Trip North

 
 We left station in the afternoon as the sun was setting. The lighting was very dramatic.

We had a make a stop at the Ukrainian station south of us so we sailed down there over night. 

 We waited in the bay near the station. We got invited by the Ukrainians to visit the their station (called Vernadsky).

 It was another perfect calm day and with another beautiful sunrise.

 We lowered a zodiac into the water and motored through the sea ice.

 Curious crab eater seal.

 Vernadsky station about 30 miles due south of Palmer.

 The water is very clear this time of year.

 Their gym.

An ice fish in their aquarium.

 The generator biulding!

 Lounge area was very nice.

 Galley.

After the quick visit it was time to go back to the ship.

 The going was slow through the pancake ice.

 Very pretty day and a great opportunity to see another station.

The trip north was very calm, the weather was good and the Drake was pretty flat. 

Last day on land

 Station lit up by the ship this morning.

First light.

 The last day on station was perfect weather. Calm, clear, beautiful light and ski-able snow.

 I went up the glacier for a si for the last time this season.

 Elephant seals and fur seals hanging out on the beach. 

 Neat cloud bank.

Great end to another great adventure!

LMG Arrival

 The ship with our replacements has arrived!

 Here they are in the harbor lighting up the ice on their final approach.

 Heading out to the bollards to line handle.

 Mid winter is June 20th this year, and is less then a week away now. The sun does not crest the horizon, but it gets close.

 The LMG lights are very bright and its neat to see the color of the water in the dark.

Very nice calm weather for cargo operations. I will be heading north soon!

Mountain Names in the Area

I annotated a photo of the the mountains from on top of the glacier with the names, elevations, distance from Palmer and their first ascents (if I could find information about them on the internet). I used a mountaineering guide book, alpine news sites, commercial mountaineering company sites, nautical maps, and topo maps to pool information to create this. Pretty neat stuff.  

Snow day at work on Amsler Island

At the end of last week we had to go out to a nearby island and pull the data off of a little weather station. This weather station is looking at temperatures above ground and in the moss over several years. After getting dropped off on the far side of the island to do the science work we hiked back across the island to the closer landing site. It was the perfect day for a nice winter wonderland walk.

Lichen in snow.

Lichen in rime.

 It was a perfectly clear and calm day so we took advantage of the half hour that the sun was above the glacier. 

 Station can be seen at the far right of this photo. A snow covered Mount William on the left.

 View from the high point of the island.

Neat bit of ice on the boat ride back to station. 

 More great lighting.

And the sun went back behind the glacier just as we arrived back on station.