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Return to the Dry Valleys




I journeyed to the Dry Valleys during the month of November to conduct glacier surveys and maintain the network of LTER weather stations. It had been two years since my last visit and I had anticipated that things would be very different, but it turned out that I was only partially right.

Traveling though Christchurch was very different. Even though I was prepared for it, the structural damage caused by the earthquake was alarming. The two B&Bs that I stayed in years past were vacant lots and access to much of downtown is restricted. The front of the hotel I stayed in was an empty shell under steady construction. While the people I spoke with all said that folks rallied together, you could tell the disaster had taken a toll. Many folks have decided not to rebuild. I awoke my first night shaking in bed, a minor 3.something aftershock, another reminder that things were still unsettled.


McMurdo Station from Ob Hill
Upon arriving in McMurdo a familiar feeling came over me, one of timelessness. There were programmatic changes and many new faces, but many familiar faces and friends remained from years past. The same eternal hum and overheated buildings were unchanged.

Returning to the Dry Valleys was exciting. The two year break rejuvenated my sense of wonder about the Dry Valleys. I took many photos, you can check them out here. The valleys were mostly unchanged, with the exception of the rising lake levels. The rising water levels of these closed lakes have forced huts, labs, and weather stations to be moved to higher ground. Two lakes, Hoare and Chad, are now connected. 
A rising Lake Bonney embraces an erratic boulder.

My work went well, thanks to the support and assistance of a fantastic group of people. I was down for a week with some bad crud, so my time in the valleys felt quick in an already condensed season. I left just as the glaciers had begun to melt. The melt season was always the most interesting time, so I mixed feelings as I left. I am always curious about how the season would turn out, would it be another big melt year? I was happy to have experienced Antarctica again to see how things were both changed and unchanged, and happy to be headed home.


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