Mike on the Ice: An awesome hike and moment

On March 29, 1912 Captain Robert Falcon Scott, RN and the last two of his men perished on the Ross Ice Shelf from exhaustion, starvation, and brutal weather. They were found still in their tent 8 months later by a search party. Two other expedition members had already died on the return.The search party took Scott's log, photographic film, and other scientific recordings and specimens and returned to their ship at Winter Bay Quarters, now known as McMurdo. The search party fashioned and erected a large cross carved with the five names on it along with a quote from the poem Ulysses: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield" and erected it atop Observation Hill. They returned for the bodies but never found them again. It was assumed that part of the ice shelf broke apart and drifted out to sea. The Terra Nova Expedition had over 8000 applicants. The chosen 65 left in 1910.

On March 29, 2012 I along with nine others made the trek up Observation Hill to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of their deaths. We left at 6pm and had an awesome time hiking in the beautiful weather. The wind fully cooperated. It was a tough hike but we made it. There is lots of snow and loose rock but also many outcroppings of rock to grab onto. There was several times I was on all fours on the way up and down. The sunset was fantastic and one of the best I have ever seen as it shimmered off the ice. One of our group read Scott's final log entry. The video of that reading is after the pictures.

Amundsen from Norway beat Scott to the South Pole by a month. McMurdo Station is on Ross Island. Scott's ship the Terra Nova was anchored at Winter Bay Quarters, McMurdo.