Sunday was an overcast cool day at -35 degF but with little wind. Two new friends (one of them my new dentist) wanted to hike so we did the 7 mile hike to Castle Rock across the Ross Glacier. It turned out to be a very nice day. Time is short so even though it was very cold I wanted to go.
After the last flight left in March one of my crowns fell off. The winter nurse attempted to reinstall the crown three times but the dental epoxy on station never hardened. I spoke with my dentist in Cocoa Beach and he suggested that I leave it off as I might asphyxiate it if it came off in the middle of the night. Bob, the summer dentist, brought regular dental cement and glued it back on. He also found two chipped teeth with decay. So he drilled out the decay and filled both. Since medical and dental care don't cost anything here I was returned some of my tax dollars!
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| Looking inside the Transfer Data and Relay Satellite (TDRS) antenna radome. |
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| The parabolic dish antenna. |
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| The parabolic dish, feed antenna, and secondary reflector. |
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| Mt Erebus more active than normal. |
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| Igloo village. |
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| This igloo isn't habitable anymore. |
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| Castle Rock in the background. |
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| This igloo suffered a major collapse. |
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| Partial collapse. |
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| Another collapse. |
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| This one that I and three others built is still standing. |
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| My friend's 'Darth Vader' mask. It is vented to hold moisture in the cup so that humid air is breathed. Breathing cold dry air hurts the lungs. |
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| Walmart is everywhere... |
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| even at Castle Rock! |
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| Heavy erosion of Castle Rock. Why are all the other formations so rounded and smooth and Castle Rock so straight? This is a mystery. |
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| The barren but beautiful landscape. |
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| A summertime favorite is climbing Castle Rock. The front side is very technical but the back side actually has a path. |
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| The Antarctic landscape. I would love to walk/ski/mush to the South Pole. I was born too late...a hundred years ago would be about right. |
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| The temperature was -35 degF ambient but I was very comfortable. |
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| Crater Hill on the left and Observation Hill to the right. No, this isn't Egypt. McMurdo is to the right of Ob Hill. |
A short video of the road up Crater Hill.
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| Another beautiful Antarctic sunset. |
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| Work is progressing on the ice pier. Another 4 inches of water was added. |
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