the W itself starting at Glacier Grey and making our way east toward the Torres.

Actually that's not entirely true, here's the breakdown of what we did:

Day 1
Rode a 2 1/2 hour bus from Port Natales into the park. We got off at the catamaran at Lago Pehoe and took a quick run up to the mirador (viewpoint) to see a nice waterfall with a great view of the park.

	The catamaran then dropped us off at Rifugio Grande Paine, which is actually the lower left vertex of the W.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

We then hiked north and west up to the Grey Glacier and camped outside Rifugio Grey. The day was cold and very very windy, so hot food and cold beers were a welcome comfort that evening.

Day 2
We got up at Glacier Grey, packed up, and backtracked our route from the day before.

It had snowed overnight and was still dropping a few flakes as we made our way. Another cold and windy day.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

Once back at the rifugio where the catamaran had left us we turned left (north) up toward the center of the W. We stopped to camp that night at Campamento Italiano which is just south of Valle De Frances - the central leg of the W.

Day 3

	Another cold night, and we were ready for the best part of the trip - Valle De Frances.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

Our friends at the hostel in Port Natales assured us today would have the best views. That statement was made with the assumption that you could actually see through the clouds. Unfortunately the last two days hadn't afforded much clear skies, and today was only just starting to clear up.

We could see the Cuernos on our right (east), but the Grande Paine we could only see the base of. The peaks were all in the clouds.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

After trekking for a few hours up the valley through snow we decided a short day would do us all some good so we headed back down to break camp.

	From our campground we just had a short hop along the shore of Lago Nordenskjol over to Rifugio Cuernos. This rifugio was in a beautiful location and the weather finally broke that afternoon.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

But I was too tired to take any more pictures...

Day 4
I woke up refreshed and ready to hit the trail again.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining overhead. No windbreaker today, we'd be hiking in t-shirts in 60-degree bluebird. From here, we needed to skirt the base of the Cuernos and climb our way up in to the valley that leads up to the Torres - our last destination along the route.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

Tonight we'd be staying near Rifugio Chilenos, or possibly at the campground above if we can find the strength (we camped at the rifugio).

	My friends were a bit worn out from the last 4 days, but somewhere I had found my pace and made good time over to the rifugio that morning. When my friends arrived, I ditched most of my weight and hoofed it on up to catch a view of the Torres while the weather was still holding.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

This officially completed the W for me besides the hike out. We had initially planned to do this the next morning, but it was too nice to pass up the opportunity.

Day 5

Let's go! Too tired for anything more, me and one of my comrades headed down to catch a bus back out to Port Natales.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

Our other partner decided to add a day to the trip and go spend some time at the Torres.

	Not sure where he camped that night, but he wasn't on the bus when it left.
From 20091011-TorresDelPaine

A nice quiet day in the sun with just a quick descent to cold beer and a ride into town.

All in all, we had a very typical trip to Torres Del Paine national park. The weather never stays the same for more than 10 hours and we certainly saw all the forms. Most importantly it was a welcome break between Palmer Station and the final journey back to the real world.

The thing I missed most while at Palmer for the austral winter was all the time I would've spent on the trails in Colorado. This trip filled the gap nicely.

Tour of the LMG

2009-10-19T09:09:00.002-06:00

If you're curious what the inside of the Lawrence M. Gould is like, check out this slideshow :

LMG0909N

2009-10-19T08:19:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone! I've made it home to Boulder safe and sound, and I have some pictures to share. First, let me show you the cruise North from Palmer - a long awaited departure from our home for the last 6 months.

From 20091001-LMG0909N

Like all northbound cruises, this one began with the infamous pier jump.

All of our friends being left behind jump off the pier as we make our way out.

From 20091001-LMG0909N

We were supposed to land at Hugo to do some maintenance on a science instrument installed there, but the wind was too high and the ice was too thick. Sorry Bjorn.

From 20091001-LMG0909N

With our mission to Hugo Island canceled, we finally made the dreaded crossing of the Drake Passage.

Two days and many seasick hours later, we finally arrived to calm waters by Tierra Del Fuego.

From 20091001-LMG0909N

And like that we're standing on the dock in Punta Arenas, right where we left off 6 months ago. The cruise in and out of Palmer provides a very interesting buffer between this piece of the ice and the rest of the world.

Almost as if none of it ever happened...

Back in PA

2009-10-09T16:09:00.003-06:00

I'm back! We made it across the Drake safe and sound. It was a rocky voyage, but no worse than usual I'm told. No luck with landing at Hugo Island. The ice, and the wind, and the swells were just too much. Someone else will try again on the next cruise.

One more night in Punta Arenas, then we leave for the Torres Del Paine tomorrow. Been looking forward to hitting the trail for a long time now.

Moving Forward

2009-10-01T06:19:00.002-06:00

Now that my time is Palmer is almost done. What's next?

We'll have a week or so at sea on the Lawrence M. Gould. You can follow our progress here.

During our voyage we'll be making a brief stop at Hugo Island. If the conditions permit, myself and 3 others will be going ashore to try to fix a GPS station there.

After that, we arrive in Punta Arenas, Chile on October 9th. A few of us are taking a week to go to Torres Del Paine National Park to hike "the W" before we fly back to the states. Oh how I can't wait to see trees again!

Finally, after I get home to Colorado. I'll have a week to see those that I miss, before immediately departing South once again to deploy to McMurdo station for a month. Much like at Hugo Island, I'll be going to McMurdo to assist with GPS equipment.

Then two weeks in New Zealand!

There's still a long way to go...

Tour of Palmer Station

2009-10-01T06:10:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone,

Well the day is finally here. The Winter 2009 crew of Palmer Station departs North at 4PM today. It's been a busy week. We transferred 57,000 gallons of fuel to station. We unloaded crate after crate of frozen foods (180 lbs of bacon!). We did our best to pass on the torch to our Summer time successors. Hopefully we did well.

It will be a sad day. Time to say goodbye to some new friends and some old friends. Time to say goodbye to our home for the last six months.

At popular demand, I give you a Tour of Palmer Station

From 20090923-PalmerTour

They're coming!

2009-09-24T06:19:00.006-06:00

Lawrence M. Gould ship tracker

We have visitors coming! After a week or two of cruising through the Drake, our summer crew should be arriving sometime this afternoon. These will be the first new faces any of the 16 of us have seen since early July. Along with them come resupplies of beer, Fritos, Oreos, freshies, and of course a nice big boat to take us home. We have one week to resupply, turnover with our successors, and get out. It's going to be a quick one. Now's a good time to take a deep breath during the calm before the storm.

UPDATE:

Can you see the rabbit?

2009-09-23T16:04:00.007-06:00

Some things you just don't hear about until someone makes an offhand remark. It turns out, there's a rabbit on the moon. Most of us in the northern hemisphere like to talk about the Man in the Moon, but down here it's a rabbit.

Can you see it?

Liger

2009-09-07T12:52:00.002-06:00

Some days are good. Some days are bad. Some days you just have to play bass guitar in a liger suit. That's all there is to it. Last Friday was one of those days. The tail end of a week of artful expression was a performance of Palmer Station's very own "Freezing Band", now touring Anvers Island. Happy hour this week was a mean cider made by myself and the drummer, along with a 1-hour set of everyone's favorites - "The Dive Locker Blues", "Give me that old fashioned Morphine", and of course "Mahna Mahna" (the Muppets song).

The liger suit has a history of it's own. Unbeknownst to me when I got here, all former IT staff at Palmer have worn the liger suit at one point in time. It's survived endless cocktail parties, pier jumps, and now a performance as bass guitarist.

I suppose my work here is now done.

McMurdo!

2009-08-31T12:25:00.002-06:00

As of last week I'm officially deploying to McMurdo station for November, 2009! This time I'm going as a grantee. My former/current/future employer, UNAVCO Inc, just so happens to be looking for a staff member available to deploy for a month to help out with their GPS operations on the ice this coming austral summer. Conveniently I am already PQ'd for the ice and since I've already been gone this long what's another month or so?

The irony is I would've happily deployed for UNAVCO in the first place without doing any seasonal work for Raytheon if I had the opportunity. It turns out the only way for that opportunity to arise was for me to do seasonal work for Raytheon first.

Oh the tangled webs we weave...see you at McMurdo!

Wildlife

2009-08-31T06:22:00.006-06:00

Last week we had a beautiful day on Thursday, and staying indoors would have been a grave injustice. Thankfully our gracious leaders granted a day of rec boating. Wahoo!

After being on the water only an hour we already saw penguins porpoising in front of the boat

From 20090827-boating

On the back side of De Laca island we were amazed to see hundreds of cormorants having a party!

From 20090827-boating

And of course there were cormorants on Cormorant island too.

From 20090827-boating

We also saw a strange orange creature pointing a metal box at the cormorants...

From 20090827-boating

On the way back from Cormorant Island we swung past Dead Seal rocks to find a good amount of penguins hanging out with an elephant seal.

From 20090827-boating

And then just behind the station on Bonaparte point we saw a handful of gentoos running around.

From 20090827-boating

Poor things. It's so hard to take them seriously.

From 20090827-boating

What a wonderful day! The skies were blue, the sun was shining, and all manner of living things were out to enjoy it.

Birds were flying right down to the boat and hovering overhead as we sped along the water.

From 20090827-boating

Days like this one remind me why I'm here.

Imagine this

2009-08-24T11:43:00.001-06:00

For those who have ever asked "Why would you ever want to go to Antarctica?", here's an excellent blog post on the subject from a fellow winter-over down here.

All's well

2009-08-22T09:40:00.007-06:00

From 20090816-Snowshoeing

Hey everyone!
August is rapidly drawing to a close, and we're all still hanging in there. Not much is new these days, but each day we get more sunshine and you can certainly feel it. Lately, my goal on my days off has been to get as far away from here as I can. This turns out to be maybe a mile when you go up the glacier and back down the other side to the tip of Bonaparte point.

You can't see Bonaparte on here, but if you take the right hand turn through the flag line around Hero Inlet you can descend down onto another small peninsula next to the one Palmer rests on.

From 20090810-SkiTour

From the bottom of the glacier you can walk or ski out to the tip and look out on the ocean.

From 20090810-SkiTour

Before you get there there's a trench you have to cross that's only passable when the tide is low.

From 20090810-SkiTour

Bonaparte Point

From 20090810-SkiTour

Frei Fly By

2009-08-14T19:07:00.002-06:00

From 20090812-FreiFlyBy

The other day we were all having our lunch in the galley as usual, when suddenly one of my colleagues shouts out, "Holy shit a plane!". Well that about sums it up. For about 30 minutes our Chilean neighbors from the Frei Antarctic station buzzed the galley during our lunchtime. They radioed "hello" and eventually headed off. It was quite a shock. This was our first sight of other humans since the last boat left over a month ago. They picked an absolutely gorgeous day to do it.

Wish we had a plane...

More outdoor fun

2009-08-04T17:45:00.003-06:00

From 20090831-BoatingAndSnowshoeing

It was such a nice day last weekend, we had to get out for some boating.

From 20090831-BoatingAndSnowshoeing

Despite earlier threats of freezing, the ocean around us still has many passages through the bergs. There are definitely some interesting and somewhat intimidating chunks of ice floating around out there.

From 20090831-BoatingAndSnowshoeing

Of course our seal friends and some of their bird friends are still hanging around.

From 20090831-BoatingAndSnowshoeing

This one had some weird tendrils coming down off of it.

From 20090831-BoatingAndSnowshoeing

Later I was able to get out for a bit of snowshoeing before the weekend was over.

From 20090831-BoatingAndSnowshoeing

A friend and I found an ice wall on the north side of the backyard which could provide some pretty kickass ice climbing in the near future. Next weekend perhaps?

From 20090831-BoatingAndSnowshoeing

It was a good weekend. It was great to get outside for a while.

nacreous clouds?

2009-08-04T17:40:00.002-06:00

From 20090726-Sun

Last week we were treated to a light show one morning. Some say they were nacreous clouds, though I'm no expert.

Whatever they were, it was quite a fine morning to have your coffee outside and watch the sunrise. You never get tired of the colors you see down here.

GSArrrrrr!

2009-08-04T16:50:00.004-06:00

From 20090731-GSAR

Last Friday we had an excellent day of GSAR. We spent a little time reviewing snow anchors and roping up for glacier travel, then off to the flag line we went. Normally we are only allowed to hike within the flags when we go up on the glacier, but this day we were prepared for something a bit more adventurous.

From 20090731-GSAR

After exploring the backside of the glacier for a while we started making our way over to shortcut point, our final destination for the day. Along the way we probed for crevasses and in some places we were clearly walking on thin air. The snow bridges are nice and strong though, so we didn't ever punch through.

From 20090731-GSAR

Once we were above our destination, we built a snow bollard anchor and lowered each other down. A snow bollard is a kind of anchor built by carving a round shape out of the snow and wrapping a bit of webbing around it. The angle was fairly mild, but it was a good exercise in snow anchors and rope handling.

From 20090731-GSAR

Once down at sea level we passed a few penguins and petrels on our way out to the point. By now it was getting dark, though it was probably only mid-afternoon.

From 20090731-GSAR

Palmer Station's finest taxi service! A few buddies from OSAR were gracious enough to come pick us up for a free ride back to station. Gotta love OSAR.

From 20090831-BoatingAndSnowshoeing

Our final descent point was only a narrow stretch of sloped snow surrounded by calving ice. If we had been off by a 100 yards in either direction we would have been walking right off a cliff. Our GSAR leader did well with route finding and we nailed our destination on the first shot.

Not knowing what to expect for the day I have to say that it was one of the best days out I've had in a while. July was a quiet month for outdoor activities. Winter laziness has been setting in a bit I think.

Thanks to all my comrades who came out with me. Pleasure getting out on the ice with y'all.

Fire & Ice

2009-07-23T20:56:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone,

From 20090630-Sunsets

I saw the sun yesterday. I suppose if I had climbed the glacier over the last few days or perhaps hiked up to Terralab up on the hill I might have seen it sooner. But for me, it shined through the window for the first time yesterday morning just before noon. The wall lit up with shadows and sunlight and I had to pause my conversation to take an opportunity to stare out into it (for at least a few seconds). A few minutes later I was outside basking in it, and I swear it felt like a drug.

From 20090700-LateJuly

We haven't actually been in the darkness really at all if you get right down to it. Our shortest day was around 4 hours and those hours were fairly bright. On the other hand every morning and evening has been really dark and the day is never quite long enough.

One absolutely wonderful privilege we've had is an endless stream of amazing sunrises. I posted a few before, but I think it's only fair to let you all in on a few more :

From 20090630-Sunsets

Besides the sun, we've also had some interesting ice pass by:

From 20090700-LateJuly

Though we passed the solstice a month ago and the sun is now coming up over the glacier, the winter still hasn't fully set in. Our coldest month is yet to come, and with it we might even see the ocean around us freeze completely solid. Even if it doesn't we have a lot of cold snowy days headed our way.

It will be a long winter yet...

Pier Jumping

2009-07-06T18:32:00.009-06:00

The last northbound ship left us on the morning of June 26th and along with it went the last of those who came with me southbound what seems like ages ago. The ship also carried away a few friends that were here before me as well as the guests who were here only for the port call. The rest of us are in it for the long haul until September. Our official number is now 16 after a few last minute deployments and re-deployments, and it's a solid group. Glad to be a part of it.

As is customary we all jumped off the pier in honor of our departing friends. It's just as cold as it looks, but nothing a quick (or not-so-quick) dip in the hot tub can't fix.

(video courtesy of Will Brubaker)

Seeing our friends standing at the railing waiving as they cruised off made me think about how hard it's going to be to leave when my day finally comes. Everything happens so quickly. We've all been thrown together here and it seems like we'll be here together forever, but one day we'll all step onto the ship and watch the station grow small on the horizon as we're carried away, while all of our friends on the shore will be waiving and screaming as they jump in the water. They'll later sprint over to the hot tub and chat about their future at Palmer Station.

I picture myself on that day on deck looking out to sea wondering if I'll ever see this magical place again.

Midwinter's Dinner

2009-07-06T17:34:00.012-06:00

Pigroast!

I'm a bit late on the blogging, but I thought you should all know that we had a fabulous pig roast on Midwinter's day here at Palmer. We all got dressed up and set the galley up for some fine dining.

From 20090618-MidwintersDinner

A few of our handy crew were able to rig up a fancy pig turner out of some belts and a carpenter's drill so we could chill indoors and watch the pig turn through the window.

From 20090618-MidwintersDinner

Succulent!

From 20090618-MidwintersDinner

The menu consisted of :
- Smoked Salmon Mousse
- Krill Bisque
- Asparagus Rouille
- Pommes Anna
- Roast suckling pig
- Fresh vegetable salads
- Quinoa with green peas, lemon, and mint
- Fresh baked country breads

From 20090618-MidwintersDinner

It was truly one of the finest meals I can remember. Kudos to the chef who once again was able to make me eat far more than was necessary or intended.

Happy Midwinter's Everyone!

What's going on

2009-06-21T15:52:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone,

The Antarctic Sun had some interesting articles about the science that was at Palmer recently along with some more details on the whole Oprah deal. Check it out for some light reading :

Antarctic Sun - Palmer Station

First day of the rest of our lives

2009-06-09T19:40:00.002-06:00

The day after the Gould left I was signed up for watch. Whenever we have a day off, one person has to man the radio and occasionally walk over to the generator room and check the meters.

During one of my trips I had to stop and stare for a while. What an absolute beautiful sunrise!

Perhaps it won't be so bad living here for a bit longer...

Album : http://photos.jeff.braucher.net/20090608Sunrise

Goodbye Gould

2009-06-09T19:11:00.003-06:00

The ship that brought me here in April finally left last weekend. They returned to Palmer station after their last science cruise on Friday morning and after two rather lengthy evenings of festivities it was time for them all to take the big trip back north. Sunday morning those of us that were staying gathered on the pier to wave them all goodbye. A friendly seal decided to come out and join us also.

At Palmer it's customary to jump off the pier whenever the boat leaves us behind. Many people here had done it before, but it doesn't get old - or any easier! About ten of us jumped and quickly fled to the hot tub to warm our freezing bodies. Do I need to say it was cold?

It was sad to see many of them go. I was the last winter-over to come down here and the only one who came with the science groups. All of the people that I met on my first day were on this ship and were all almost finished with their Antarctic experience.

Me and the others still have a long way to go. It's interesting to meet so many people in such a short time and then as quickly as you met them seeing them all leave. In a way though it's good to be down to just those of us that will be here for a while. We can all finally settle in and get ready for a long quiet winter.

Goodbye LMG. Nice to know all of you!

Humble Island & the Giant Petrels

2009-05-31T16:09:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to go out and see Humble Island with the birders. Actually, the birders left Palmer Station a few months ago, but two of our staff have been permitted to go out and weigh the giant petrel chicks on behalf of the birders, and I got to go.

Basically, since the petrel eggs hatched on Humble Island, the birders have tagged a few of the chicks and kept track of their weights over the following months. Because of the science going on Palmer people aren't normally allowed to visit this island, so I was lucky to be invited for this trip.

My job was to stand by and record the results as my comrades gently coaxed a petrel chick into a bag so they could weigh it.

And of course, our seal friends made an appearance as well. Here's a great pic of a fur seal.

And here's another of a leopard seal laying around on the ice just off the pier at Palmer. Note: Leopard seals are mean! That smile is leopard seal for "I'm going to eat you!".

It was a good wildlife day. There's a few other pretty good shots on the album too.

Jeff

Album: http://photos.jeff.braucher.net/20090519HumbleIsland

Fishing

2009-05-29T21:59:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday the LMG (a ship, the Lawrence. M Gould) left Palmer Station for its last fishing cruise before going back north to Puenta Arenas. One of the science groups currently working at Palmer is researching a special kind of "whiteblooded" icefish, and a few of us Palmer crew were lucky enough to go along for the ride. We fished 4 days and 3 nights and returned on the 27th.

We got a great view of the backside of Mt. Williams on the way out.

Most of the time we spent "trawling" for fish with big nets that are dragged along the sea floor.

The rest of the time we dropped "pots" to be retrieved later.

It was wonderful to get away from the station for a few days, and we saw some spectacular sites. It'll be sad to see the ship finally leave with our friends in a week.

Jeff

Full Album:
http://photos.jeff.braucher.net/20090529Fishing

Oprah's On

2009-05-18T11:19:00.006-06:00

Guess what? Palmer Station is going to be on Oprah this Thursday! That's Thursday, May 21st at whatever time Oprah's on in your area.

Here's the link for the show :
http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow-20090507-skype

The stars from Palmer are our Research Associate, Neal Scheibe (photo in the link above), and one of our scientists, Dr. Bruce Sidell. Depending how they air it you may actually catch a quick glimpse of those of us who were hanging out on the walkway during the recording also (fingers crossed).

We'll actually only be on the show for a few minutes. The point of the show is basically Oprah skypeing people all over the world and we were only one group out of a dozen. But hey I guess that's worth something.

Stay tuned.

Scavenger Hunt

2009-05-18T11:15:00.003-06:00

My team got 2nd place in the Palmer Scavenger hunt on Sunday. Yay! Palmer's actually a really cool place for a scavenger hunt since you tend to see the same things everyday. For those of you who don't know how it works, basically each team is given a prop and a collection of thumbnail pictures taken from around the station. This includes things like stickers, graffiti, wall art, etc. Each team has to find the items in the pictures and get a picture on a digital camera holding the prop in front of the item. Some of them were really tough, but it was a lot of fun.

I get a free pint glass from the station store. Sweet.

Wind

2009-05-15T12:57:00.002-06:00

I got the last of my boating training this week. The wind was blowing at a calm 5 knots and we had a wonderful time out on the water. Later that day we broke 70 knots! That's about 80 mph winds! It was hard to walk from one building to another. Bottles were clinking together on the shelves. Windy enough for ya?

Boating!

2009-05-09T16:16:00.012-06:00

Today was an awesome day. Normally we'd be working on Saturdays (6-day week here), but the Gould comes back from fishing tomorrow, so we got today off instead of Sunday. To our great fortune, the weather cooperated and there was no wind. Time for some boating!

Here's where we're allowed to boat. We started out heading SW down to Cormorant Island, then later after dropping off a few people back at Palmer we headed over to Janus Island.

There's Mt. Williams behind me.

I saw fur seals.

and a few Elephant seals.

and lots of ice...

and birds - cormorants, albatross, and petrels...

and of course PENGUINS!!!

Absolutely beautiful day out. This is why I'm here.

Check out the full album :
http://photos.jeff.braucher.net/20090509Boating

Hope everyone's having a nice summer up north!

Penguin!

2009-05-06T19:32:00.003-06:00

Saw my first penguin today! Carrying some equipment up the hill for some late night maintenance and there's this little guy waddling around on his own. Apparently it's an Adelie. He hollered a few times and went on his way. Awesome!

Shredding the Ant-gnar-ctic

2009-05-03T14:36:00.002-06:00

It's official. I've shredded the southern continent.

Finally got my first day off today. Too windy for boating, but the temps were in the high 30's so I thought I'd find something else to do outside. Time to drag a board up the hill for some much needed shredding.

From Palmer station you can hike up the glacier about 45 minutes to where the crevasses start.

It's actually a pretty good slope when the snow is good. There's Palmer down at the bottom.

Sweet...

Here it is. Proof! The snow was nice and soft where I could find it, but in between was some pretty awful glacial ice. I managed to carve my way around a lot of it, but every now and then there was no choice but to scrape my way through. Familiar territory for east coasters...

All in all not a bad day out. The wind was definitely blowing strong, but it was a nice warm wind so it really just made it kind of hard to walk. I'm sure the boarding will get a lot better once we start getting some snow. Of course by then there will only be a few hours in the day to get out and do anything.

Check out the full album :
http://photos.jeff.braucher.net/20090503Shredding

Cheers!

GSAR

2009-05-01T16:48:00.003-06:00

Big news! I'm officially on the Palmer Station Glacier Search & Rescue team! We got out for our first training day today, but unfortunately the weather (once again) did not cooperate. Despite the winds & temps we probably could've gone out on the glacier anyway, but communication would've been too difficult to really do comprehensive training. Instead we opted to practice prussiking up and down ropes tied off the balcony of the GWR building. It was great fun and just nice to be outside for a while. I'm really looking forward to our next day off (Sunday) so that I can finally drag a snowboard up the hill and shred the Ant-gnar-ctic. More about that later...

This is Antarctica!

2009-04-26T13:17:00.004-06:00

I made it! It was a long cruise from Punta Arenas, but lucky for us the weather and the sea cooperated. We only hit a few bumps on our second day at sea and the rocking wasn't nearly as bad as it often can be. It was still difficult to walk at times and even simply carrying a cup of coffee wasn't easy, but overall we were very fortunate. I'll be posting some photos of the voyage as soon as I have more time, but besides the ship itself we mostly saw just open water. We did have a few dolphins swimming along side the ship one day which was pretty cool.

Land ho!

We arrived at Palmer Station around 8AM April 25th. Since then there's barely been enough time to look around. Between unloading the ship and orientation the day flew by. I did manage to get out on the glacier for an hour with a few others to get a look around. This place is magnificent! Absolutely beautiful in every direction. My photos don't do it justice, but with a little more time I might do better. While I was out on the ice I also got a chance to preview our skiing territory. Very skiable, though right now the snow is shallow enough that you'd be scraping the ice pretty bad on your turns. To my surprise and great satisfaction there are two snowboards in addition to the tele and XC skis I had already heard about. Someone's going to be shredding Antarctica... :)

Home sweet home. Despite what you might think, Palmer is actually quite a comfortable place. We have a nice lounge with a full bar, dartboard, and regulation size pool table. There's an immense video library as well as a Wii. Best of all, you're surrounded by some wonderful people. There was a big to-do in the lounge last night with everyone from the station and the ship. If it was any kind of indicator I expect to have a lot of fun during my stay here.

That's all for now. Best wishes to all of you up North. I should be able to post a lot more now that I'm starting to get settled. The adventure is well on it's way and every day brings new wonders.

Ship Ahoy!

2009-04-20T09:38:00.002-06:00

Well, we've all got our emergency cold weather (ECW) gear. Guess that means we're ready.

Here's the Lawrence M. Gould (LMG) - our vessel. We'll be sleeping on board tonight and then we're off at 10AM tomorrow. Goodbye green grass!

Just Checking In

2009-04-20T07:10:00.001-06:00

Made it to Punta Arenas in one piece! Sorry no pictures, but if you ask me it looks just like a city. We board the vessel tonight and debark for the ice tomorrow morning. There's a group of whale taggers coming along that have a pretty sweet job. They'll be out hunting humpbacks while I'm back in the station patching computers. Oh well, you can't have everything. I've met a lot of the crew so far and everyone down here is really cool. This is going to be fun. :)

What am I doing?

2009-04-17T17:05:00.000-06:00

Palmer Station

I suppose the best way to start this blog is from the beginning. Since some of you may not know my background, allow me to fill you in. For the last 10 years I've been a System Administrator working indirectly for the National Science Foundation (NSF) one way or the other. Originally I was with a group called CIRES under the University of Colorado, but the last 5 years I've worked for a company called UNAVCO Inc. UNAVCO, in a nutshell, is a company that supports science through the installation of remote instruments all over the world - including Antarctica. For many years they've been sending engineers to all of the Antarctic stations and also many other interesting places on the continent and the rest of the world. I've been in the datacenter in Boulder pulling cables and flipping switches.

So after all these years of watching these guys give their Antarctic slideshows and talk with all their Antarctic friends, it slowly became time for me to make my move. I worked out an arrangement with UNAVCO to go down for a summer season in October '09. This meant submitting an application March 1st, '09 and I counted the days until then very closely. Come March, I submitted my application and started pulling strings hoping to find out about my deployment in the fall. Come April, here I am going down to Palmer Station for a winter season in 3 hours.

This time I'll be working for Raytheon Polar Services, contracted under the NSF, as the Network Engineer for Palmer Station. More or less, this is the same sort of work I've done at CIRES and UNAVCO, but for much of my time down on the ice I'll be the only point of contact for the other staff. The Antarctic program also has a slightly larger and more complex configuration than my prior employers. I feel ready though, and I'm going to take good care of them down there.

While I'm there I'll be with about 45 people at first (the maximum capacity of the station) and then in June the number will dwindle to just 18 of us once the winter really sets in and the last vessel departs. After that we'll be camping out with no more visits from the mainland until September.

Well, that was fast. Guess I'm going to Antarctica. Careful what you wish for!

This is not Antarctica

2009-04-14T06:40:00.003-06:00

Hi all, Palmer Station, Antarctica looks nothing like this. It does not resemble Arches National Park in any way at all. Just thought you should all know that.

For more photos that aren't of Antarctica, take a look at :
http://photos.jeff.braucher.net/20090321Arches