Last Sunday I scored a spot on the weekly trip to Cape Evans, the site of Scott's hut, from which he launched his 1911 attempt to ski to the south pole and back. His team of four made it there only to find that the Norwegians had beaten them by just days. The return journey proved to be too much for Scott's team and they all froze to death in their tents (all except one who had wandered out into the night several days before to relieve the team of his burden.)

Amongst the books, old leather clothes and sleeping bags, I noticed a great abundance of chemistry equipment, which was fasinating to me... I wonder what they were studying? A frozen emperor penguin still lies on the table next to Scott's bed and there is a large cache of seal blubber in "the pantry" by the door.

The trip made for a very relaxing Sunday with several hours in the back of a Delta as we crawled across the sea ice at 15 miles per hour. The company was very pleasant; however, the advent of the penguins really made the trip something special.

~G