Race to the South Pole

After Thanksgiving, the Medical Department hosted an event titled Race to Pole.  The idea behind this health incentive program was to increase exercise among the station population and combat the newly started 24 hour pizza provided by the galley.  The rules were simple.  Create a team of 10 walkers or 5 runners and log your miles as a team.  The first walking team and the first running team to complete 833 miles (the distance from McMurdo Station to the South Pole) would win a special prize.  If no team completed the miles by February 1st, the team closest would win.  Any individual who completed 100 miles would receive a special prize as well.

Medical didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

Little did they know, McMurdo Station is swimming in thru hikers and ultra marathon runners.  Shannon (AT and Camino del Santiago thru hiker) and I quickly compiled a list of all the thru hikers we knew on station and made the ULTIMATE WALKING TEAM.  Our plan was simple, we would complete 833 miles in one week while working our usual 60 hours a week.  Our team consisted of 8 stewards, 1 cook, and one guy from IT (6 thru hikers, 1 backcountry hiking guide, 1 Outward Bound guide, and 2 that promised they would log the miles) and we completed 840 miles in 7 days.  It was a blast.  Most of us woke up at 4:30 am to complete 12 miles before our 10 am shift.  On my 28th birthday I completed a celebratory 28 miles!  I was also the only one on station to complete 100 miles in the first week (not to toot my own horn too much;) When we posted our miles to medical they were mad, they were expecting the program to run until February and not be finished in 7 days.  Oops! The first running team to complete the race finished about 10 days after us and were also all galley employees.  We are still awaiting our prize but are hopeful it will be a sweet boondoggle!

Carolyn

Panorama of Castle Rock (exposed looking tooth) with Mt. Erebus in background

Looking back down the trail towards Base

Sparkly Snow!

Hiking down towards ice shelf

Looking back up trail 

Our team is Pole Position Prancers

30 Day Ob Hill Challenge

When we arrived in Antarctica at the end of October, I was feeling rather squishy from the long bout of couch potato sitting with Lyme Disease this summer.  So I decided a little butt kicking was in order.  At McMurdo we have Observation Hill, an almost 600 foot tall hill that ascends in about .4 miles.  For the next 30 days I was determined to climb Ob Hill (which I fondly referred to as Obby the Bobby) thirty times.  I had a great time completing the challenge and felt like I gained a lot of my endurance back.

At the beginning of November it was a challenge since most of the hill was covered almost entirely with ice and snow and temperatures were regularly around 10 degrees.  This proved fun since the hill turned into a "choose your own adventure" path since there was no clear trail up the hill.  Gradually, the weather improved and snow melted into larger icy sections.  This was great for some butt sledding in sections too icy to walk on.  At the end of the month, the hill was almost snow free, exposing the large sections of rocks and crags.  At the end of thirty days, I had successfully climbed 18,000 feet of vertical ascent!

The top of Ob Hill still remains my favorite spot here at McMurdo.  From the top you have 360 degree views of the ice shelf that extends out to the mainland and TransAntarctic Mountains, the Kiwi Scott Base on the other side of Cape Armitage, and beautiful birds eye views of McMurdo Station.  On a clear day, Mount Erebus can be seen puffing smoke from the active lava pools.  It is also peacefully quiet compared to the large heavy machinery buzzing around the streets of MacTown.  As the month progressed, I could see the waterline come closer and closer to base as the non permanent sea ice broke apart.  For the first time I saw Snow Petrels playing in the wind currents around Ob Hill, a nice change from the usual Skua gull birds stealthily watching to steal your food as you leave the galley.

On Christmas Day I participated in the Ob Hill Up Hill Challenge, which is a race to the top of Ob Hill.  I walked most of it and completed the challenge in 11 minutes 37 seconds!  Here are a few pictures from my month of hiking.  

Carolyn

View from on top of Ob Hill about 10 days into challenge

View of McMurdo with a bit less snow

Mt. Erebus

Kiwi Scott Base green buildings in distance

Paige and I

DAY 30!

Ob Hill Up Hill Race on Christmas Day
Picture by Gwen Shoemaker

Picture by Gwen Shoemaker

Picture by Gwen Shoemaker

Picture by Gwen Shoemaker

YAHOO! Merry Christmas!
Picture by Gwen Shoemaker

Picture by Gwen Shoemaker

C2B2: Return of an Ice Odyssey

It's been a long time.  A lot has happened and at the same time it feels like not very much has happened.  We apologize for the gap in posts.  We hope to be back on here to share our experiences with all of you on a regular basis again this year, so long as you have forgiven our neglecting it for so long :(

I'll give a brief rundown on what we have been up to for the past few months:

We left the ice on February 24 aboard an air force C-17 cargo plane.  If I could fly everywhere in one of those I would.  Best way to fly (except maybe on an Emirate's Air flight, holy cow they know luxury and comfort).  We stayed in New Zealand hiking and driving around the South island for about a month.  (Shout out to BigFoot Jim and Dona, friends from the PCT, who were in Christchurch when we were!) We had planned to hike the Te Araroa Trail however things did not pan out.  We realized this trail would take us a bit longer to hike than we had anticipated and we would not have the time to finish the entire length of it before planned events in the States.  We adjusted our plans and began a sight seeing road trip around the South island.  Glaciers, mountains, farms, cities, birds, glow worms....New Zealand is a country bathed in beauty.  I'm lucky to have spent time there and I am looking forward to being able to spend more time there one day.

After a month there we took a marathon of flights back to the good ole' US of A.  Our destination was Atlanta, Georgia.  Two friends of ours, Short Trip and Breathless (Bill and Margaret), picked us up at the airport and treated us to some of the best hospitality we could hope for.  They are amongst the kindest souls I have been fortunate enough to meet on my travels.  They made us feel at home and comfortable in their home, giving us a much needed chance to rest and unwind after a long journey around the world.  

After spending a couple of days with them we began our trek of the Appalachian Trail.  This deserves it's own post (several, actually) and I'll have to get on that at some point.  We traveled about 1400 miles (Georgia to New York) of this trail before the six legged, blood sucking devils of the woods (ticks) introduced the two of us to their best friend Lyme Disease.  We struggled to realize we were sick because both of us were hit at the same time.  After a couple weeks of struggling and seeing our daily mileage plummet we came to the conclusion that something was wrong and we got off trail to find out and rest.  The recovery took much longer than expected (I was still feeling effects after a couple of months) and so we will return to the AT eventually and finish what we started.  A shoutout to our friends that visited us along the AT and their awesome trail magic: Rattler, Jason Hedrick, Nicole and Nathaniel, and Flashy Pants!

Through out the summer we had the great pleasure of spending time with Carolyn's friends and family celebrating a number of weddings.  Her older sister, Allison was married to Dave with a beautiful ceremony at the end of July.  Carolyn's friends Kate and Scott were married in September and Nicole and Mike were married in October.  It was a summer filled with wedding festivities!

Time was spent with my family as well.  We were able to celebrate Jason's (my older brother) graduation from college with his elementary education degree and a start on a new career path.  My friend TJ began a new and exciting part of life becoming a home owner for the first time and our friends Dan and Sheri celebrated the first birthday of their beautiful baby, Annalise.  I was able to spend a lot of time with the other lady in my life, Cascade!  Walks, running in fields, and chasing around Bradley the cat together helped revitalize the both of us.

Both of our families gave us support and love throughout the summer that we are both beyond grateful for.  Thank you to all!  

Currently we are back at McMurdo Station, Antarctica!!!  It wasn't a straight forward trip here but we're back and thankful to have our jobs.  We had been offered these jobs early in the summer and were excited for the opportunity to return to the ice.  After our bout with Lyme Disease we became nervous about passing the physical exam process to get here.  We both passed then proceeded to find out we had lost our jobs due to the government shutdown!  We were lucky in that we were informed before we began our travels to Christchurch, New Zealand.  A number of our friends had traveled to New Zealand before finding out and were stuck abroad with no jobs for a period of time.  Some people even traveled to New Zealand, went back home then got the jobs back after the shutdown ended and traveled back to New Zealand!  Anyway, the shutdown ended and the NSF began funding the Antarctic program again.  We got calls and flew out of the country in about 48 hours time.  

Things here at McMurdo are great!  The beauty of this place never fails to inspire and the community is even greater than we remembered.  We have a wonderful crew this year and are beyond excited to spend an entire year on ice!  

We hope everyone has had an incredible summer/autumn and we look forward to sharing our second season on ice with you all!!!

PS - Jason Hedrick.  That's all.

Coming Soon...

Tomorrow we leave McMurdo Station for 3 months in New Zealand.  We are thru hiking the Te Araroa trail.  Starting in Bluff, the Southern tip of the South Island, to Cape Reinga, the Northern tip of the North Island, we will hike a total of 1,800 miles (3,000 km).  A short jaunt by our standards.  We hope to keep the blog going.  Check it out over the next few months!

Te Araroa Trail website (CLICK ME)

My baby, Cascade.  I'LL BE HOME SOON!!

Antarctica's Most Wanted: BOATS

Breaking ice, breaking laws...these boats have been spotted in McMurdo Sound wreaking havoc on innocent seals trying to sunbath on icebergs with gangs of whales following close behind to cash in on the damage.  If you see any of these boats please write your local congressman immediately.

ICEBREAKER: Breaking ice with hulls of steel, this icebreaker vessel paved the way for his band of cronies to follow close behind.  He may look like a little tug boat but his hulls quickly worked apart the cracks in the sea ice (the same ice that we landed our planes on at the beginning of the season) and sent it out to sea.  Within hours of heavy winds, the entire sea was clear of ice and in came the Minke Whales, the titans of destruction.  Only ice still standing was a 2 mile wide iceberg threatening to block the access to McMurdo.

2 mile wide iceberg

NATHANIAL B. PALMER RESEARCH VESSEL: This undercover ship claims to be here on behalf of science.  Good science or the sort run by the likes of Dr. Evil?  Suspicions were confirmed after this ship was forced to return, after leaving, to drop off one victim claiming "medical evacuation for the good of the person was mandatory".

FUEL TANKER: Pumping liquid gold into the tanks of McMurdo seems like a good cause but this crew has a rough past.  While sailing through the Indian Ocean, they repeatedly met pirates since their load rode so low.  When pirates approached, the crew had a special synchronized gun dance where they flashed their weapons and the pirates quickly left.  (Actual true story). The pirates quickly tucked tail and ran, but how many were taken captive for hidden treasures?  You'll have to ask Captain Black Gold to find out...

CRUISE SHIP: The high times of the rich and famous rolled into the McMurdo Sound.  People actually PAYING (minimum of $25,000) to see McMurdo played paparazzi to the likes of locals.   People departing this boat were seen wearing heavy parkas and claiming it was cold.  Bunch of new jacks.

Some of the high paying customers from the cruises.  Tourists or victims?

Don't let your wheels freeze, old head.

The second cruise ship to show up.  I'm guessing this "economy version" didn't serve pate.

THE VESSEL OF DOOM: Judgement day arrived at McMurdo, the busiest week of the season.  You live by vessel and you die... maybe not die...they just close all the bars for the week.  Upon arrival, the Giant of the Sea crashed into our delicate ice pier shifting it 10 feet causing divers to have to check out the damage at the crash site. The contents of this behemoth were emptied supplying the community with years worth of food, supplies, etc in exchange for all our waste.  A true trash to treasure love story.