The ANSMET team is back in McMurdo after a fun and successful shakedown! The purpose of a shakedown trip is to practice setting up tents, driving snowmobiles in uneven terrain, and test out all our gear with time to exchange things in McMurdo afterwards before going out to the field. We loaded up our siglin sleds yesterday morning with the much of the gear we'll take to the Miller Range – tents, sleep kits, and kitchens. The ice gods (or Johnny) sent us a present in the form of ~20 knot winds, which allowed us to get some good practice setting up our Scott tents in conditions we're likely to experience in the Transantarctics.
After making camp, we ventured up to Castle Rock to get experience driving our snowmobiles up, down, and all around inclines. Patches of slippery ice on said inclines were particularly instructive, and we'll encounter those while searching the blue ice in the Miller Range. Near Castle Rock, it became too icy and steep to continue with the snowmobiles, so we parked them and climbed the last bit with the help of ice axes. Climbing over the crest, we had a spectacular view of the Ross Sea, the sea ice edge, Mts. Erebus and Terror. Johnny told us stories about the first expeditions in this region made by Shackleton, Scott, Apsley-Garrard, and others. Essentially nothing was known about the interior of the continent when these explorers landed on Ross Island and began trekking inland. I can't help but imagine their desire (or, I'd bet, compulsion) to explore and know as being very similar to that of more recent astronauts. It is such an incredible honor to hear these stories from Johnny, who is so skilled, so knowledgeable, so critical in the execution of recent and present science expeditions in one of the gnarliest ecosystems on our planet. It gives me the feeling we are a part of this incredible lineage of science expeditions in Antarctica.
This morning we practiced our systematic and reconnaissance searching techniques, learned about meteorite poaching, and, of course got to practice striking camp. We made especially quick work of the last part, knowing brunch was waiting on us back in McMurdo! We encountered a few moody instruments, a snow mobile fuel tank gauge and propane stove among them, which provided excellent opportunities for troubleshooting practice with chilly paws. It will be colder and windier on the plateau, but our survival school on the sea has prepared us well for much of what we'll encounter while living in the Miller Range. I wouldn't have believed it was possible before yesterday, but I am even more excited to get our field work underway. Bring on the blue ice!!!
-from Morgan on the tropical beaches of McMurdo
