Images of

ANTARCTICA

Lower Erebus Hut

Photos © 2002 Seth White

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A few weeks after the Erebus field team left the ice, Chuck Kurnik needed to do some work at a few GPS sites on Erebus. They asked if I could come along to help with this, and also to check on some problems we'd been having with one of the seismic stations. Again, not a problem for me! During this trip, we visited 4 sites on Mt. Erebus over the course of 6 hours: Lower Erebus Hut, Nausea Knob, Truncated Cones, and Abbott Peak. It was definitely one of the highpoints in my career, and perhaps my life. Not being dramatic here....this was so excellent that words don't do justice. But here goes anyway. This is the view out of the Bell 212 (civillian Huey) helo on the way to Erebus. First time for me in one of these. This one is bigger than the A-Star I had flown in before. The pilot and a helotech rode up front, while the three passengers rode in the back.

A view of Erebus as we approached the top. Lower Erebus Hut is on the plateau near the crater. Erebus rises up from the sea, and then flattens out into a plateau near the top. The crater then rises several hundred feet above this.
This is Fang Ridge. Before any person can go up to camp at Lower Erebus Hut, they must first spend a couple days getting acclimatized at a temporary camp at Fang Glacier, which is right under the ridge. I believe Fang camp is 10,500' or so, while the Lower Erebus Hut is about 12,000'. Since we were just going up for half a day, no acclimatization was required (which was good, because the Fang camp had already been broken down).
Another view of Fang Ridge. This feature is on the north side of the mountain, and is not visible from McMurdo.
This is it: the crater of Mt. Erebus. Not much of a plume today. But the weather was absolutely gorgeous (what were those guys complaining about during the early part of the field season? Weather up here ain't so bad! Yeah right...). I tell ya, you just can't beat a helo for getting great scenery. What a view. The team has erected a camera right on the crater rim, which peers down inside and transmits back to McMurdo, where I record the images on VHS tapes. The video is also streamed out over the internet here. Movies of Erebus "Greatest Hits" are here. A time lapse movie is here. If you pull up the live video and don't see anything, it could be because the view is obscured by rime ice. This stuff forms during moist windstorms and clouds the view. Also, there may be interference on the camera signal....we've been having mysterious interference on and off all season. But it's worth a try. The eruption movies are pretty good also!
As we approached LEH, we flew along some fields like this, full of rocks (with rime ice attached) and fumaroles.
More of the fields near LEH.
Along the way is this downed Coast Guard helo. Evidently, it flew up here and then fell over while trying to take off again. It has been here ever since. This isn't that far from LEH, but I didn't have time to hike out here and have a look. Oh well.
Here's Chuck in the 212. These GPS guys get to go everywhere!
This is the crater, with the lower huts. The one on the left is the actual Lower Erebus Hut, while the orange one is an equipment storage shed (as well as the outhouse).
As we circled above LEH, here's the view out toward the sea. You can see open water leading to the sea ice channel, which extends out to the left of the picture toward McMurdo.
The 212 landed near LEH. So we hopped out and immediately got to work. First task: digging out a buried cable from under a snowdrift. Yep, from sea level to 12,000 ft in 20 minutes, followed by some good old hard work. This trip was quite exhausting, but the fatigue didn't set in until later in the day. My adrenaline was flowing pretty good at this point....
A photo of the equipment hut and the crater. There were a bunch of people already here this day, doing a 'camp pullout', which in this case means getting the huts ready for winter and taking down certain pieces of critical equipment to bring back to McMurdo. We were here to disassemble a GPS station that was operating during the summer, as well as check a few things at the nearby seismic station.
This is the inside of Lower Erebus Hut, occupied by a stove and clothesline.
Board games, trinkets, and yes, oxygen tanks. Frequently used, I might add. In addition to the science group, various people visited LEH during the season. Many of them made liberal use of these oxygen tanks! In particular, a visiting girl scout had a notably miserable experience here.
The pantry, which is inside the entryway to the hut. The field team and visitors actually eat pretty good while they are here each year.
On the windowsill, some little men made from Erebus crystals. These are feldspar crystals which form in the lava lake inside the crater, and then are ejected out now and then in bombs, held fast in a matrix of glassy material. Over time, this glassy material will erode away leaving these things lying around all over. There are all sorts of different sizes and colors at various points around the mountain. These are some of the larger ones, found closer to the crater. Erebus is one of only a few places in the world (only two, I think) where these are found. So, during some idle time in the hut, one of the science group decided to make some EREBUS CRYSTAL ACTION FIGURES!
A wall inside LEH.
The hut kitchen. The helotech at right is boiling a pot of water, which is always kept on hand while people are at the hut. Inside the hut, I noticed a packet of 'spiced apple cider' mix lying on the counter. I pocketed this item. Early in the season, I had become addicted to these things - they occupied my coffee cup quite well, but didn't give me the paranoid jitters like coffee does. Unfortunately we ran out of them station-wide a couple months into the summer. When I got back to McMurdo, I made the cup of apple cider and enjoyed it immensely. Funny that it should have traveled all this way only to be consumed back at McMurdo!?
Here is a picture of Phil Kyle, leader of the Mt. Erebus science group from New Mexico Tech. He has been down for something like 31 field seasons, and I've heard some absolutely hilarious stories from his days on the mountain. The field team this year consisted of Kyle, Rick Aster, Bill McIntosh, Nelia Dunbar, Rich Karstens, Rich Esser, Beth Bartel, and several others including some geochemists and a camp manager. All the science groups I support are good people, but this crew was particularly fun to work with.
Inside of the equipment hut. The restroom is through the door at the back. During storms, it is a real ordeal to get all dressed up so you can walk the 20 feet from the LEH to this hut just to go to the bathroom.
And this is the sign on the bathroom door. Nice.
And this is the view you see while doing your business. A New Mexico flag and a picture of someone...who presumably is Phil Kyle.
Part of my task here was to have a look at the new LEH siesmic station installed this year. Won't bore you with details, but this is the antenna mast. Since there is no line of sight from here to McMurdo, the antenna points toward the Truncated Cones site. From here, it is relayed to McMurdo where it is received at the McMurdo Ground Station.
The actual seismometer at LEH. These instruments represent a significant upgrade from the older network of seismic stations that had been installed on the mountain. Five such stations were installed this year. Weather prevented the installation of the sixth, but all in all, a very good job done by the team this season in spite of almost constant nasty weather. And again, when it's bad at McMurdo you can bet it's unbearable at the top of Erebus....
So after our tasks were done, fortunately there was a little time for George (a machinist who came along for the ride) and I to hike out a ways and take pictures. So we ran off like two kids, cameras in hand. Here is a shot of the two huts and the crater. What a place this would be to stay for a few weeks.
A panoramic view from LEH. Looking at the Transantarctic Mountains from eye level is quite the view!
Fumaroles near LEH. These are steam vents where the ice will get built up into tube like shapes. Surreal, and awesome. Some of the science group have been down inside some of these...there are hot pools of water in spots where literally, a bathing suit can be worn. No kidding.
So here's me on a fumarole.
Me again, on the same fumarole.
The view into the hole on that fumarole.
Here's George Nuckols with a fumarole.
Kind of a crappy fumarole picture, with the sun glare in the way. But cool nonetheless.
After our little excursion into fumarole land, it was time to take off. The helicopter kicks up quite a snowstorm. I was kind of sad to leave this place, and would have loved to stay much longer. But I was very fortunate to get here, as most people never get to Erebus at all.
View of the huts as we left, on the way to Nausea Knob.
So why is Lower Erebus Hut called by this name? And is there an Upper Erebus Hut, and if so, where is it? Well, this is it. It is much closer to the crater than LEH. It was manned years ago, but in 1984 (I think), the mountain was in a very active mood. It started spewing out large bombs past the crater rim, and they were landing very close to here. So, the crew bailed out in a BIG HURRY. They still visit it once in a while, but it is no longer used for anything notable.