Beginning
It all began in Boulder Colorado still warm and crimson with Elk Blood.
I arrive in New Zealand and am instantly swimming in my own imagination. The trees are beautiful, the weather warm, and the people barefoot. I spent a week in Christchurch which was under heavy repair from the September earthquake for a week. Due to weather in McMurdo I should have spent less time, but was grateful for the warmth before the freeze.
I said Ciao to Christchurch as I headed to the Airport and CDC to finally depart for the last continent of Antarctica. This involved many pedantic speeches, warm weather gear in a warmer climate, and as with life, more waiting.
McMurdo
First glimpses and crowded expectations led to nothing but disbelief as I stepped out for the first time onto the ice. I did not know however at the time that it was actually ICE we were landing on and not Terra Firma. I arrived having no premonition as to what McMurdo was about, but shortly after arriving, it was much different than anything I could have expected.
Miserable dorm rooms and worse food lead to the "CRUD"
Snow School
A stranger in a strange land indeed, thrown into an icy landscape that is somewhat familiar coming from Colorado, but certainly more akin to Alaska with the industrial setting of McMurdo and the oil towns of the NorthWest. After becoming acquainted with the town for a couple days I head off to Snow School and the cold hell that may possibly have ensued. Here I spent time with friends from North Dakota doing research in the Friis Hills. Whatever or wherever this place was, it seemed cold. No view of the Volcano Erebus was disappointing, but a white out with 24 hours of sunlight led to entertaining trench building at midnight.
Here I lie, and dead I well may be...
Below, Chad Crotty in his stupid Igloo...my trench was waaaaay cooler...but warmer
Adjustment
Another two weeks in town found me washing copious amounts of bottles, making friends, enjoying the scenery, and washing more bottles. So when I say I washed bottles, there is an 's' at the end of Bottle for a reason. 1600 bottles to be precise. Where they went when the season came? That is for later, determined by a high flow year. McMurdo has its beauty. As with any place created by man, it takes more than a postcard or personality to find. A walk about is required, but takes time. The next two weeks were a build up for what was to come.
First and last time I saw anything larger than a MISERABLE Skua from an appreciable distance
First Flight
Leaving McMurdo after 3 weeks was suprisingly hard. I enjoyed the time there, and had not yet tasted the golden fruit. I was in for quite a treat. My first Helicopter ride found me at Lake Hoare. An oasis of Fantastic people, and better food! Rae Spain and Sandra Liu could make the driest, windiest, most isolated desert in the world seem like the Ritz. Oh wait, that is what they did.
Entering the valley for the first time was something I tried to prepare for, but it would be the same to say that you can prepare for weeks in the wild by reading a book rather than learning how to make a fire. So in other words I was at a loss for direction, and my imagination took the better part of me!
Early Season
It all starts with Andersen Gauge. The lakes are fully frozen. The moats are shiny clear. A veneer that is as much see through as it is hard. It is like walking on a magnifying glass or lens to another world. Meters below are strange algae pulsing their way through the moat ice creating a wake of Oxygen (I am assuming). Smooth as glass and walking on it normally is nothing less than a challenge. Clouds are a regular occurrence , either surrounding the mountains, or surrounding you. Many days however the skies see bluebird days, or as the Steezy kids back home would call it, The epic Gnar day. The streams and rivers are all frozen as well, and rumor has it that a week ago the temperature spiked and some of the streams flew/flowed/flown? One moose two Meese? These were the days of relaxation. Nothing to do but to do. Learn the outside and inside of the stream gauges, and how to operate as if you were a CR10X recording device. For now however the streams are a foot thick with ice unlikely to thaw in the coming days.
The entire reason I am here. Stream gauges. A beauty in a box. Perfectly placed so as to maximize the effectiveness as well as provide a sleeping shelter should the weather require it.
My first hiking experience outside without parental supervision was surreal at first. It felt as if I were a dog in front of an open door. They know not to travel beyond that border, but slowly they peer looking suspicious around the corner and finally make their way out. Only difference is that the only door was the one I constructed. After the initial break through, I became wild and free.
We shortly thereafter arrive at my home away from home at F6. This place is mystical, forlorn, cozy, crazy, unpretentious, basic, rustic, and many more adjectives that I am limited in describing due to my vocabulary. This place is where we spent most of our time and therefore it was ma maison favorite. At minimum we had 2 people here, but this was very short lived as this season it saw a lot, A LOT of traffic. At most there were a few weather days where we had 9 people stuck due to the vision of the pilots. I am not saying they should be able to see through the clouds, but that would be a bonus on a resume.
The aptly named lost seal and others that did not make it as far as their descendants.
If a rock were stuck in a desert, and a frog in a jungle, who would be happier. In one way I would say the rock, but my true feelings are that they are both just as happy, for all are where they are meant to be whether they are stuck in the hustle bustle of the always wet and moving jungle, or the desolate, dry, and slow desert.
First Flow
Although no longer a stream gauge, the upper delta river system ( near the glacier about 2 miles upstream of F6 hut) saw flowing water end of November! It was during this time I began to realize where I was working. Every day life begins to become blase (accent aigu sur le 'e') I would say after the 1st week or so. In Antarctica however you have to try hard for everyday life to become mundane. Where I work is utterly inexplicable and as my friend Adeleine would say, "No picture would ever do this landscape justice"
Remnants of old Kiwis are scattered among the Onyx river valley. A glimpse into the past life and hardships of what some endured and gives an introspective look on what we take for granted out in the field.
Noodle Bomber, AKA Nussbaum Ridge...Many tried, Some failed.
The arrival of past stream team member Joshua Koch brought needed insight as to what was going on and as to what purpose it served. It may sound like a target corporation "Brand" product, but stream team is actually something sincere, full of meaning, and anything but monotonous after time. Digression brings me back to Josh. I have worked with him for about 2 years now, and he has helped me with patience I could never find in myself to serve the greater good and make the stream data look pretty. He is currently off to follow the path of all who seek more through less in the giant state of Alaska. Bon Fortuna! While he was in the dry valleys we found the achtung (German? Although I thought it was native...) of many streams and rested beside the rippling current deceiving us of its true ferocity.
It got to the point of having a competition with myself while hiking. We had been travelling so extensively, and with such heavy packs that nothing phased us anymore. In some cases we were just bored and felt like bringing an extra set of gear just because, or as in later on giant sleeping pads that could have easily been helicoptered across the valley much quicker.
Cleansing was a ritual that occurred once a week. The preparation took about 15 minutes to enter the drip camping shower. From there you slowly moistened yourself and lathered on some sudsy soap. It then took the better part of another 15 minutes to get the surfactants off your body. Drying however was extremely quick and cold. Reason for this explanation is picture below.
Calm before the storm
Wandering about is the only way to stay sane as well as fit. The freedom one possesses in the valleys is limited only by your determination to make it to the top. Well that and ice calving, freak wind storms, lake ice breaking, hypothermia, and bears. The view from the top is worth every step through the moon dust deposited by winds for thousands of years. Carved Ventifacts eroded by wind shape the rocky tops and create the illusion of being in a Hunter S. Thompson novel.
Wandering about is the only way to stay sane as well as fit. The freedom one possesses in the valleys is limited only by your determination to make it to the top. Well that and ice calving, freak wind storms, lake ice breaking, hypothermia, and bears. The view from the top is worth every step through the moon dust deposited by winds for thousands of years. Carved Ventifacts eroded by wind shape the rocky tops and create the illusion of being in a Hunter S. Thompson novel.
Antarctica is the driest, windiest, highest, and loneliest continent. The last adjective is questionable. That being said, the wind is able to carve great sculptures that would compete with Rodin if he were God. The wind carved rocks or Ventifacts are layed upon every hill top exposing the slowly eroding base of what was once a monolith. These rocks are unlike typical desert erosions because most rocks in the desert are eroded dominantly by the little rain that there is. Here however, no rain, just wind and copious piles upon blankets of it.
Blood falls never did get roaring this year. But even so it is a glorious reintroduction to colors if you have been in antarctica too long. Before stabbing someone, consider taking a tourist flight to the fantastic iron pigmented blood falls first discovered about 100 years ago.
Best View in Antarctica Click There!
We found ourselves on our own schedule. The sun never set once, the clouds came for a day then left the sunshine to brighten the next 3 or 4. But overall we could be working at 2 in the morning for all we knew or cared, which was what happened occasionally to get a good representation of flow over the course of a day. The sun is the main dictator of high and low flow. Melting the top surface of the glacier at the most perpendicular angle causes high flows and vice versa. Each stream in the Taylor Valley took anywhere from 10 seconds to walk to (as is the case with Von Guerrard which I could stumble out of my tent still putting on my pants and be at the gauge) to a 4 hour hike with Commonwealth stream. It was possible to walk to the Lake Bonney streams, but it would have taken so long that we would have had to carry -40 degree sleeping bags with us. We were used to the weight by this point as our backpacks were rarely under 40ish pounds. It was just that the bulk of such a large sleeping bag prohibited much...And tents and food etc. The freedom we had while walking gave time to understand the other, and ourselves. If one was running low on patience with me as was most likely the case, all they had to do was walk slightly slower or faster for a while. Of course it was quite difficult to walk faster than me...
Food in McMurdo vs. food in the valleys. The valleys food was edible, just like in McMurdo. But unlike McMurdo, the food we had wouldn't make you sick. Nuff' said. Cookie pie muffin brick cake blueberry with a hand drill blender. Doesn't get much classier than that. It was the simple things in life that made it so damn interesting and exciting.
The Flood
Lenticulars in the sky above were a sign to put on your windcoat. High winds were dominating the mid atmosphere and soon enough the wind would come pouring over the continental ice shelf into the valleys like margaritas out of a pitcher on Cinquo in Boulder. This wind was different from Wyoming wind in a few ways. Granted Antarctica is like Wyoming in that the windy season is a short one from Early January till about late December. But the winds here were outrageous. I would imagine constant 50 mph winds with gusts definitely exceeding at some times maybe double that? All tents save a Scott tent were pretty much destroyed at Bonney Camp. F6 had one casulty in the tent department, as well as Lake Hoare camp. The one main difference however between Wyoming and here though, was temperature. These winds are debatebly called Katabatics. This means that they gather enough kinetic energy whilst travelling across the plateau that the temperature rises to around 50 degrees through friction! This is great and all for enjoying the warmth and 24 hour sunshine on the "Beach" at lake Hoare, but truly this was the calm before the storm. With these temperatures and wind speeds depositing soil on glaciers, came liquid water. Copious amounts of liquid water.
Safety first is something we always considered. And always practiced. Having a radio was a necessity if you needed to know if the helicopters were going to pick you up, the rivers were flowing, or if Deb had taken the brownies out of the oven yet. The intense but short lived flood got the adreneline running, and anxiety abounded. The lakes were rising fast and about to take over gauges that were installed 20 years ago at a much lower lake level. Stuff needed to get done. We got er' done.
Mid Season Shenanigans
Although confined to a valley, unable to travel beyond the ridges and certainly not on top of most glaciers, we had our fun. Without electricity humans for thousands of years managed to entertain themselves. In the valleys, I found myself "fractaling" out. I would stare at a bare patch of ground. Slowly check out a few big rocks. Zoom in by getting closer. Soon I would find myself on my stomach with my face inches above the ground. Finally I would single out a sand grain no bigger than a...ummm. grain of sand and examine it with patience and curiosity. I would get cold, walk somewhere fantastic and repeat. Other forms of entertainment included boat rides in the moat, frisbee, hiking, and of course the drama erupting from the "Rumor mill".
Antarctica. As far away from normal as you can possibly be. It is this lonesome feeling that causes one to feel afraid, desolate, or depressed. This is all quelled however by the possibility to receive APO packages. Mrs. D and Me Caramel popcorn has made its way across the world in a hurry to Antarctica. Thanks Grandpa!
Hiking and Flying were not the only methods of transportation we utilized. ATV's were waiting for us on the permanent lake ice. When the moat ice melted however, the ATV's were stranded. That is were Zodiacs became useful!
Closing Out
Every year the cycle continues. Plants grow, flower, produce whatever they need to for reproduction, then shrivel, die, and rot. In Antarctica there is a less morbid but just as sadistic outlook on life. We work hard to open the stream gauges, and maintain and measure them all summer. As the time comes closer, and the sun gets lower and lower, close enough to almost produce a "Sunset", we have to clean out the gauges and close them for the harsh winter ahead. A few gauges were dismantled this year. Priscu and Huey. Aiken was scheduled but bad weather prohibited. With the death of these two gauges, a phoenix in the form of a new gauge at Bohner stream was assembled. The entire focus on these gauges however is the notion of being "Temporary". Priscu stream was transformed from a sediment-filled lake powell, back into its natural flow void of human interference and build up. Within minutes the sand left from deconstruction was washed away into lake Bonney adding whatever an inorganic sediment can add to a cold monomictic lake.
The lakes were also closed out during this period. A few trips were taken to the various lakes filling the basins of the valleys. In just a few days, the extent of my travel had increased greatly. The lakes, (and valleys) were all similar in certain aspects, but somehow EVERYTHING was different. No two lakes could affect you the same way. They all had their own beauty and it was with that that visiting them was pure joy. This year the lakes had risen greatly causing a few structures at Bonney camp to be moved, and an imaginary caution flag to be flown at F6 and Lake Hoare camp. Fryxell lake had risen enough to almost back up some of our stream gauges in the area causing a freak run to build new ones. As soon as we had though, the temperature cooled, and the lakes lowered slightly.
We also took a segue to the Cotton Glacier stream. High flows have cause this extremely organic carbon deprived river to cut ice like a power washer through a field of overpowered kittens.
The lakes were also closed out during this period. A few trips were taken to the various lakes filling the basins of the valleys. In just a few days, the extent of my travel had increased greatly. The lakes, (and valleys) were all similar in certain aspects, but somehow EVERYTHING was different. No two lakes could affect you the same way. They all had their own beauty and it was with that that visiting them was pure joy. This year the lakes had risen greatly causing a few structures at Bonney camp to be moved, and an imaginary caution flag to be flown at F6 and Lake Hoare camp. Fryxell lake had risen enough to almost back up some of our stream gauges in the area causing a freak run to build new ones. As soon as we had though, the temperature cooled, and the lakes lowered slightly.
We also took a segue to the Cotton Glacier stream. High flows have cause this extremely organic carbon deprived river to cut ice like a power washer through a field of overpowered kittens.
As older gauges are torn down, new ones are installed. Reminding us that this place is only ours to borrow. May we learn from it what we can, and leave it in the state in which it was given to us.
NZ
Plans among plans. Yeah right. Getting out of Christchurch was the only plan I had. Sticking out a thumb was as far as I had gotten. Soon enough the kindness of the Kiwi's was well evident in their willingness to pick me up and strike up conversation about more meaningful issues than the weather. Arthur's Pass, Hokitika organic farms, Milford Sound, Queenstown (Sucks), and many forests and mountains in between. Along the way I made many very good friends whom I will always thank for their help and hospitality.
Negative reinforcement works so well in NZ. Everyone smokes, drives fast without seatbelts, and "Tramps" (hikes) without alerting other people to their whereabouts. Aron Ralston must be from NZ, or immune to the effects of negative advertising.
Among the friends I made, I was lucky enough to travel with a Dutch couple travelling all over the South East part of the world. Dennis and Jony took me in their caravan from Hokitika to Te Anau, and explored every trail, hill, and overlook in between. Sadly, the only picture I have is in the dark near the campsite in Franz Josef, so instead I replaced them with porcelain Dutch.
NZ is a strange wilderness filled with steep rises and deep depressions. Glaciers form in the most unusual places. One step off the beaten path and you are lost as if in a cave without a headlamp. And just as wet. The forest brought me back to dreams and nightmares I used to have of Dinosaurs. The flora here is exactly as I pictured it in my mind with Velociraptors lurking behind every stump. NZ is a conglomerate of islands that are void of predators. Where else does a bird evolve to be unable to fly...Other than Antarctica. It is a land of birds. Beautiful birds. And terrifying Keas with their distracting plumage that hides their sharp beaks and curious yet destructive behavior. A Kea is NZ's Skua.
After leaving the Dutch in Te Anau, I stayed a couple of days in the sounds. It is here I met up with Adeleine whom I met on a trail about a week prior. She had a car, and I had a wandering spirit. We toured the sounds for a couple of days and met many kids on break from learning English at NZ Universities. The southland with Adeleine was breathtaking, or if I get this right "Une coupe de la souffle" or to take ones breath away. I shared with her many M'urkan phrases such as, "No photo I can take will ever do this landscape justice." Being a lawyer (The good kind she tells me) she enjoyed this?
Turns out you can sleep in Airports for free. Due to the Earthquake every hostel/motel/hotel/holiday inn was booked for at least 20 miles.
As night was once day, and havoc was once peace, all that was, will not be and must change. It is in our best interest to accept that life is not static. To seek peace and stability is a joke. Every day you step out that door there is something new to explore. And although the sun rises every morning, some days are foggier than others. It is in this sense that I try to relate my experience in NZ and my subsequent trip to Australia. I found the freedom I needed in NZ I could not have in Antarctica. I needed to roam around the forest aimlessly with a guitar strapped to my backpack. I needed to talk to girls who were not afraid of men, or men not aggressive enough to think you are taking their women. Antarctica was a very caveman like society. Whoever can find the biggest rock and bring it back gets the woman! NZ however was extroverted. Everyone I met instilled a greater sense of who I am in me. The most important thing is that it inspired me to try new things and relearn old ways that I once knew, but out of growing up, had forgotten or was too lazy to begin. Which in a cruel segue, brings me to Australia.
Australia
This is obviously going to be opinionated in my direction, but if there were an opposite to NZ, it would be Australia. They admit it themselves in Pop Culture, Sports, and even endemic predators unleashed upon the flightless bird populations of NZ. Not to say that I didn't appreciate Australia. It just wasn't my bag baby. Alex Groothaert took my tourist photos in front of the opera house without hesitation and also showed me around Sydney which was absolutely beautiful, and a fun city. That is a lot coming from someone who loathes a population density greater than Wyoming. I think what I was looking for however was that Je ne sais quoi. The forlorn appeal of the sand, sea, and sky. Not so much the stereotypical party hub of the East Coast of Australia, ie. Brisbane (Brizzo) Melbourne (Melbo) and other lethargic nicknames. So I did what needed to be done, and went to the desert. Uluru in the Outback.
And I found the desert with all of its delights.
"The desert can appear timeless, to span eternity." ~Edward Abbey
Nowhere else do I feel as alone, yet fulfilled as in the desert. The solitude it presents is comforting and peaceful. The desert lies still answering every question with silence. Maybe that is the answer we are all looking for.
David Byrne and Bicycle Diaries anyone? Tire tree in the outback?
Aside from the flies, I was completely sane in the desert. But even a bandanna and glasses could not protect from an estimated 10 Brazillan flies. So like normal, I went a little stir crazy. The flies were not the most of it however. I found Australia much more difficult to travel across. In NZ a thumb and good legs were all you needed to get to the next town no more than 20 km's away. The nearest town to the one I was staying in was Alice springs a good 500 km away. In the dead of summer with a large backpack, hitchiking was almost surely out of the question. I talked to some people that did hitch and they said they had been waiting on average about 6 hours a stop in the outback. I wish I did, but I did not have time for that kind of exploration. I am an American. We barely wait for the car window to make it halfway down before photographing a rock at 60 mph.
I would like to disprove my ignorance and give Aussieland another try. But that is for another adventure my friends. Until then I am out of Sydney and Muertos Las Vegas Baby!
I would like to disprove my ignorance and give Aussieland another try. But that is for another adventure my friends. Until then I am out of Sydney and Muertos Las Vegas Baby!
The streams in Antarctica brought me out of Boulder Colorado, to a much more desolate and foreign destination. I do not know if you can even call it foreign as it has no ruling body aside from a treaty. I have no in depth conclusion. Nor hindsight or words of wisdom. All I wanted was to share my experience with whoever is bored enough to drop in. All I can say for certain though is that thousands of miles away from normal laying in a blaze orange tent being rocked by katabatics will always be more enjoyable than any other job I will ever have. Cheers!
