Ob Hill

Intrepid explorer atop Ob Hill

Things are going relatively smoothly. We are prepared to start goopin' & gluin' tomorrow morning.

For a break and exercise to burn off the extra food I am eating, tonight I hiked to the top of Ob(servation) Hill. Ob Hill is one of my favorite hikes - short but sweet.  The 750 foot high hill towers over McMurdo Station and offers views of McMurdo, Scott Base, LDB, the mountains, Erebus.... in short, all around. Tonight the viewing was so clear that I could see open water in the far distance, and a couple of monster icebergs, which look like big blocky white buildings.

McMurdo from Ob Hill

Finally, the news that counts: Meals continue to be delicious. For lunch, in addition to the usual fresh fruit, salad, and cheese selection, there was mahi mahi and some sort of delicious chicken breast.  For dinner, a fabulous tomato soup, with an apple cobbler and carrot cake with coconut for dessert.

The melting begins: McMuddo

In other news, we are going through a spate of warm weather. The high temps are just above the freezing mark, and the skies are bluer than blue. The sun is intense, and the melting is starting.  McMurdo is becoming its alter ego: McMuddo.  Come mid-December, when the melting is mostly complete, it becomes all diesel and dust.  Sounds unpleasant, doesn't it?  Yes, but the food is great as compensation, at least this year.