November 6th, 2007
York county Maine
Last leaves of Autumn

Time:9 am
Latitude: 43.08 N
Longitude: 70.73 W
Temperature: 7°C(45°F)
Wind speed: calm
Wind Chill:
Clouds: partly cloudy-25%
Wind direction: South
Relative Humidity:90%
Barometric Pressure: steady
Precipitation: 1.6 cm (0.63 in)

To pack too much stuff is silly as you could pretty much just show up in Christ Church New Zealand at the American Antarctic base with nothing but the clothes on your back and a smile. I will fly from Boston to LA, and then to Auckland on the north island of New Zealand (a 12 hour flight or as they say– 2 good meals and a lot of napping), then to Christ Church on the southern island where I will stay for 1 night before making my way to the US Antarctic airbase there in NZ. From there it will be a ~8 hour flight to McMurdo station in Antarctica. Before you hop over to Antarctica though you have a short partial-day training session you are issued your ECW – extreme cold weather gear, which is all the clothing you need to live in Antarctica. Today in McMurdo it is -19 oC. Even at those temperatures, and it much colder at the WAIS Divide drill site camp, the gear you are issued in NZ is plenty. The thought though is that since all that gear you are issued is used, washed, but still used and I would prefer to have some of my own long underware, socks, my favorite ski hat, sunglasses, iPod, etc. I am also hand carrying my cross-country skis this year for the free time I will have when I am not processing ice cores, digging snow pits, helping with chores, writing outreach materials, etc. It will be 24hrs of daylight when I get there so there is plenty of time for a quick ski around the camp, with the understanding that we are not allowed to venture away from camp because of the obvious dangerous of crevasses, snow storms, etc. So, for right now as I think about my trip I am stock piling some clothes, music, software that I need for my lap top, and other assorted items to keep me happy and entertained when I get to the field camp.