Sunday Hike- Hut Point to Arrival Heights




  So the toe is fine. It went "POP!" at 2:30 and all the pain stopped. I don't know how it popped out, and I don't know how it popped in, but it is all better... and I was really ready to do some hiking... despite the driving wind. So, following the map above, I started my adventure. Thank god for the orange lines cause otherwise I would most certainly have been lost.

Bloody cold and windy, -40 Deg Wind Chill

My issued Extreme Weather Gear (ECW) was all up the hill at the shop, and I had other hills to face -  so the steep 'goat path' to the shop was out - I made due with the gear on hand. My best synthetics on the inner layer, wool on top for my mid section, fleece on top for my bottoms, the amazing windproof Carhartts as an outer layer on my legs, my quad heat Columbia sweater, my windbreaker, my down vest, my Carhartt work jacket, my studio quality k240 ear muffs, my Ipod (essentials first), my Redwing balaclava, my best beanie, my 3M safety work glasses, Redwing insulated boots, thick wool socks, hand warmers and toe warmers, and I was ready (send all endorsement checks to Whittington).

If you follow the orange dots on the first picture to the end of the point you arrive at Discovery Hut. Scott built this hut in 1902 as a starting point for his pole attempt. It was a pre-fab structure from Australia. His men threw it together and quickly found out that it was designed for a much warmer climate and ended up only using it as a mess hall and slept in their ship.

When they were hungry they would eat the venerable Wedell seal. These wonderful beasts range between 800 lbs - 1000 lbs when mature. To the left I have a picture of a seal that was never consumed and left whole at the hut by Scott's men 100 years ago. Amazing. I nibbled a fin... delicious.

Click and drag on the above panorama of the Discovery Hut area for a 360 view.

My appetite inspired I hunted around the point and found another Weddell Seal - this one alive! This picture is the best my little camera could do, but the binoculars from Jeanine gave me a great view of the beast from the point. These carnivores can live up to 30 years if they squeak past the first seven. Remarkable carnivores, loving mothers, amazing swimmers, the southern most mammal on the planet.

My hunger sated I headed up the trail. The higher I went the stronger the wind. There were times when I wondered whether this hike was worth it. The wind blew and cliffs dropped many meters down to the rocks and ice on my left. I pondered the possibility of a gust throwing me over the edge to be eaten by seals. I rallied some gumption and pressed on.

I wish I had taken video, photography does no justice to the wind as it challenged my every step for the next hour. The higher I got the worse it got. I edged toward Arrival heights only to find the wind fighting me at every turn. The lonely red jacket following a mile behind me gave up at this point. I was beginning to question the wisdom of this journey.






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Another grim reminder of the harsh nature of this continent. The lady of the Snows. This statuette is a memorial to Construction Diver 3rd Class Richard T Williams, of the venerable US Navy, who died during the construction of McMurdo. He plunged through the ice in a piece of heavy equipment 350 fathoms to the bottom of McMurdo Bay. His body was never recovered.

Halfway... Hell Yeah! Listening to the Flobots, hoping we have Obama as a president on the seventh!

So I push, and push, and listen to the rhythm thumping through my k240s, one step at a time, one nook against the wind, one break, and on and on, up and up, the wind howls and tears, whips at my invulnerable Carhartts- yet I will not stop. I finally reach Arrival Heights.

 Click and drag for a better view- Erebus in the background, the golf balls are satelite dishes.

I arrive at the top, raise my arms in victory, lose my gloves and take all the pictures I can before I lose motor function. The cold burns, then I shove my camera down my jacket, my hands into the gloves with the warmers on full fire, and head back down an established road to McMurdo. This road hides all sorts of cool stuff I didn't know was here. The Explosives depot, the landfill, the "YARD" where everything anyone could want anywhere is, and eventually I arrive at the Carpenter Shop where I dump my gear and walk down to building 155 for dinner. I am soaked in sweat under my wind breaker- this is one hell of a place to go for a walk.

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