Aurora Hunters

21 Wednesday Apr 2010

Tags

Antarctica, Aurora Australis, auroras, Brooks, Cedar, dark, DJ, hunters, Keri, Kevin, MacTown, Marika, McMurdo, Nathan, night, southern lights, stars, winterover

Last Thursday, after a wonderful evening of karaoke hosted by our very own Marika, we decided to go on a midnight aurora hunt. (Well, it was almost midnight…) We had heard that there had been a huge prominence on the sun the day before, and the aurora australis (southern lights, for those who are unfamiliar) were predicted to be strong.

So even though it was a school night, and we didn’t get karaoke all packed up and put away until almost 11 p.m., Brooks, Marika, and I set off in search of a good vantage point. See, with all the lights on in town, it’s hard to really see the lights when they occur. Once you get away from all the light-pollution, though, they’re mesmerizing. I hadn’t really been out and about since it had started getting truly dark at night, so it was a surreal feeling to be walking down a stretch of road that I’d only ever before seen in full daylight. The stars and the Milky Way were brilliant. And then, off on the horizon above the Royal Societies, there were the dancing lights.

Not the most brilliant that the lights got, but a good example (photo by "DJ" Jennings).

We bumped into some other aurora-seekers while were out – Nathan, Kevin, Keri, and DJ. Luckily, DJ had a camera with him that could pick up the lights. It was a fun group to share the experience with. We were talking and laughing and having a great time, but then we had a moment of silence where we all just stood and stared straight up into that Antarctic sky. Pretty awesome, in the true sense of the word.

Marika, Kevin, me, Keri, DJ, Nathan, and Brooks out hunting auroras - and not dressed entirely appropriate for the temperatures (photo by Brooks).

I don’t know if I can express how cool it was. The auroras that we saw might not have been as spectacular as some pictures I’ve seen or descriptions I’ve heard, but it was still pretty magical. These are the experiences that I was looking for when I decided to stay for the winter, and so far they haven’t disappointed. And the people that I’m getting to share them with are wonderful.

I <3 winter.

Ceds

Sunset Boulevard, Antarctica

30 Tuesday Mar 2010

Posted by cheaterrainier in Adventures!

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Tags

Antarctica, Brad, Brooks, Castle Rock, Corrine, Craig, facial hair, frost, group activities, Justin, Kelli, MacTown, Marika, McMurdo, Nodwell, Sarah, sunsets, trips, winter, winterover

After a wonderful Saturday night of Wine Tasting and Hut 10 party (previous post), I would have been fine with a slow, restful, and uneventful Sunday. But this weekend was an all-out GREAT one, and it didn’t stop with Saturday night’s festivities. Sunday evening, thanks to Marika taking initiative and signing her, Brooks and I up, I was able to go on a sunset trip to Castle Rock. We met up around 6 on Sunday evening and piled into a passenger-outfitted Nodwell, and proceeded out to Castle Rock. Taking a vehicle meant cutting a six-ish hour hike into about a two hour round trip, which was rather nice for anybody out for a leisurely sunset viewing rather than a grueling expedition. Okay, it’s not that grueling, but definitely more intense than I was looking for on a Sunday evening.

This is a Nodwell, in case anyone was wondering what I was talking about.

Anyhoo, back to the trip. We weren’t actually able to climb to the top of the rock, as it has been closed for the season due to unsafe conditions during the winter months. We did get to hang out on the ridge by the rock, though, and watch the sun go down behind the Royal Societies. You can still see some open-ish water out by Castle Rock, and it was steaming, making a really cool ephemeral effect as the sun sank behind it.

Pretty sunset, pretty Brooks.

We were having a lot of fun with the frost building up on people’s facial hair and such.

Brooks rocking both BCGs and awesome beard-cicles.

Craig had some awesome frost on his eyelashes.

Not only were the views spectacular, but the group was great. As I mentioned, Marika signed herself, Brooks, and I up knowing that we’d have a great time together. Justin from Heat Trace, Craig the computer guy, Corrine and Brad, my old suitemate Sarah, and several other great people were also along for the trip, and Kelli was leading us. Half the fun was the ride out – Brooks was in charge of the passenger-cab radio and he had a running commentary going with an in-flight-intercom theme. Funny as.

A good chunk of those that went, though not all: Marika, Kelli, Sarah, Craig, me, Corrine, Brooks, Justin (behind Brad's arm), not sure who's in very back, Brad, and Jeanette.

: This is a Nodwell, in case anyone was wondering what I was talking about.

: Pretty sunset, pretty Brooks.

: A good chunk of those that went, though not all: Marika, Kelli, Sarah, Craig, me, Corrine, Brooks, Justin (behind Brad’s arm), not sure who’s in very back, Brad, and Jeanette.