I just returned from a two day trip to the Dry Valleys and I don't even know where to begin. The pictures here are, in order: me looking down at my bunny boots and through the ice to the bottom of Lake Hoare, the Lake Hoare camp that appears to be being swallowed up by the Canada Glacier, the first polarhaven that we constructed on Lake Fryxell and me hooking a sling load on a C212 helicopter (talk about a windy and exfoliating experience.)

The trip started with a morning flight out of McMurdo 35 miles across the frozen sound to the coast of continental Antarctica. Just up from New harbor, along the Butter Coast (named such for Shackleton's crew leaving 2,000 of butter behind at camp while venturing up the valleys) we set down at Lake Fryxell on the beach. There was a nice Jamesway there that we warmed up a bit to keep our water from freezing and then proceeded to move our gear and ourselves out onto the lake to set up the polarhaven. This little hut will be used to take water samples from the lake. There's no diving in this lake since it is shallow and has a very complex and fragile thermal stratification that should not be disturbed.

We finished around 4:30 and the heli came by to take us up a few miles to Lake Hoare on the other side of the Canada Glacier, which divides the two lakes. We had warm buildings to sleep in and the caretakers out there cooked us a steak dinner and had fresh baked cookies and bread. The following morning was slow since we were waiting on the helo to show up and do another sling load, so we just drank cocoa and bummed around until they finally showed up after fixing a broken door on the helicopter.

The second polarhaven went up very quickly and we had the luxury of a fourwheeler to haul our gear in, as opposed to an 8 foot sledge that was pulled by "the G.A." (that's "General Assistant"... yours truly, haha) across a deadly mine field of pinnacle ice, which I managed to punch through more than once up to my waist. Not to worry though, the water was well below another 15 feet of solid ice.

After finishing up, we had time to poke around a bit and finish what little near camp exploration I hadn't accomplished the night before. Hopefully if I return, I can hike around the ridges, see the ventifact forest and the mummified seals and penguins that have wandered up the valley over the years. The flight back was smooth, white and beautiful; like good ice cream... mmm... ice cream.

~G