Wind Chill: -69.0C
Wind Speed: 11.3 kts
One of the big traditions down here, and one that a lot of people look forward to, is sunset dinner, which we had on the 20th. Since the sun was supposed to start setting that week, it gave us the excuse to dress up, and have, yet, another outrageous meal down here! The meal also came with a roaring fireplace...you can see depicted by the computer screen above the table!
Part of the tradition, as well, was to remember those who had lost their lives while working down here. There was a smaller table set aside for three individuals, with food and drink at each setting, and their pictures, which are normally hanging in the main hallway on station, were brought into the dining hall as well. The three men that joined our meal had different times that they had worked down here, ranging from 1966 up to the year 2000.
While the dinner was supposed to mark the sunset, and potentially the best time to take some pictures, we didn't really get out and start shooting some pretty spectacular pictures until a few days later...
The shots at Spoolhenge were awesome a few days ago,
as were the shots taken out at ARO a couple days later.
We figured that was the last time we were going to see the sun, since the next couple days were obscured by a lot of cloud cover, especially around the horizon. We were pleasantly surprised, however, when yesterday we looked outside and found a very distinct glow right at the horizon. A couple of us grabbed cameras, extra gloves and hand warmers, and headed out towards ARO. The wind wasn't blowing too hard, so I felt it necessary to climb the tower and see about some pictures from up there.
Needless to say, when I got up to the top, and finished snapping pictures, I took some time to clean off some of the instrumentation that had been covered with flying obstacles!
The shots at the bottom were just as spectacular, especially with the formations of drifts in the foreground...
At this point, fingers were numb, and camera batteries had just about been exhausted, so it was time for a trip back indoors for a nice cup of hot chocolate! We'll see what the next couple of days have in store for us....
Capt. Splash
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