G-063 Gets Retro'ed
- Retro: in Antarctica-speak means to return something back to where it came from.*
With much elation from everyone, we've successfully deployed our sediment traps! We exchanged many high fives about that huge accomplishment!
Now we are deep in the throes of packing up and soon we'll leave Lake Joyce and head back to McMurdo. I'm not sure what I think about that. On one hand,I miss my family and I REALLY want a shower! I'm thankful that we are equally funky, so I'm in good company, but now, even the funk is getting funky. I've had the same splotch of refried beans on the knee of my overalls for 3 weeks now, and that's far from being the most egregious examples of the funk I'm talking about. We're also slowing running out of favorite foods, leaving the ones we aren't so excited about (Slim Jims). Still, we're doing such cool science, and it's so beautiful and fun here that I don't relish the thought of being back in civilization.
With that said, our times our changing. It's warming up- a sure sign that our time here is ending. Warmer temperatures feel really good! However, it makes some of our science tasks more challenging. Our freezer is working harder to keep samples frozen and drilling is harder too. Tiny little drops of water melt from here and there. Then the water follows little crevices in the ice, following sediment pathways, following bubble trails... then when we drill, its this slushy mess. The drill grinds around, making horrible growling noises without actually making much progress in going down. Meanwhile, it spews icy water all over us but the air is cold enough to make it freeze. The result is this icy armor from the knees down. As Sasha points out, "The nice thing about getting your shoes wet in Antarctica is that the water is likely to freeze before it gets to your skin."
It's time to leave.
We have a lot to pack up; we set up a pretty sturdy camp and all of that must be undone and sent in slingloads back to McMurdo. As an example, the other day we took down our dive tent and created a "christmas package" out of rigging in order for it to be retro'ed by helicopter. In all, we'll have around 11,000 pounds of cargo to retro!
Sigh. I'm going to miss this place.
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