The Ungone

Allen, Robert, and I are all set to fly back to New Zealand tomorrow morning at 6:30 am. We've cleaned up and returned our gear, boxed and banded the rest of our samples, vacuumed our rooms, and packed our bags. We've even gone through "bag drag," the process in which we haul our stuff up to the cargo area and get everything weighed and checked in. Now that we've bag dragged, we've entered a state of being referred to by Robert as "the Ungone." Having only access to the contents of our carry on bag, we'll wander around McMurdo with nothing to do until we board our plane- this state doesn't last long if the weather holds until take off, but after a few days of delay the Ungone do begin to resemble zombies... or so I'm told.

In between all of our departure preparations, Allen and I have found a few opportunities to enjoy Antarctica while we still can (and frolic in the lovely summer weather we've been having). Yesterday we rented skis and headed back to Castle Rock to hike to the top. Though the snow was a little crunchy beneath our skis, the climb was pleasant and the clear sky provided an excellent view of Mt. Erebus.

The approach trail to Castle Rock with a steamy Mt. Erebus in the background

Going up Castle Rock (behind Allen is the sea ice)

Today, after banding 21 rocks boxes into a large wooden cube and returning our last item (a drill) to the BFC, we headed out again- this time to hike up Observation Hill. The weather was so warm today (~41 degrees F) that we had to strip down to short sleeves by the time we made it to the top.

With the weight of all the boxes and pallet included, this cube of samples weighs ~1490 lbs

Antarctica, Shmantarctica - it's not that cold here...
(Disclaimer: Antarctica IS cold in places like South Pole and the top of Mt. Erebus. Our friends who were up on Erebus said that -20 degrees C was a good day for them)

A view of Scott Base from the top of Observation Hill

McMurdo Station (or part of it) as observed from the top of Observation Hill