Field Work Prep

As I mentioned in the last post we will be busy prepping for field work this week.  It isn't the most glamorous or exciting part of the job, but it is extremely important that we do it and do it well to ensure a successful and smooth field season.  Yesterday we broke up the monotony of washing bottles with a trip out to discovery hut.  This was a hut built by Robert Falcon Scott's party during the Discovery Expedition of 1901.  This hut is just a short walk from McMurdo Station, but they only open it up to visitors from town every once in a while.  It was in pretty good shape for being such an old building that exists in such harsh conditions, but I know the Kiwi's have been putting effort in to restore the historic huts around Ross Island.  When we first walked in we poked our head around the corner and saw two sheep carcasses hanging.  They were surprisingly not that decomposed for being 100 years old.  I assume, like the mummified seals we come across in the Dry Valleys, that there isn't enough microbial activity in the short summers to break them down much.

Around the next corner was a pile of partially decomposed seals.

There were a bunch of cool old boxes, bottles and cans piled up in the hut.

Not sure what kippered herrings are but they sound tasty.  Haven't seen these in the galley yet.

And some killer long underwear and pants.  Not sure of the brand but it looks like Northface, probably a merino wool polyester blend?

Then outside of the hut on the sea ice there were some Seals rolling around.  They looked pretty content, but I was freezing so this was the best picture I was able to get...

I can't imagine what life would have been like for the first men that lived here.  They must have had a crazy sense of adventure, and a lot of whiskey.  I'll try to keep the tour of the hut in mind if I ever start to complain about F6 (my home in the Dry Valleys).

I wish there was more to talk about today, but things were pretty slow.  We finished up the last of our training, which is a huge relief.  Now we are working on washing sample bottles for the collection and processing of stream water.  We have around 3000 bottles to wash, and it takes quite a bit of time, with different protocol for different bottles.  Monotony would be an understatement, but I guess this is part of the price we pay to get the opportunity to work in such a unique place.  This will all be worth it once we get out of here and into the Dry Valleys, and that can't happen soon enough.