Castle Rock

Castle Rock is a nice little 2- hour hike from town. While only 2.7 miles, once you get to the trail head it is 2 miles up a gently sloping, snow-covered hill on Ross Island. I have had the pleasure of hiking the trail twice. The first time was at the end of September when it was -40ish outside with 5-10 knot winds bringing the temp down to -50ish. We (team Rob, Jeremy, Shayne Dombrowski, Scott Hiser, Gina Carina and myself) all thought that we could handle the weather. In retrospect we all did handle the weather extremely well. We all had our ECW (extreme cold weather) gear on and had plenty of water and food.

The trail is broken up at the 1 and 2 mile markers by these "apples" which are red emergency shelters that have sleeping bags, a stove and food in them just for use in emergencies. Then you have to hike to the base which is another .5 miles and then ascend the rock for .2 miles of trail. When we did the first hike, Castle Rock wasn't roped, meaning the vertical elevation wasn't stable enough for hikers. So at Apple 2 we turned around and made our way back up the saddle to the 1st apple. The first picture is just leaving the 1st apple walking back toward the trail head so we can make dinner. It was a real nice hike because we still had sun sets and we caught one right as we made it back into town from the trail head (the 2nd picture).

The next pictures are from my last and most current hike up to Castle Rock. On this hike I actually made it all the way to the top. The views are absolutely magnificent. The 3rd picture is of my hiking partner and also one of my personal photographers, Natasha, standing halfway up the actual rock. The picture is real nice since I actually took it with the help of her 30-second camera timer, but it has Mt. Erebus in the background. Mt. Erebus is one of the few open-top volcanos in the world. The 4th picture is of Mt. Erebus again, just unobstructed. The next picture, the 5th, is of the climbing rope that marks the trail going up. The next is me at the bottom of Castle Rock at the trail sign showing the route up. Then there is a picture of the "apple" at mile 2 and then just another picture of the gorgeous background. Then, of course, what can a blog be without a second picture of its host. So, we have a picture of me with Castle Rock in the background about 0.5 miles away.

Well, anyway, time to go. Stay tuned for pictures from The Ross Dependency Beach Party.

Stay Frosty!
-C

Personal Photographers

OK, so I wanted to give a shout out to every one of my "personal photographers." These people have unknowingly given or taken photos for me. I have then, coincidentally, after publishing them, asked if I could use them and of course they have said, "Yes." I know that some people have taken more then others and some probably will not see this blog but I did want to at least make an attempt to give them credit. If I am in the picture then you can credit one of these fine people for taking it: well, except for one which was on a timer that I took and will be posted soon. Also, I have purposely not used a picture from Antarctica so that I can show them in their true element: well, except for Royer. There they are: Rob Weidman, Robert "Jason" Royer, Natasha Shields, Phil "my brotha from anotha motha" McCully, Jeremy Hirschhorn, Rob "Robbie" Gancarz, and Megan Branson. So, anyhow, enough with the sweet talk.

-C

Well, here are the pictures from hiking Ob Hill Loop and Ob Hill that I promised. The second picture is of 5 seals, 4 adults and 1 baby. In the background is an ice breaker that is contracted by the National Science Foundation to clear the channel for the fuel tanker that is now in port, and the cargo ship that is coming at the end of the month. Normally, the U.S. Coast Guard would break the channel but since their ice breaker is in dry dock, the NSF had to contract out for it this and last year.

Okay, so Ob Hill is 900 feet of volcanic rock that is on Ross Island. It is located adjacent to the Ross Ice Shelf and approximately 5 miles from White and Black Islands and 10 miles from Mount Discovery, all of which are on the continent of Antarctica. The first picture is me on the edge of the Ob Hill Loop and has Black Island on the left and Mount Discovery on the right. White Island is out of view but would be on the left of Black Island. Ob Hill is a 1.5-mile hike rising from sea level to 900 feet at the top. On the way up, there is a visitor register for people to sign. The register that is currently there is brand spanking new, placed 18 Jan 2010, due to the other one being obliterated during a storm in 2001. The cross on the top of Ob Hill is in remembrance of Scott’s expedition since they did not make it off the continent. Ob Hill Loop is 2.7 miles of easy trail hiking. You can see that the snow is almost gone from the loop as opposed to the picture from October where there was still ice and snow on the trail.

Well, stay tuned for my pictures from “Happy Camper.” It is winter survival training where we have the choice of sleeping in snow caves or survival tents.

Stay Frosty
-C

Ob Hill Loop

Well, hello again! So yesterday, Wednesday, the 20th of January -- my day off -- I hiked Ob Hill Loop for the 2nd time and Ob Hill for the 1st time. This picture is from when I hiked the loop back in October when it was still very icy and half the trail was not visible. The good thing about yesterday was that we saw 4 adult seals and 1 baby seal sunning themselves on the ice. It would be the first time that I have seen seals somewhat close. They were probably 500 feet away of which 100 feet of it was vertical feet but still they looked nice. So plan on more pictures to come from Ob Hill Loop, Ob Hill, and showing the seals. I will also be posting some pictures from Happy Camper that I am going to tomorrow, Friday the 22nd of January, and Saturday.

Stay tuned. ...

South Pole reflection 1

This picture explains pretty well our position at the South Pole in my opinion. We are the shadows that lurk in the dark. We are the people who are there not for a hugely contributory purpose but for the reasons that everyone takes for granted.

We, the Antarctica Fire Department, are there in support of the Air Force and the LC-130s that fly in with 50% of the South Pole's fuel, 100% of its food and materials, and 95% its people. But since we do not have "regular active tasking," people take us for granted. We are the people who do building inspections, help in the galley, help out cargo, help the wasties, or "take up computer space" when everyone "else" on station is finally free from work. But what they do not see is that we have to be on the flight line getting ready an hour before the LC-130 gets there. Then we have to standby while it is giving the South Pole its much-needed and precious AN8 fuel or its fresh vegetables or the support material for drilling or the personnel who are needed to run the day-to-day activities at the bottom of the world.

People only see us "working" when we come into their work centers and say "Fire Inspection" and then "shake some fire extinguishers" and leave, just to send them a "nasty" email about how they are blocking emergency exits or how their flammable storage cabinets are blocked or have "stuff" on them. What people never see is the 440+ hours it took to become a basic firefighter and that doesn't include the 300+ hours for EMT or the 900+ hours for a Paramedic -- or how about the 60 hours just for ARFF (Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting) training. Oh, that is right: the fire brigade members have a 40-hour fire "academy" that is supposed to prepare them for the workings of an actual emergency scene where they could be required to pull one of their station mates out of a bad situation.

But even with my ramblings there is absolutely no other job in the world that I would rather be doing. I absolutely love the fact that people take firefighters for granted until they absolutely need us. We get called for everything from the cliché cat in a tree, to the unresponsive person, from the car accidents, to the fires or the aircraft emergencies. This is a job that I have stayed awake for 48+ hours at a time for. I have left a girlfriend at dinner for a call -- it was a double date and both of us guys went to an unresponsive leaving our dates at the table -- and missed work for a call. I've bled and broken bones for my job. Then they tell me because of my hard work and attitude I get to be one of the 0.0001% of the population to go to the South Pole. This is the profession that I want and the profession that I love. I wouldn't give this up for anything.

This is the beginning

Well, hello to everyone out in internet land. I have finally begun the process of writing my thoughts and posting my pictures so everyone not on Facebook can see them. I will be, in the next few weeks, ordering my pictures and publishing some of what I have written up to now. I began writing when I moved to Peoria, Illinois in hopes of going back to school and using it for a writing assignment. Well, if you do not know, I am not back in school as of this moment, but I am planning on it. So, hopefully this makes it easier for some people to follow my escapades around and to the bottom of the world.

Take Care All
-C