Castle Rock is a large rock crag that stands between McMurdo Station and Mt Erebus. It stands about 1,300 ft tall and is the center piece of the Castle Rock Loop Trail. The entire loop is about 10 miles long. You reach the rock about 3 miles into the loop. It's an easy, gently rising 3 mile hike to the base of the rock. Along the way you pass two "apples", red circular emergency shelters which are stocked with emergency survival equipment (sleeping bags, stove, fuel, food, an adult magazine, etc.).
Once you reach Castle Rock you can scramble to the top of it. It's a sketchy climb up using ropes bolted into the rock. At a few points you need to hold onto the rope or face a serious fall. This was probably our favorite hike of the season.
We had a beautiful day with clear skies above. The sea ice was covered with fog but we were above it for the hike to Castle Rock, which made for incredible views of the area. As we started the hike we paused and noticed something we had not seen for 2 months....the moon!! It hung in the sky in front of us for the hike to Castle Rock and every time I looked at it I had to smile.
We reached the rock and found the trail going to the top. After we scrambled to the top we spent a little bit of time taking in the views before scrambling back down. As usual, the scramble down was much more nerve wracking than the scramble up......
Once down safely we continued on the loop trail which quickly descends to the sea where you then walk on the ice shelf for the last few miles. We descended into the fog and found ourselves hiking in a white abyss. It's a strange feeling. You're in a wide open space yet you can't see more than 30 feet away, it feels like the world has closed in on you and you're boxed up. We kept hiking on until we reached the point the trail turns onto the ice road. The sky began to clear up and as we hiked to Scott Base and then the road from there to McMurdo Station we were back in clear skies.
Keep in mind, we did this hike in the middle of the "night". All of the pictures were taken from about 3am to 8am.
We had a beautiful day with clear skies above. The sea ice was covered with fog but we were above it for the hike to Castle Rock, which made for incredible views of the area. As we started the hike we paused and noticed something we had not seen for 2 months....the moon!! It hung in the sky in front of us for the hike to Castle Rock and every time I looked at it I had to smile.
We reached the rock and found the trail going to the top. After we scrambled to the top we spent a little bit of time taking in the views before scrambling back down. As usual, the scramble down was much more nerve wracking than the scramble up......
Once down safely we continued on the loop trail which quickly descends to the sea where you then walk on the ice shelf for the last few miles. We descended into the fog and found ourselves hiking in a white abyss. It's a strange feeling. You're in a wide open space yet you can't see more than 30 feet away, it feels like the world has closed in on you and you're boxed up. We kept hiking on until we reached the point the trail turns onto the ice road. The sky began to clear up and as we hiked to Scott Base and then the road from there to McMurdo Station we were back in clear skies.
Keep in mind, we did this hike in the middle of the "night". All of the pictures were taken from about 3am to 8am.
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| APPLE!! |
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| Castle Rock |
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| Mt Erebus, in the background, is about 23 miles away |
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