Just for Sarah..

So this post is just for Sarah. Why you might ask? Because Sarah is the one and only person that bugs me and tells me I need to keep putting up new posts. She also had a long rough night, so I thought a nice new blog post might be nice for her to read. So here is a new one.



I downloaded and have started playing around with Adobe Photoshop-Lightroom 2. It is a pretty sweet program, I never knew what you could do with photographs post process before. So mine have all been straight raw images. Not that I am saying I will be doctoring up every image, because I definitely wont, but I think it is a pretty cool tool to help bring out some of the detail that gets lost in a fast exposure. So at the moment I am terrible at Lr, but I am slowly picking it up. It seems like all the pictures I mess with end up looking like paintings and not real. It is a learning curve and I am starting to see results. I have a meeting / training class with a buddy of mine Ken, who uses Lr and is going to show me the in's and out's. So I am looking forward to that. I have also started dabbling in some HDR photography and that is really neat as well, but I have yet to find a good example of what I can do with it. It is made so you can take 3 or more photo's in different exposures and stack them to get different things in the picture in focus. Once again pretty cool concept and I have seen some cool pictures from it, but I have yet to master that either. All mine come out terrible.



So we are definitely falling into winter here, the place is getting quiet, dark and cold. I have began to play around with pictures (man, I must be bored) and play a lot of video games. Yea as fast as I want this winter to go, I am starting to realize it will just get slower. Till the next impulse....

A trip worth telling..

On October 8th 1970, on the first flight into McMurdo for the Antarctic summer season a plane by the name of "Pegasus" a Lockheed C-121 crashed in a severe storm. No one on board was injured, but the plane was so badly damaged it was abandoned and laid to rest on the ice that day. Now talk about a bad way to start off the season. I thought that this winter started off bad for us here at McMurdo while as the last plane of the season the Australian Airbus, was doing its ceremonial flyby we had a engine overheat and cause a station wide power outage. The winter-overs were up at the Chalet sipping on Champagne to toast the last planes departure, when they began to receive pages notifying them there was an emergency. Because of the perfect timing of all this no one actually believed the pages and thought it was a joke. To me I would rather start off a season with a power outage than a plane crash any day.

So the runway that the C-121 crashed upon, is still used today as our primary landing strip for the US Air force C-17. The runway holds the name of the crashed plane as Pegasus White Ice Runway, Antarctica. This is the same runway that I set up and maintained the generators at in the pre-summer season this year. The runway is positioned on the permanent Ross Ice Shelf between Black Island and White Island. This allows the wind that funnel between the islands to carry the snow past the runway and not allow it to accumulate on it.

The C-121 "Pegasus" is still visible today, it is about a half mile off the far side of the runway, and is mainly covered by snow drift. Over last weekend we were able to take a trip out to this little piece of Antarctic history and walk around and watch the sunset. It was a great trip to see how the plane has held up over the years, being buried a little more and more each day. The left side engine is now just barely sticking out of the snow. When we arrived out at the plane, it was just at sunset and once again the sky was filled with bright oranges and yellows, I was trying extremely hard to capture the reflection of this sunset on the plane. I just wanted to take this opportunity to show you some cool pictures.

The moon has risen & the realization set in

If the sun rises in the east it must set in the west. That is what I have always been told and that is what I have always known. I always thought it was strange when I was at South Pole and the sun never set, it just rotated around you in the sky. It didn't even rotate in the right direction either, so you never knew what time it was or what direction you were pointing in. Well now as the darkness encroaches and the sun is lower and lower in the sky, the sun rise is later and the sunset is earlier. Each day gets a little darker and a little colder. The other day the moon rose for the first time. It was high in the sky but it was the first time the sun was low enough in the sky to see the moon, so we called it the first moon rise. Now the moon is out longer each day, even when we have daylight. It is a start to a new season for sure now.

This time of year also brings with it the the ability to see Fata Morgana's which are mirages caused by the sun being low in the sky and extreme cold temperatures, this effect is exaggerated down here in Antarctica by the curvature of the earth and where we are in relation to the sun. The other morning I walked out side, it was a nice clear and calm day. You could see all the way across the Ross Ice Shelf to the mountain range on the other side. At the base of the mountain range was the largest fata morgana I have ever seen, it was so surreal.It looked as if a wall of ice came straight out of the ground and reached half way up the mountains. By the time I was able to get my camera and get back to take a picture the sun had risen in the sky and the fata morgana had shrunk.


With the days getting shorter and the nights getting longer you begin to realize it will be 24 hours darkness soon and temperatures in the -40's. This complete darkness will last for 3 1/2 months. When I spent last winter at Palmer Station it never got completely dark, we still had twilight for a few hours a day even in the dead of winter. McMurdo is not so fortunate, and I begin to wonder how I will do with no sunlight for this time. I was born and raised in California and have always had sunlight, so this will definitely be a new and challenging experience for me. With this realization I have also come to grips that we are stuck here. There is no way in or out at this time. Sunday market one month since the last plane took off, this also marks roughly 5 more months until the next plane arrives. I am unsure on how I feel about this, once again at Palmer we had re-supply vessels arriving at least once every 6 weeks. If something were to happen or if I just want to quit and go home I cant, I am here, this is it. The 151 people I am on station with are the only people I will come in contact with for the next 5 months. So as the darkness creeps slowly more and more each day devouring the sunlight. I just begin to wonder, how will I do mentally & physically? What will it be like? How will others deal with these situations? Only time will tell, as each day is a countdown till total darkness......

A Change in Seasons - The Storm

When people talk about Antarctica and the vast beauty they are usually talking about the snow caped mountains, the sea ice formation, the glaciers and ice bergs. When you go home and people ask you what it is like down there, most people will talk about the penguins and the seals, or there trip to happy camper school where they slept outside. These are all great things about Antarctica that very few people get to experience, but when it comes to my experience on the ice. My favorite time to be here is during the storms. Antarctica is known for its legendary storms. They come without warning with hurricane force and they could last for weeks. I have worked in Antarctica for 2 summer seasons and I am currently in my second winter season. The best time of year is the changing of the seasons. The time between summer and winter and the time between winter and summer. Even fewer people get to experience this time of year because most of the people that come to Antarctica only stay for the summer season. So by the time they arrive it is already summer and when they leave it is not quite winter. During the summer months in McMurdo all the snow melts the temperature gets as high as +40degF, it is dirty from all the volcanic dust, to me its just not Antarctica.


Now that the summer has come to a close and the sun is starting to set, the temperatures are dropping and the snow is falling it has been beautiful and peaceful. Every morning the sunrise fills the sky and covers the mountains with pale pinks, purples and reds. Then every night the sun sets behind Mt. Discovery blanketing the sea ice and lighting the sky on fire with burning shades of orange and yellow. This is the beauty that is Antarctica this is the breathtaking view that you hear about and the pictures you see in National Geographic. This is what you come to Antarctica for, soon the sun will set and the Auroras will come out and dance across the sky, I am looking forward to this more than anything.


During these transition times between seasons it is not only when you get the most amazing views, it is also when you get those legendary storms. You will rarely get the big harsh storms during the dead of winter or the top of the summer, but it is possible. But now, this time of the year is when you get the ones you can write home about. At the beginning of the summer season this year I came down and worked here at McMurdo for a few months to help them get the station started up before I went to The South Pole for the season. I spent everyday during this time out on the Sea Ice and the Ross Ice Shelf setting up the airfields for the season. I had gotten stuck out at Pegasus Ice Runway 4 times in condition 1 - the worst level weather condition we have. There was one condition 1 that sticks out in my memory bank that I want to share with you.


I was out at the runway working inside on a generator trying to get the power back up after the wind had caused a black out. When I went into the building it was cloudy out and there was a little bit of wind but nothing crazy - condition 3. I was getting close to having power restored when I received a page stating that Pegasus was going to a condition 1. I thought to myself, these people are crazy I was outside less than an hour ago and it was fine. I walked outside to take a look and confirm that they were smoking crack, when I couldn't get the door open. I pushed and pushed and it wouldn't budge, at first I thought snow had piled up on the outside of the door, so I began to throw my self into the door to shock it open. The door all of a sudden opened and slammed shut again right in my face. Ok, so I guess I know now that its not snow holding the door shut it was wind. I worked my way to the downwind end of the enclosure and began to disassemble and crawl through the intake louvers, by this time I am receiving page after page to report in to town. I finally am able to make it out of the building. As I walked out from behind the building towards my truck that was less than 10 ft from the building, I felt like I was being lifted up off the ground. I leaned forward into the wind at roughly a 45 degree angle and headed towards the truck when I began to realize I was unsure where the truck was. I kept one hand on the building as a reference and began to walk around to the side where the door was, once I arrived at the door I was able to point myself in the direction of the truck. at this point you cant hear the trucks engine that was running because the wind is so loud it sounds like someone is crinkling up paper next to your ear and blowing air into your ear continuously. You also cant see the truck, so you are nervous to let go of the building, there is a battle going on in your head on what to do. At that moment a small area about the size of a dinner plate cleared enough for me to see the light from the trucks headlights. I decided to let go of the building and walk towards it. I then realized that the truck was a lot closer than I thought it was. As I walked around to the driver side of the truck I ran into the same problem with the wind holding the door shut, I was finally able to pry the door open like peeling the top off a can of fruit. I got in the truck and the door slammed behind me. I got on the radio and reported in. The dispatcher then asks me if I had restored power, I had to report no I had not restored it yet. I was then asked if I could make it to a building that had food and supplies in it. I just fought my way into the truck and now they want me to get back out? I told them I was fine in the truck for awhile and if I got a clearing I would go to the shelter. As I sat in the truck the wind was whipping past so fast the truck was shaking side to side vigorously. Have you ever been on a 2 lane highway and a big rig flies past you and your car shakes a bit? Imagine that but not stopping, the ice had build up so thick on the outsides of the windows you couldn't see out and the ice was starting to form on the inside. The trucks heater couldn't keep up with how fast the wind was taking the heat away from the engine. The fuel level was down towards a 1/4 of a tank. So I decided to make my way back out and to the shelter building, I pushed the door open and leaned into the wind, the visibility had increased enough to see outlines, but everything was still a flat white color. I walked around the front of the truck and fell face first as I ran right into a drift of snow that was waist high. This drift was not there earlier when I got in the truck. I continued on to the shelter building and made my way inside. There was no power or heat, but it was out of the elements and it had supplies and a couch to rest on. I waited out the storm and headed back in the first chance I got. This storm could have lasted for days or weeks, they have been known to do that in the past, but I was fortunate that it only lasted 4 hours and I was able to come on home.


So this place is absolutely phenomenal. It is by far the most amazing and life altering place you will ever be able to go. But just because the sunrise was beautiful, the winds were calm and the penguins were out that morning but that doesn't mean that she cant come back and unleash some hell on you in the afternoon. Its the storms here that make you remember that you are in the driest, coldest and most desolate place in the world. It is the frozen desert as Tim would say, this is Antarctica...

Start of Something New (The Back Story)

So as most of you know, I am not new to blogs. Although I am new to this blog, I began blogging a little over a year and a half ago when I first started traveling. This is a way for me to keep in touch with my friends and family without having to write a million emails and send a thousand pictures. In the past I have been really bad about keeping up on the blog, I was using a site not everyone could get to and it was not user friendly. So here I am, I figure its time to try something new and it will help force me into keeping up to date on things. So its a wild ride, if you are new to my journey it all started about 2 years ago.

Every event has a back story, its hard to think back and remember how it all started or what event happened that got the ball rolling. It took me a long time before I was able to think back hard enough to realize how it happened for me. It took a girl by the name of Shelby to make me remember. Shelby was at South Pole this summer and she had this thing about finding out why people were there. She hounded me enough about it, and she wouldn't take a bullshit answer either so I had to sit down and think long and hard about the root cause. What was it that started the chain reaction to put me on the path I am on now?

So I had the life you are suppose to have, I graduated trade school with a degree I had the good paying career path job that others were envious of. I had a nice place to live in a upscale part of town, a girlfriend that was living with me, the works. Well I am fogging on how it all began to fall apart, but it had something to do with me working 70-80 hours a week and living comfortably then I gave up my field service truck and went in the shop so that I could pursue more education. When this happened all my overtime disappeared and I was down to 40-50 hours a week. When you are young and dumb you don't realize right away that when you loose income you need to adjust your style of living. Well I found that out soon enough as the bills began to pile and rent went up, the economy went downhill and the girlfriend left. That's the moment where I realized its time for something new. Its time to throw it all away and start fresh, I could stay and try to fix the problem or I can cut my losses, learn from my mistakes and move on. So I did, I began to look for jobs in Colorado. I just happened to come across an ad online while I was looking for jobs, a Diesel Mechanic position at the South Pole. I applied after my folks said they didn't think it was a good idea and then never pursued it. I then went out to Colo. and interviewed for another job and it was very promising, so I began to make plans to move. When I get a call from a company asking me if I was still interested in working in Antarctica. Well how many people get to say that they have been to Antarctica? Very, very few so I said sure and after a crazy medical process, 3 weeks after the call I was on a plane bound for New Zealand.

New Zealand is a whole different story I could talk about for pages and pages, but it is already getting way to long and drawn out so here is a quick finish. Since this journey has started, it hasn't stopped. I have worked at The South Pole, I have gone to New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Utah and Arizona all in the last year because of this job. I have gone to Chile and taken a Ice Breaker ship through the Straits of Magellan and across some of the roughest seas in the world The Drake Passage to arrive and work at one of the most beautiful and amazing places in the world, Palmer Station. I have gone back through Florida and Colorado and back to New Zealand where I returned to The South Pole and I am now at McMurdo Station experiencing another change in seasons in Antarctica. This amazing ride has allowed me to start over, pay off all my debt, put money in the bank and grow into the person I have always wanted to be. This is the journey I have started, this is the journey that has no end. I have told you how I got here, now lets see where I take you next.....