After my unexpectedly early return to the northern hemisphere in March 2020, life left its usual track. As I hinted at in my 2020 recap, it was a very different year for me. I had found a new housing setup with old college friends to allow for more personal space during early COVID lockdowns. When those friends were packing up to move to Anchorage in May, it was time for…
“What are you going to do about it?” That sentence was on repeat as I woke up and realized that both my face and pillow were wet. My nose had that familiar stuffy feeling, and I felt the urge to sniff as I emerged from dreams. Feeling slightly confused, I fought back tears. Then, the memory of my dream came back. I’d been in New Zealand, in the home of…
For me, 2020 was not for writing, reading, or traveling. 2020 was for… living up my 3rd season at Cape Shirreff. If only I could be there right now. seeing new places in Antarctica! The ship had permission to spend most of a day at Deception Island before continuing south to Palmer Station. missing out on my planned hike in Torres del Paine. Until I hike the ‘O,’ that will…
This is the first post in a series of hikes I’m revisiting. Check out the intro post here. Day 1, 24 March 2020 Hotel Las Torres to Campamento Serón: ~8.6 miles with an elevation change of +1,200 feet Upon being offered a tuition waiver for my freshman year at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, my parents and I decided I should visit the campus. Moving across the country without knowing…
24 March 2020 In a coronavirus-free world, today would have been the start of my long-awaited backpacking trip in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia. I’d booked Wild Hostel in Puerto Natales, reserved all my campsites, and planned my hike of the ‘O’ (AKA The Circuit) back in early December 2019. After skipping this Patagonian mecca for a couple of years, 2020 was my year! It was finally…
If you haven’t yet read The View from Antarctica: Coronavirus, check that post out first. It documents my understanding of coronavirus while living in a remote field camp in Antarctica, as well as travel on a research vessel back toward South America. In a whirlwind of events following a day of extremely slow cruising toward and through the Straits of Magellan, everything worked out – in the opinion of most…
It was sometime in mid-January when our Cape Shirreff population of 4 first heard about it. You know of what I speak; I don’t even have to name it. I was doing my usual glance through the New York Times Digest that Palmer Station emailed us daily when I saw a blurb about a new virus in China. While sharing limited tidbits from the Times with the others in camp,…
Week 12. Su 16 February 2020, 8:20 in the morning at Cape Shirreff Working seasonal field jobs is obviously quite different from following a typical career track. Every job studies different animals in different locations for different types of studies. Although I took wildlife biology courses at the university, being able to work in the field has honestly come down to having the right personality and being able to follow…
Weeks 2 – 5: Second week of December 2019 through first week of January 2020. Cape Shirreff, Antarctica. When you return to open the same camp with 4 of the 6 people who closed it in March, the definitions of time change. Being back for a third stint that wasn’t originally expected takes the peculiarity to another level. Some camp opening activities are the same, but others are different or…
Week 9 (?) Su 26 January 2020, morning at Cape Shirreff Somehow Friday marked the halfway point in my third season here at Cape Shirreff. Having experienced the glorious full length season of late October to mid-March my first year, these shortened seasons of early December to mid-March are difficult to fathom. The drastically lower amount of snow at the start breaks my spirit; there’s not enough for skiing to work,…