Journal

Radio Call Out
Kevin's communication out

Location: F6 Hut near Lake Fryxell in Taylor Valley. Coordinates are: 77°36'29.8" South and 163°15'19.1" East

This is Kevin's wife Danelle. Kevin called for a quick check-in and to update us on what is going on. The reason he hasn't posted for a couple of days is that his 6-hour trip that was planned out into one of the dry valleys has now turned into several days. They are fogged in again today and it is snowing. Hopefully it clears before long so they can get back to clean clothes and a toothbrush.

There is a hut at the site with some very basic needs. And the hut is a place for them to get out of the weather. And of course they took their emergency kits with them as described in his journal entry from January 5th. He said they have voice-out contact but he didn't take his computer or any extra items since it was going to be a 6-hour trip. He will next contact us when he gets back to McMurdo Station. Maybe he will have the opportunity to use some of his survival training from when he first arrived at McMurdo. We will have to wait to hear about his adventures another day.

Also, if you notice on the USAP(abbreviation) United States Antarctic Program website, you can see that the cargo ship has come into McMurdo. They are getting ready for the winter season.

Update: This is Kevin. We made it back to McMurdo. This morning, which was now day 3 at F6, we woke up to very thick fog. As the morning went by, the clouds broke and the amazing pilots of PHI were able to extract us from our F6 camp.

Here are just a few snip-its from the upcoming video:

F6 kitchen
This was our lovely F6 kitchen. Curry, Antarctica pancakes, blueberry pancakes, and chowder was fixed in here. Our tummies stayed full.

Darts
Throwing darts to pass the time. Alissa got pretty good.

Good bye to F6
Alissa, Tasha, and Topper saying goodbye to F6 after an unplanned 3-day stay.

Whiteout extraction
Our pilot making a near white-out condition landing to extract us from our 3-day camp at F6. They do amazing work to get us where we need to go...safely.

LIVE FROM ANTARCTICA

Join PolarTREC for a live event from McMurdo Field Station in Antarctica. The event will be held on Wednesday, 6 February 2019 with teacher Kevin Dickerson and the 2019 Dry Valleys EcosystemAn ecological community together with its environment, functioning as a unit. Study Team. Read more about their research and what Kevin is learning here. The one hour event starts at 11:30am Alaska Savings Time (12:30pm PST, 1:30pm MST, 2:30pm CST, 3:30pm EST). The event is free. Register here: https://www.polartrec.com/polar-connect/register

Details
Author
Kevin Dickerson
Date
Expedition
Dry Valleys Ecosystem Study

View Comments

Comments

Thu, 01/31/2019 - 12:31

Janet Warburton

Hi Danielle,Thanks for the update on Kevin. It's good to know that they are doing okay. In the meantime, it's a great chance for all his readers to post all their questions so he has lots to do when he gets back to the internet! :-) Also, remember to sign up for his live event that is coming up on Feb. 6th.
Janet