Sunday, April 27, 2008

If You Wanted To


Today was one of those days that happens once in a
while during the winter. Not too cold, not too windy...
just right. Even though it was a beautiful "day" for a
hike, many people I talked to did exactly the same thing
I did. Just hung out. I'd almost rather the weather be
really lousy on our only day off since guilt doesn't
factor into the equation that way. A lot of people that
spend only the summer here don't realize that it takes
more of an effort to take a hike here in the winter than
it does in the summer. From October to February you can
pretty much go almost anywhere on a marked trail. By
yourself. Without a radio. Without checking out with
the Firehouse first. You can't even solo climb Ob Hill
by yourself or without checking out. (not that I would
want to...I'm one of many I'm discovering that are proud
of the fact of never climbing this menacing mini-mountain)
The only place you can hike by yourself, without all of
the bells and whistles is Hut Point. Not much of an
adventure. However, I do remember my first winter,
backing up to the edge of the point in the dark, taking
a photo of the cross with the town in the background.
One step behind is a VERY long drop onto the rocks and
ice. Not a good way to discover the wonders of gravity.
So the map lists many wonderful places to hike and to
have an adventure...just not so much in the winter.

2 comments:

David Taylor said...

I am just wondering why the USAP is keep a very british hut, with things like marmite, if you have ever heard of it?

Tom said...

Well, technically McMurdo is in the Ross Dependency, which is part of New Zealand and the Hut is managed by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust. It's a cool place to visit and Marmite is awful...yuck..."It's what evil tastes like"