The Spoils of War

And so goes my love affair with Shackleton- (and remote,  uninhabited places)..

One looks at these places, the cabins, the flags, the old supplies still there-

and sees over time, the unending need for “quest” and conquest

 of nature,  yet at the same time, the undeniable

love for the same these explorers have-

the desire to “know” nature, to possess her, to discover her,  be as one with her,

to capture her beauty with  his lens, and yet understand- he will be surprised anew each

time he navigates through her, traverses over her land..

and the respect for those who came before-

and those who did not survive the trip.

~ This guy, Seth White, reading his commentary is great- has a sense of humor :

……I ended up getting a pair of $60 boots from Sportsman’s Warehouse near Denver. I mention this because the music they play over the store’s audio system is abominable. It’s 100% Christian Rock. I don’t have any philosophical objections to this music; I hate it simply because the music itself SUCKS and the lyrics are beyond trite. I mean, can’t these people find new and creative ways to sing songs with Christian themes? Every last band has the same homogenous poppy sound, and every last sonce just goes on and on about how much the lord fills them up inside. OK, right, fine already. It’s even worse than the regurge-o-tron machines that spew out generic country lyrics. At least it’s still better than hip-hop morons that write entire albums about how many ho’s they pimp, how many niggas they shoot, how many drugs they do, and how dangerous they and their homies are… and then never fail to thank God on their album liner notes. And these losers end always their interviews with the word “Peace!”. Yeah sure whatever. At least Christian Rock people are more or less sincere.

 short movie file http://www.sethwhite.org/images/pole2004/return%20flight/magnificent.avi taken from the plane

 Living where I do, in relatively temperate climate,

with most modern “conveniences” I shouldn’t be longing for cold, desolation wilderness.

I shouldn’t be slavering after dilapidated , abandoned cabins at the South Pole and

obsessing about dead explorers (and inventors- haven’t forgot you , Edison!) and the Arctic/Antarctic..

And yet I do.

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/1139/relics10222b3fl2.jpg

http://www.sethwhite.org/images/mcmurdo2006/the%20terra%20nova%20hut/spacious.jpg     the largest historic hut in Antarctica, at 15 x 8 meters.

The Terra Nova Hut was built during Scott’s British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1913. The hut itself is commonly known as the Terra Nova Hut, after the expedition’s ship.

http://www.sethwhite.org/the%20terra%20nova%20hut.htm this guy , White- he obviously has done quite a bit of reading up and/or has heard things first-hand from locals and other explorers-

 The names of these places!

Erebus tongue

Nausea Knob

Mount Terror

Cape Royds (!)

Thule Air Base	Photos and impressions from my visit to perhaps the most fascinating place I have ever been.
Dundas Village	An all-too-brief visit to the former home of the Thule people, before they moved farther north to Qaanaaq.
High Arctic Scenery	Photos of many things I thought were beautiful around Thule.

http://www.sethwhite.org/default.htm

 Very cool site with pics of Arctic and Antarctic

ANTARCTICA
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, 2007	My second time to Pole, with the new station fully operational and the dome empty. Times they are a’ changin’.
McMurdo Station, 2006-2007	Two deployments to McMurdo this season, with the luxury of a month home in between.
McMurdo Station, 2005-2006	Trip #3 to McMurdo – a summer season working for a science group.
Palmer Station, 2004	More of the same, this time from Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, 2004	Pictures and thoughts from two weeks at the South Pole, again working for a science group.
McMurdo Station, 2004	A few more pages from McMurdo, this time as a “tourist” while visiting for two weeks with a science group.
McMurdo Station, 2002-2003	Webpages about life as a station worker during a year at McMurdo, from October 2002 through October 2003.
THE ARCTIC
Thule Air Base and Qaanaaq, 2007	I spent another week working at Thule, but beforehand I was able to take a week of vacation in the town of Qaanaaq.
Thule Air Base, 2006	Notes from a field campaign in the High Arctic, at probably the most unique Air Force Base in the world.
Summit Camp, 2006	Another short trip to Summit Camp, this time to install a permanent GPS base station.
Summit Camp, 2005	Two more trips to Summit of the Greenland Ice Cap during summer ’05, while the camp itself was being rearranged.
Summit Camp, 2004	Photos from a month at a US Arctic research station. Summit Camp is very close to Antarctica in many respects.
OTHER PAGES
The Fram	A photo tour of the polar ship Fram, veteran of three epic polar expeditions including Amundsen’s South Pole journey.

lots of beautful panoramas- spend some time checking it out-Some of the names of these places are really weird

Erebus tongue

Nausea Knob

Mount Terror

Cape Royds (!)

http://www.sethwhite.org/images/mcmurdo2005/forms%20of%20snow/ice%20towers%204.jpg

Back to the Frozen Volcano	An early-season night flight for some work on Mt. Erebus.
Forms of Snow	More from later trips to Erebus. Ross Island is home to a striking diversity and beauty of ice and snow features.
An Easy One	A trip to Cape Roberts and Cape Ross: an anomalous field trip, since my tasks were simple and stress-free.
On the Sea Ice	A surveying job on the sea ice outside of McMurdo.
Glacier Work	Measuring the movement of two glaciers in support of an ice core drilling project.
An Incredible Place	Finally made it Cape Royds. Some photos here of Shackleton’s hut and the penguin colony.
Mullock Glacier	A day trip to a glacier south of McMurdo to install a set of GPS campaign stations.

Palmer Panoramas

Panoramic photos from around the most scenic Palmer Station.

Back to the Frozen Volcano	An early-season night flight for some work on Mt. Erebus.
Forms of Snow	More from later trips to Erebus. Ross Island is home to a striking diversity and beauty of ice and snow features.
An Easy One	A trip to Cape Roberts and Cape Ross: an anomalous field trip, since my tasks were simple and stress-free.
On the Sea Ice	A surveying job on the sea ice outside of McMurdo.
Glacier Work	Measuring the movement of two glaciers in support of an ice core drilling project.
An Incredible Place	Finally made it Cape Royds. Some photos here of Shackleton’s hut and the penguin colony.
Mullock Glacier	A day trip to a glacier south of McMurdo to install a set of GPS campaign stations.