50th Birthday!

August 22 - My 50th birthday. Just a few weeks ago I would have never imagined that I would celebrate in Antarctica! After work the members of the medical clinic went for a walk out to Robert F. Scott's Hut built in 1901. It stands much as it did when he used it for Antarctic exploration - the wood is in great shape because of the cold and very low humidity here. Scott, a Brit, ended up dying on the way back from the south pole in 1912 after losing the race to the pole to Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian.






Vince's cross is 270 ft southwest of the hut on Hut point. It commemorates the disappearance in 1902 of Seaman George T. Vince. He died near here in a storm.









Vince's Cross









A 50 year old Bob at 23 degrees below zero.











Leaving Vince's cross at the edge of McMurdo sound. The drifts of snow and the pressure ridges of ice looks like waves on the ocean. The ice is about 18-20 ft. thick over the ocean water here.

A birthday I will not soon forget!

Best wishes to family and friends! Bob