I got the wonderful opportunity to go do some work on top of Mt. Newall today. We flew all the way across the sound and up the coast a bit into the heart of the Wright Valley.

On the way in we flew the entire length of the Onyx River which is the largest river in Antarctica and the only river in the world that flows it's entire distance away from the ocean starting at the Wright Lower Glacier and traveling 30 km to Lake Vanda. It was pretty impressive.

We dropped off a couple carps down there at Bull Pass to do some work and started up the mountain with just three of us left. We took inventoy of the survival cache and hut, tested the heaters, sorted through some things, fixed a door and packed up a bunch of trash... THEN we went hiking!

We had a good four hours to walk the length of the ridge line and even enjoy a little boulder tumbling and some high-mountain napping. The views were phenomenal and the weather couldn't have been better. We could see Erebus, New harbor, the Taylor Valley, the plateau, Wright Valley, Piedmont Glaciers and all the way out to open ocean with icebergs abound!

Tune in tomorrow for part two of the trip... OPEN WATER!


~G
Pictures:
1. Ventifact cliff face seen on the flight in
2. Wright Valley, Bull Pass to the right of Lake Vanda
3. Meserve Glacier tongue
4. A neat rock pinnacle with Erebus and a tiny bit of open water in the background
5. The camp in the Mt. Newall saddle
6. Onyx River flowing into Lake Vanda