Dawn in Antarctica

I’m in Pearse Valley, camped next to Lake Joyce!  It’s incredible.  We don’t have internet access, but Jessy and Lisa from the Berg Field Center came out to help us set up two large tents on the lake ice.  They got stuck here for days, so I had time to write a blog, and I’m sending it out on a CD with them.  They will e-mail the files to my dad, who will post them. [ Note from Bill, Dawn's Dad: Lake Joyce is about 75 miles from McMurdo. The exact location is noted in Dawn's Blog posting "Lake Joyce Information". In addition to instructions to me about her blog and the video link below, she wrote "This is an incredible trip!  I’ve been working hard and enjoying every minute of it. I’ve mostly been warm enough, although sometimes sitting around gets me cold. I feel well prepared." ] On Monday morning, Bekah, Alfonso and I climbed aboard a helicopter bound for Lake Bonney, where we dropped Emma off at her camp, and then Lake Joyce, our home for the next 6 o

If all goes well, I'll be on a helicopter flying into the Dry Valleys tomorrow morning.  We don't have internet from our Dry Valley camp yet, so I won't be posting anything for an unknown amount of time.  I think the Mt. Coates repeater is in, but we'll have to have someone from McMurdo come out to camp to set up a receiver for us.  The helos are very busy flying scientists and their gear into the field (yeah!), so the lower priority internet connection is some unknown time in the future.  You'll be able to tell when I'm back on.  I'll try to blog even if I can't post them so you get a delayed taste of what I'm doing. Until then, find other entertainment!

Here are some of the things we did during Happy Camper... Megan and Dillon were our instructors.  We started with some discussions of hypothermia, frostbite, and layering in a classroom at McMurdo. Then we rode in a Delta or a van out to the ice shelf south east of McMurdo and fairly close to Scott Base. Here's our environment: Discovery in the distance Ice falls with flagged route on the ice shelf Mt. Erebus with a volcanic steam plume on top Weatherhaven lecture hall Two Happy Campers We started with lunch and discussions in the blue Weatherhaven.  It is important to eat and drink enough to keep your energy up and to stay warm.  There was lots of food!  Then we learned how to light, run, and fix Whisperlite stoves.  My dad designed these stoves, so I know them inside and out. They are the standard issue in the survival bags, because they'll run on almost any fuel (including kerosene, unleaded gasoline and diesel, but not alcohol) and almost any problem wi