Antarctica Part 2

Well, I guess I should pick up right where I left off with the last post. That brings us to day two at McMurdo Station. Our plan for the day was to get up early and take the shuttle out to Pegasus Airfield. Pegasus is an airfield with an ice runway located about 14 miles from McMurdo. When we got up that morning, small ice floes had begun to fill the area  around the ship, which was pretty cool.

We didn't get off the ship as early as we would have liked, but we made it in time to catch the 10AM shuttle. Luckily for us, there was only one other person on the shuttle, so things were pretty relaxed. The scenery on the ride out there is absolutely breathtaking.

And as if the scenery were not enough, we happened to come across two Emperor Penguins walking down the side of the road! The driver was nice enough to just stop the shuttle so that we could all get out of the van and take pictures of the penguins.

So, after we got out to the airfield, we found out that we really weren't supposed to be out there unless we were working, which we obviously weren't. Fortunately for us though, the other passenger in our van was an airplane mechanic and he was kind enough to show us around and let us climb up into one of the airplanes.

We were even able to take the same shuttle back to McMurdo.

For the trip back, we were the only passengers in the shuttle, which was really convenient when we found the same two penguins and the entire colony that they belonged to. The best part was that the two penguins we saw earlier had given up on walking and resorted to scooting themselves along the ground on their stomachs. 

So, after enjoying the scenery on the rest of the ride back to the station, we decided to grab some lunch in the station's cafeteria before we headed back out. During lunch we met up with the third engineer and the third mate from the ship, and we decided we would all go take a hike around Observation Hill in the hopes of seeing some whales or other interesting wildlife. We did not end up seeing any whales, but the scenery was spectacular and we did find some other Antarctic wildlife.

During our walk we also got to see a helicopter returning to it's base. It sure looked like they were going to drop off a gift for the Peary though...

Once we were finished with our walk, we decided to head back to the ship for a little while. The Captain had asked that at least one cadet be present on the ship from 6PM-9PM to give tours. As soon as 9:00 came around, we were back off the ship and on the move again. This time, Kate wanted to do her own thing so Kyle and I decided to hike up past Caged Mary and see how the view was from the ridge line there. That trip was completely worth getting off the ship for. 

As soon as we got off the ship, we walked up to Hut Point to begin our hike. We noticed that there were a few people hanging around, so we walked over to see what was going on. I'd say it was a pretty good thing we walked over there, or I never would have been able to capture these:

So, as you can see, we made a choice by deciding to get back off the ship. These two penguins were not at all scared of the humans, and just walked around for a while showing off for the camera. It was awesome. Once the penguins decided they were sick of us and swam out to an iceberg, Kyle and I decided to continue with our hike. The view from the top of the ridge was spectacular, especially because the sun had finally come out. 

At this point, we decided that we had better at least try to get a decent night's sleep, otherwise tomorrow could be pretty miserable. I think this post is looking a little long, so I'll stop there and start a new post for the next day! Thanks for reading and keep checking back for new stories and pictures.