Sunday, December 19, 2010

19 December--Miscellanea

Mt Erebus on a quiet day.  Lately they've all become quiet.

 The drives out to Pegasus Airfield are relatively easy.  The bad spots are at the transition from land to the sea ice (near town) and between land near Scott Base and the Ross ice Shelf.  Meltwater pools are forming earlier than people remember.  Currently, both take about the same amount of time, 35 minutes one way.  That will change as the road deteriorates with the warm days.

I'm becoming really attached to our cast-off, hand-me-down Deltas.  They seem unstoppable.  Riders don't like them nearly as much because of the ride back in the passenger box.  It can get pretty rough if you're not constantly looking out for the smoothest road conditions and moving, almost swerving, from side to side in that road like a drunk sailor.  There are days when it reminds me of driving the Parker 400 course again for BLM  --at least when I don't have passengers.  But my goal is to give them the same sort of ride I'd want for my family.

We had a medivac a few days ago from Casey Station, an Australian station not too far away, when their ski-way became flooded from meltwater.  They helicoptered the patient to here and then we flew him out.  It was said to be pneumonia with a collapsed lung.

The Ross Ice Shelf from the Ob Hill Loop Trail.



Sunning on the ice is comparatively warm for the Weddells.


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