Happy Camper

Anyone who ventures out past town needs to complete a happy camper course. We did ours the morning after we arrived- I was so tired. We didn't get to bed until around 2am and had to wake up at 6:30 for breakfast, training, and then off to school. But it was a blast!

The morning started with some basic training in the classroom and then we went to the snow to learn how to stake our tents, cook, and build walls and trenches. It was a lot of work but worth it. Most of our camp slept in their trenches, but my claustrophobia won and I stayed in a nice, warm, cozy tent. The next morning we acted out scenarios and cleaned up camp. Now I have a great group of friends around town.

In all my gear and on my way to Happy Camper!

Building a Scott tent (Scott was one of the first scientists to explore Antarctica and has an amazing/ tragic story).

In the quarry cutting bricks for our wall. 

Mount Erebus

Mt. Erebus. The flags show safe walking paths.

Tents with the wall behind to protect us from the wind. Mine is the far right!

My trench. I dug it but couldn't get myself to actually sleep in it.

Does it look like a coffin to you too?

Ashley's trench. She stuck it out the whole night! Crazy girl.

The people here are awesome. McMurdo is a small town, and I feel like all the different personalities would make the perfect Hallmark movie. Because there is so much going on, McMurdo needs a whole assortment of skill sets to function. There are the cooks and galley workers, construction workers, engineers, electricians, students, professors, mountaineers and guides, drivers, pilots, doctors, a chaplain, and basically any thing you can think of that makes a city run.