...J&J's Excellent Adventure: Cape Royds

Finally! I was able to see some penguins here in Antarctica! Yipeeeee! And, to top things off, we visited Shackleton's Nimrod Hut and stop by the Barne Glacier. Things got even better when we arrived back in Mac Town because the store finally restocked the beer. That's right, a serious emergency had occurred - McMurdo Station had been out of beer for a WEEK! Eke. We all survived, but we are happy to have some beer back on the station. Now, on to other important information.

We spent hours in a lovely Pisten Bully (snocat) driving very slowly over the sea ice to get to Cape Royds. We had to cross some wide cracks in the sea ice, but the Pisten Bully can handle that stuff just fine. We stopped in front of the massive Barne Glacier to take in the very blue view. I can't believe how close you can stand next to glacier here - but they are frozen solid and are very stable. We were practically on top of the glacier and it was very imposing and gorgeous.

The Barne Glacier

We continued on past the glacier, over some really bumpy ice, and eventually made it to Cape Royds. This spot became famous because of Ernest Shackleton but it also happens to be the home of the most southern population of Adelie penguins. I am sure many of you have heard of Shackleton's famous Endurance journey that occurred in 1914-1917. But many of you may not know that Shackleton had visited the Antarctic as the leader of the Nimrod Expedition starting in 1908. During this time his crew built the Nimrod Hut at Cape Royds. From here the crew split into various parties and did an amazing amount of totally dangerous things - like climbing Mt.Erebus, trying to get to the South Pole, getting to the Magnetic South Pole, and reaching and studying the geology of the Dry Valleys.

Somehow they survived all of this - here is a great quote that means so much more to me now.

“For a joint scientific and geographical piece of organization, give me Scott; for a winter journey, Wilson, for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen: and if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time.” Apsley Cherry-Garrard, ‘Worst Journey in the World’. British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition 1910 – 1913 led by Captain Scott.

Inside the Nimrod Hut

Mt. Erebus and the Nimrod Hut

Everything in the hut is unique and interesting. I felt like I stepped back in time....

After walking through the hut, which was being renovated by a group of Kiwis, we headed out to the Adelie penguin colony. This is a special site that is visited a lot by people, so we stayed outside of the marked boundaries to give the penguins some space. But we could smell and hear and watch everything that was going on just fine. What funny animals! Man, I could watch and laugh at them all day.

Watch this video I took: http://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/AntarcticaNovember#5542659464809446290

Or this one: http://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/AntarcticaNovember#5542665355577895730