November 6-7, 2009

(Picture from the A-star of Lake Hoare and Canada Glacier)

Camping in the Antarctica Dry Valleys

Scenic and beautiful - Frozen lakes situated along the bottom of the dry valleys with glaciers seemingly feeding and flowing into the lakes from the surrounding mountains.

On my second visit to the dry valleys my coworker (the other envt. tech) and I visited two field camps - Lake Bonney and Lake Hoare. We accessed the camps by the A-star helicopter again. The purpose of these visits was to do an environmental audit, but also to familiarize us (it's also her first time down here), with how a field camp is run, what to look for in our envt. audits, and to learn more about the dry valleys.

Here's a few highlights:

This is an ATV that the camp uses to drive around on the frozen Lake to transport equipment and to collect drinking water. It is not permitted to be driven on the dry lands due to the envt. damage it could cause. Notice the chains on the middle set of tires.

Renewable Energy!!! Here's a picture of solar panels that are used to supplement the energy needs for the camp.

This is a picture of another helicopter transporting a sling load over a glacier. (Seuss Glacier) This was taken while I was sitting in another A-star, hovering above and adjacent to the subject. I think they can haul up to 8000 pounds or something ridiculous in a sling load...(I'll have to check)

My coworker and I spent a night in the dry valleys at the Lake Hoare camp. The camp was occupied by the camp manager and the assistant camp manager. They run the camp and provide oversight, logistics, and just basically run the camp. This includes among other things- a majority of the cooking duties, organization, ordering supplies, and providing any needed support for the scientists conducting their research. At this camp the ideal max capacity is for 12 people. During our visit , it was just 4 of us total at the camp.

One of the tasks that we learned at camp was collecting drinking water. This was done by heading over to the glacier and collecting chunks of ice from sections of ice that have "calved" off the glacier. These were hauled back to camp in the bed of the ATV and in the sled attached to its end. Sometimes a large bar with a flathead tip is used to break/crack up large pieces into smaller pieces. The sizes ranged from football sized to the size of a milk crate. They are called “glacier berries.” Here is a sequence of pictures of my coworker demonstrating the technique...

Here's a good overview shot of the ATV with glacier berries in tow and the site of the "calving"

The glacier berries are taken back to camp and are melting in a stock pot (see pic below) and then filtered for drinking water. This ice is really old...how old? Older than Jesus...seriously. Because its so old, it is kind of a novelty for some people and they like to use it as ice in a cold drink. It's somewhat interesting because there are a lot of gas bubbles in the ice that fizzes and bubbles as it melts.

My first penguin sighting!!!

Here’s a picture of the Scott tent at Lake Hoare Camp that we slept in flanked by Canada Glacier. You can see a calving in the background.

Driving on the lake and walking on the lake, especially along the frozen moat, or outside edges (before it melts later in the summer) is encouraged because it reduces the footprint on the dry land... My coworker and I were able to take an awesome little hike around the area and walk along the Lake. One interesting part of the hike was while walking on the frozen lake surface, every few minutes or so you would here pops as the ice beneath you cracked. It wasn't going to break through or anything, but it was quite startling the first few times. Here's a pic of the lake ice. Notice all the bubbles frozen in it.

Here’s a few pics from our little hike.

Coworker Laura on the Lake as the sun drops behind Seuss Glacier.

Walking along the Glacier.

Ventifacts - rocks formed by the winds…Dry Valleys are characterized by the dryness, lakc of precipitation, and winds among other things.

These are stabil-icers that are worn on the outside of your boots to provide traction on the lake ice.

This is a picture of Lake Hoare with Canada glacier in the foreground and another lake to the right side of the picture, behind Canada glacier and another glacier sitting in the back left.