Lake Hoare Camp

Yesterday after a few weather delays I boarded a helicopter (just “helo” (hee-low) if you are an ice person) for a 30 minute flight to Lake Hoare Camp in Taylor Valley–a distance of about 100 miles from McMurdo Station. We crossed the frozen sea ice in McMurdo Sound with so-so visibility, just a lot of gray. I filmed the whole flight but our veteran pilot, Jack, remarked at how lousy of a day it was for filming. Nevertheless I was pretty overcome by what I saw–a wide pattern of snow over a rippled turquoise surface below us, as the Royal Society Range and Asgard Range emerged from the mist on the horizon. The Taylor Valley is one of a series of valleys in these mountain ranges that are not permanently covered in ice, a feature found on only 2% of the continent. These valleys contain primordial geological and biological systems that are not only exposed on the surface but exist as they have for thousands of years. During the flight I had that this-is-what-I-came-for feeling–after almost a week at McMurdo I was totally psyched for my field camp put-in.

Lake Hoare Camp was set up in the late 1970’s and has evolved into the hub of the Dry Valleys camps. In summer sometimes over a dozen helo flights come and go in one day. At the moment, with only the extended season science yet to happen, the camp is empty save for myself, Tony for science support, and Rae as camp manager. Four scientists will arrive next Tuesday after setting up experiments at a neighboring camp on Lake Fryxell, which we will join them for. Lake Hoare Camp sits on the shore of the lake, on the bottom of a dramatically steep mountainside, and in front of the great Canada Glacier. I’ve seen pictures of this place but it still took me by surprise and is probably the most naturally dramatic location I’ve ever seen. As field camps go it is cushy–a main communal building has a kitchen, computer lab, and common area. Several tiny outbuildings are used for storage, science, or power. The camp runs on a generator that pulls power from solar cells or diesel. I’ll go into detail about the basics of camp life later on, but basically we sleep in tents, pee in big barrels or Nalgenes, melt chunks of the glacier for water (”glacier berries,” a four inch chip of which is in my drink right now), and use computers with wireless internet. My tent is on a small rocky mound within an easy stone’s throw of the glacier. I feel like I’m sleeping in a parking space in front of the Superdome–a very weird scale. You hear it crack and creak in the night, one of my favorite sounds.

I hiked around the lake today and took pictures. A light snow is falling and the temperature is cozily above zero with no wind. Tomorrow, Tony and I fly to Fryxell to meet the science team and help them set up their stuff for the next few days before we all come back here. Last night Tony and Rae taught me how to play cribbage. I don’t know what requires more memory: Learning the ins and outs of the USAP and life on the ice, or learning all the variations of scoring in cribbage.