Antarctica, Austral Summer 2019 - 2020 (Part 11 - Military Bros)
With the planes out of commission for an unknown amount of time, a lot of uncertainty surrounded McMurdo. The rumor mill was in full swing as whispers about how long were people going to be delayed in getting home. Since the galley is considered “mission essential,” we are among the first to know stuff because we are among the last to leave. On February 3rd we were informed that the second vessel, which had already broken down once before, was now broken again and stuck in New Zealand getting repaired. The second vessel was now expected to arrive February 15th at the earliest with a departure date around February 25th, well past most of our redeployment dates.
On a brighter note, that same day I found out there was a special tour scheduled on my day off and, as luck would have it, there was still room on it to sign up. Since most of my day off was now going to be occupied, I decided to climb Observation Hill for the 39th time. After four months since arriving at McMurdo, I finally completed the Everest Challenge.
I spent the majority of my day off on Tuesday watching the news waiting for the results of the Iowa Caucus before changing into my ECW gear to meet the rest of the group heading out for the tour We hopped into a van and headed out to Phoenix airfield where we transferred into a Pisten Bully, a tracked passenger carrier, that would take us over the rough, unpaved terrain to the final resting place of the The Pegasus.
On October 8, 1970, a US Navy operated Lockheed C-121 “Super Constellation” named Pegasus was past the point of no return on its way down to McMurdo before a powerful storm caused white out conditions in the area. Running on fumes, the plane was forced to crash land on the icy surface. Miraculously, out of the 80 people on board, only five suffered minor injuries, the plane however was lost and the wreckage was left abandoned where it still sits, buried in ice, nearly 50 years later.
While gazing upon the crash site, surrounded by endless plains of ice, I couldn’t help but think about the Percy Shelley poem, Ozymandias, especially when one thinks of man’s relationship with the earth. I’ve mentioned it on a few occasions before that our presence in Antarctica is basically spitting in the face of the natural order, and that nature has deemed this place a barren, inhospitable wasteland. This plane, almost fully buried by ice, is a testament to humans’ seemingly endless pursuit to tame the world around them and shows just how feeble our attempts truly are.
“And on the pedestal these words appear: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
