Castle Rock

It has been a relatively uneventful couple weeks out at work, just settling into the daily grind. Wake up at 630, eat breakfast, 1/2hr ride to work, eat lunch at work, leave work about 530, 1/2hr ride back to town, dinner, try and find something to do for about 2hrs, then go to bed. Been playing some ping pong and pool, and played basketball once.

I actually got a day off last weekend, so me and 3 other guys decided to go on the longest hike you can take around McMurdo Station. It is called the Castle Rock Loop and it is about a 9 mile hike from start to finish. The route starts in McMurdo Station (near sea level), eventually reaches Castle Rock, then a climb to the top of Castle Rock (which is 1361 feet above sea level), then circles around back to McMurdo. The first part of the hike was absolutely grueling. It is pretty much 45 minutes of an almost 45 degree incline, and it was cold - wind chill was about -20 degrees. The middle part of the hike is still slightly uphill, but not too bad, and the temperature warmed up to a very pleasant 5 degrees. The hike to Castle Rock is across a glacier and you cannot stray even a little bit off the route because you run the risk of falling into a crevasse hidden in the snow. 2 people actually died on the trail about 5 years ago when they went off the marked path.

After about 2 hours of hiking, we finally reached the base of Castle Rock. Castle Rock is basically what's left of an ancient volcano that has eroded away over the years. It was about a 200 foot climb from the base to the top. The climb up was not extremely difficult - they have ropes installed along the path to help out. After reaching the top, the views were absolutely amazing -great views of Mount Erebus, Ross Island, the Ice Shelf, glaciers, and the Transantarctic Mountains. Definitely worth the effort to get there.

We stayed up there for about 30 minutes before coming down and completing the loop. The entire trip was about 5 hours long, and will definitely be an experience I will never forget. Needless to say, I slept very well that night (and the night after). Below are some pictures from the trip.

Castle Rock from about a mile away

At the base of Castle Rock (that's me sitting on the rock in front)

Me climbing up Castle Rock

View from the top towards Mount Erebus

View from the top back toward McMurdo Station,

with the Transantarctic Mountains off in the distance.

The faint line in the glacier is the path we took

Me at the top!

Towards the end of the loop looking back at where we came from.