Streets of McMurdo

Photos © 2007 Seth White

Home


Hello again. It's March 23 2007, and I'm just now starting to write about what happened many months ago. One of my goals for next season is to actually post a webpage when I'm on the ice. One of the main reasons I keep updating this silly website is that I can read it when I'm an old man. I am 32 now, yet am only a hair's breadth from being completely senile. When I'm 70, lord knows how much, if any, I will remember from my days as a "young" man. And the fact that I'm months to write things down makes it lose some authenticity, relevance, and insight. There are always things that happen on the ice that I want to describe or comment on, but after a few months the images have already faded quite a bit from my mind. Many of the people, places, and situations I have encountered throughout my life are now just fuzzy, dim memories, or worse, just vague sensations. On extremely rare occasions, past experiences will come flooding into my head with vibrant clarity and strong emotions, but this seldom happens. Anyway, in addition to a place where friends, family, or anyone can see what my life is like when I travel north or south, this website has also turned into somewhat of a selfish attempt to write things down for my own benefit.

So this page is about McMurdo Station, and the backstreets thereof. However, this first picture is not about that. This is a giant stuffed penguin at the controls of an Air Force C-17. On my way down in October, the Air Force crew was in a congenial mood and invited people up to the cockpit. I had never been up there on a C-17 flight so I jumped at the chance. While I was milling around on the ample flight deck, one of the crew appeared with this penguin they'd bought at the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch. The pilot stood up and in his place came the penguin, complete with headset. It took me a few shots to get the fill-in flash just right, so here is the one-and-only good shot I got. This is Captain Penny Gwynn, the first indigenous Antarctican to become an Air Force pilot. I stuck this photo on our UNAVCO Polar slideshow, which we use at conference booths and so forth. And as you can see, I'm quite proud of myself.
Another random shot, from my flight home in December 2006. The C-17 had nearly zero cargo and just a few passengers, so this picture shows just how big that aircraft really is on the inside. You can easily throw a football around in there. By the way, the circular plastic window right in the center, is right near a ladder leading up to a hatch on the top of the aircraft. I never realized this until I saw a head pop out of the hatch while waiting to board the plane at Pegasus Field.
So back to the point of this page: stuff around McMurdo. I have only been to a few Antarctic stations, but I am sure that McMurdo is unique in the multitude of out-of-the-way spots, back streets, and interesting things you can find here. Ever since my first season I have wandered the station to just see what I can see. I will check out buildings I haven't been in before, look for little pieces of art and humor scattered here or there, and just absorb the unique pseudo-industrial landscape. There is no place like it on earth. I have complained about the people on more than one occasion on this website, and remain firm in my disdain for the average McMurdoite. The human element of McMurdo is just simply not on my wavelength, and never will be. However, I do have a genuine fondness for the station itself. Here is one small reason why: a survey mark from 1961. Mike Prentice, one of the scientists we supported during the 06-07 season, had worked in the 70's updating maps from the old coordinate systems to the new. He mentioned this mark to me, and as the mark was heavily referenced in the old maps, he thought it actually still existed (although not sure where). So I emailed Jeff Scanniello, longtime McMurdo surveyor, and he pointed me to the spot. I'm not really a surveyor, but I play one on the ice. So this sort of thing has become interesting to me.
The actual survey mark is this little post driven into the ground, in the center of elevated "planter" with four bent steel posts forming a cage around it. I suspect these posts were not bent when installed, and thus it seems they have served their function in protecting this monument from vehicle damage. This is the "Camp Area" monument, or more precisely, the bottom of the dimple in the center of the metal post is the mark. Note the scrape on the right side. Who knows how much abuse this monument has suffered over the years, and how far it has been displaced from its original position. But the wooden walls and metal posts surrounding it are a nice idea, serving to preserve whatever positional accuracy the monument still possesses!
OK, it's May 25 and I'm back again...only two months have elapsed since I wrote the first few paragraphs of this page. Onward!

One evening after having a few beers, I noticed the light was pretty so I went out with camera in-hand. I think this was the night of the annual Halloween party, as I seem to remember drunk people walking by on their way back from the Helicopter Hangar in strange clothing. This is a view of the Chapel of the Snows, with the porch of Hut 10 on the right (Hut 10 being the oldest building at McMurdo, dating to 1957 although heavily remodeled since then). This chapel building is the third church to stand at McMurdo. The first was built from spare wood and packing crates in the early days of Operation Deep Freeze, but went up in smoke. The same fate befell the second one. Legend has it that both fires were not accidental, but rather were set by pissed-off people who had a grudge against either the Navy or the logistics support contractor at the time. I try my best to get to the bottom of the McMurdo urban legends, but as far as this one goes, I dunno what really happened.
The land of the Fuelies, i.e. people who work in the Fuels department. My friend Scotty worked as the fuels mechanic this season, arriving at WinFly and leaving just before station close. We were roommates both times I deployed, which really made my season. A really good guy. If you find that you just can't get along with Scotty, then YOU are the asshole. This was a first for me, having an actual "real" friend from home on the ice. It is different when you are on the ice with a friend you knew beforehand, as opposed to a friend you make on the ice.
We were talking one evening and Scotty pointed out that someone had put a gargoyle up on one of the fuel tanks. Sure enough, on a late-night ramble with my friend Katie, we found said gargoyle. And it's a good one. Note the statue of Mary in the distance, a memorial to Richard Williams...not the first person to die during American antarctic exporations, but probably the most well-known.
Across from the galley in building 155, you can see the medical building with its red and white candy-cane paint job. And you can also see Dr. Penguin. With the current USAP culture regarding safety, his message would be much more appropriate if it read "JUST DON'T GET HURT". A cheap shot, but I despise the fraudulent and punitive safety program within the USAP.
The McMurdo Station Ham Radio Shack, another stop on a late-night ramble, this time with Scotty and Katie. I had never been in here, but an email from a Canadian ham named Reg Beck prompted me to get the key and check it out. Reg actually used on of my elephant seal photos from Palmer Station as background for his current ham radio card. How cool is that? As an aside, I got the ham shack key from Charlie, a fellow in the comms shop who had actually emailed me before going to the ice for this, his first season. Also, I particularly like the antenna arrangement on the roof. I am not a ham but I have to presume this is a highly non-standard installation. Typical for the ice.
Scotty and Katie are not actually operating the equipment; neither they nor I knew how. This is a "glamor shot" I took to send to Reg, illustrating the intense action of ANTARCTIC HAM RADIO. By the way, I was impressed by the extensive list of Reg's Antarctic contacts, going way back to the days of Eights Station. A cool hobby.
I took this one right after I got to station in October. This is one of the two west entrances to building 155, my home for winter 2003. I just love how the snow drifts up to the doorway, above which in military lettering reads "155 PERSONNEL BUILDING". By the way, I must mention here that I abhor the name change from "personnel" to "human resources". The term "human resources" is one of the most asinine things I have encountered. Stop and think for a second - which is more demeaning and ridiculous a term: Personnel, or Human Resources? Damnit, I am a "person", not a "human resource", to be lumped in a category with "mineral resources" or "financial resources". And anyway, what was so wrong with the term "personnel" that it just HAD to be changed to "human resources"? Fie!
Looking out my office window in the Crary Lab late one night, I saw this. After having been to the bar earlier, the scene looked prettier than it actually was, so I went out and took a photo. So hereyago.
More from a late-night ramble: the Flushaway hut. Once upon a time in the not-too-distant past, there was a small hut called the "Foldaway"; one duly surmises that it was some sort of collapsible structure. Verily, the carpenters took to calling it the "Blowaway", as they deemed it rather flimsy. As nature would have it a strong wind then arose, and indeed blew it away. This season, a lavatory building was built just south of the carpenter shop and lo and behold, it was christened the "Flushaway".
This picture is provided as a service to those of you who were dying to know what the Flushaway men's urinal looks like.
Just outside the carp shop is the GA (General Assistant) shack, where the dispatcher resides, sending GA's out to perform whatever task is required by McMurdo Station. On the door is this series of placques. In a remarkable coincidence, the GA supervisor is the person who has the power to make placques. I know this because I went there two seasons ago to get a label placque made for UNAVCO's McMurdo Station GPS Testbed Facility, located on Observation Hill. Anyway, the red one made me laugh. Even with all our modern conveniences, we should always strive to keep up the fine traditions handed down by the Franklin Expedition! (You know, the worst disaster in the history of polar exploration, where ~120 people died...and which was marked by much cannibalism during their struggle to survive).

Editor's note: I am in Qaanaaq, Greenland at the moment (July 1 2007), and am going through this webpage before uploading it when I get back to Thule. I never post a webpage anymore before editing it a couple times, especially when I originally wrote it while having a beer. Too many silly things made it into earlier posts, so I have become a believer in editing before posting. Of course this sometimes takes a while...witness this page, started in March and posted in July. Well anyway, speaking of cannibalism, I learned here that the Canadian Inuit had actually resorted to cannibalism during a few very lean hunting seasons in the mid-1800's. This situation played a large part in them migrating over to Greenland during that time. Interesting...there is so much history of the Arctic peoples that I just don't know, and will have to learn. But the actual point is: I actually don't have a problem with cannibalism, if it means the difference between life or death. I would not kill someone to eat them, but if someone died and their flesh meant that I could live, I am pretty sure I'd go for it. I remember long ago reading an account from a WWII POW, who described starvation in this way: If you are starving, and you are faced with a naked and willing Rita Hayworth or a small bowl of dirty rice, you would not hesitate for one second. You would kick her aside every time to get to that little bit of rice. This really hit home with me, especially since Rita Hayworth has always been one of my favorite babes.
One of my favorite things to do at McMurdo is hike around the west side of Ob Hill, past the helo pad and around to the south, where the curve of the hill quickly obscures all sight and sound of McMurdo Station. Here you get a stellar panorama across the sea ice, and can see all sorts of patterned ground features, penguin bones (left here by feeding skuas), and neat-o volcanic rocks and formations spit out from Ob Hill when it was a cinder cone. You can also walk up to the top of Ob Hill along a ridge (although you often have to kick steps in the hard-drifted snow to get up this way early in the season). When you get to the top of the steep slope, another ridge takes you to the summit of the hill. Along the way one day I found this: a tiny cross hidden among rocks, about 150' west from Scott's cross, which sits at the summit. You would never find this if you hiked up the normal route, or if there were a few inches of snow on the ground. The cursive inscription reads

Mac
Rest in Peace
U.S. Navy Seabees

Who was this fellow Mac, and when/why did the Seabees put in this cross? By the way, Seabee is slang for a member of the U.S. Navy Construction Batallion (CB)...you know, the guys that built McMurdo and South Pole Stations. The Seabee Museum is in Port Hueneme, CA, and I have heard that the geodesic dome at Pole will be dismantled then rebuilt at this museum. I hope this is true. A lot of tough bastards put all they had into building our Antarctic stations, and that would be as fitting a monument to their work as they could ask for.
On the west wall of the carp shop...
Just in case you wanted a closeup of the previous photo. SWEET MEAT.
This one was for Paola.
While surfing the net one day in Colorado I came across a listing of historical monuments in the Ross Sea region. Among them was a memorial to one Raymond Smith. Huh? I had never heard of this, and although the description said it was right there on Hut Point Peninsula, just below the statue of Mary, I had never seen it. So this season I made it a point to see for myself. Sure enough, on a small knob just below the statue of Mary, there is a granite block with a metallized hard hat and inscription to his memory. He was killed February 6 1982 in an accident during offload of the cargo ship Southern Cross. He was a NAVCHAP, or member of the NAVy Cargo Handling And Port group. These same guys and gals still come down en masse to McMurdo each year, mainly to drive the old trucks around taking milvans from the ship to various storage areas at McMurdo. As an aside, it's amazing to me how young these NAVCHAPS look. They really are just kids. I suppose I am getting old in more ways than one, but it seems like none of them are impacted in the slightest by being in Antarctica. They just hang out and bullshit in their own groups, migrating from their dorms to the galley to their jobs and doing little else. I never see any of them out hiking, skiing, taking photos, listening to the bi-weekly science lectures, or even just walking around station.
I probably shouldn't speak ill of the NAVCHAPS, especially when posting photos of Ray Smith's memorial. I'm sure they are nice folk, but I am surprised how so many people can seem so utterly unfazed by being here. I'm probably wrong about this, but that is my impression and opinion. Anyway, here is why Ray Smith's memorial was placed where it was. It looks out over Winter Quarters Bay, right were he lost his life.
The ship offload in 2007 did not involve any fatalities like in 1982, however I was told that a female NAVCHAP had a pretty serious accident this year, getting nearly crushed between two containers. I understand she was medevac'd, but no word beyond that. I am not sure this was true however, because I only heard the story once. Anyway, here is one of those old trucks cruising by, with the American Tern in the background (with a new paint job since 2003).
The Polar Sea, back again for another tour of duty in the Antarctic. The Swedish icebreaker Odin did the heavy work this year breaking the channel, but did so while I was off the ice between mid-December and mid-January. The Polar Sea then sailed down to do maintenance work, keeping the channel open from ice and escorting the cargo and fuel ships in and out. A couple "morale cruises" were also held this year, where people on station could sign up and a lottery drawing was held for a few hour trip out on the ship. As a note, the U.S. icebreaker situation is a big deal these days, with both our "Polar Class" ships in need of serious (and wildly expensive) upgrade. Not sure what the latest is on this, but I'm sure there is still plenty of hand-wringing going on between Congress, NSF, and the Coast Guard.
The "reuse-resale" shack where unused equipment is collected to either be distributed to other work centers on station, or sent back to the U.S. to be re-sold. I liked the Stoned Spock ashcan near the door.
I only got out on a bike one time this season, but it was a good one. Scotty and I got bikes and went over to Scott Base, taking the dirt path down from the top of the Pass. It was a cold and *windy* day, but it was nearing the end of the season so we figured if we didn't do it that day we might not get to it. So off we went, and sure enough, even a cold, windy ride was better than sitting around the dorm. Good times. Note the new Kea birds added to the Scott Base sign since 2003, and also the "Population: LOTS" sign. Scott Base was overflowing this season with all the ANDRILL people. Also, if you look closely you can see a small orange triangular wheel chock in the basket of Scotty's bike. Some wise-ass made this, mocking those damned chocks that you have to set behind the wheel every time you park a vehicle.
A quintessential mid-summer McMurdo scene: the muddy gully. Melt from nearby snowfields usually gets to a point each year where channels need to be dredged alongside "McMuddo" station roads.
For a short periods this year, the ice channel was completely clear of ice. I even saw orca whales in the turning basin, although it was thru binoculars from the Crary Lab window. Still, it was a first for me to see such an area of blue water from McMurdo...
Another photo from a late-night ramble. I like this photo a lot, and even considered entering it into the Antarctic Sun photo contest. To me, it contains several classic McMurdo elements: gas cylinders, the brown dorms, a dirt road, a sign telling you to slow down, and dumpsters with specific labels for trash sorting. Not postcard material but these are some of the things I like most about McMurdo.
A port call for the Nathaniel B. Palmer, USAP research vessel, aka The Natty B.
Finally, someone (I forget who) told me about this little birdhouse somebody had stuck on a telephone pole near the Firehouse. And of course I had to take a picture. But the messages are mixed...is this for penguins or isn't it?!?