* * * *

December 15, 1975 (Continued)

The weather was delightful the day we left, warm, sunny, calm. Exactly the opposite of the day we landed. The kind of day you hate to go away from. I wouldn’t mind staying forever in that vast, white, beautiful place.

We stood around Byrd’s statue and everyone came to see us off: Bio-Mike, Dan, John Oliver, Dan Morton, Jan, Mike, CosRay Doug. Picture taking, laughing, joking, and good-byes.

Had a hassle with the guys at Hill Cargo. They wouldn’t let me take the duffel bag full of souvenirs as hand-hold baggage.

We got in this big truck and we watched as McMurdo Station got smaller and smaller as we headed for Williams Field.

It was an Air Force Herc. Much nicer than the Navy one coming down. I sat right where I wanted, by a window on the left side, in fact, right next to the flight deck with lots and lots of leg room.

We were off and above the clouds, taking pictures all the way; Mount Debrushka and the Southern Foothills rolling onto the Blue Glacier and the Transantarctic Mountains; beyond that, the white expanse of the Plateau; bare, naked ridges sticking out, through thousands of feet of ice; Taylor Valley, with Lake Fryxell and Taylor Glacier.

Heavy clouds near the Big ‘Berg made photography difficult.

The clouds receded near Mount Melbourne, which is a lot like Mount Discovery.

My last glimpse of Antarctica was a huge, wide mouthed glacier flowing down to the sea in ice, draining the Plateau, and steep-faced rocky summits off into the distance. Then clouds.

And then the sun set over the clouds. Darkness fell.

I read Scientific American, the Solar System Edition. It seems that Mercury has lava flows much like those that form the marea on the moon.

I tell Dr. Treves, the next day, that that is where my heart lies, Planetary Geology. He didn’t tell me I was crazy.

Peter Barrett had the log of the core done, and the title page of the report. I’m a co-author, but I didn’t write anything. That makes me mad. I’d rather not have my name on the cover, then.

But Cal mentions about helping with the ice deflection part and Dr. Treves mentions something about the wash sample point counting.

He tells me to add another hour to my Special Problems course, gave me an incomplete for three hours this semester, meet once a week, and work on the wash samples. He asks about my schedule.

Russian is the first thing I say. He advised me to take it when I said I was considering it over French. I really don’t think it will be to much harder than French, if French is anything like the German courses they teach. If it’s going to be hard, I might as well learn something. Nartsiss was a big influence and I really don’t like the idea of David W. getting ahead of me on something like that.

I have two regrets. If French would be easier for me, I could use a light class. I won’t learn any French history this way.

A Final Sidebar: Would I go back to that Frozen Land, Far Away?
Of course I would.
But perhaps there are other worlds to explore before
I make a habit of Adventuring in the South.

Well, that’s about it for Antarctica, folks.



The Remainder:
$15.00 Motel
1.25 Lunch
2.10 Shanghai Supper
0.20 Bus ride to Brighton
0.20 Bus ride back
0.93 Fish and chips
0.80 Fish and chips
2.30 Shanghai Supper
0.59 Tea and such
1.10 Plane ride meal
0.50 Food in Hawaii
2.75 Centennail by Michner.
About time I found it.
0.75 More food in Hawaii
3.23 Dinner in Pamona
1.75 Mid-rats in Las Vegas
3.05 Breakfast there
0.93 Snacks, etc.
1.25 Lunch
0.50 Tips

We’ll be home for Christmas.