The blizzard that raged all Saturday night stopped abruptly early Sunday morning. We were presented with crystal clear skies and a view to the north..... of open water.
Our burgeoning sea ice pack was gone. Dreams of sea ice travel anytime soon vanished.
After being unable to (or uninterested in) leaving the Red Shed during the blizzard travel restrictions yesterday, I was itching to depart the 'mothership' for a mini-hike, as a dear friend of mine would say, a photo mission, just a general stroll around.
Mat, Adam and I deceided to grab our survival packs and set out on a 3-hour walk to the Shirley Island ice bridge and around the Bailey Peninsula.
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| Jacque overlooking O'Brien Bay with sea ice blown out. Photo: Adam Roberts |
The landscape is so dynamic, and at every turn was evidence of the conditions of the past 24 hours and how it changes and sculpts the terrain. Swirling shapes in the snow pack, glowing blue ice stipped of its snow cover by the wind, the sound of the remains of the sea ice pack moving and creaking on the currents between the peninsula and Beall Island in O'Brien Bay.
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| Bergs in the distance. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Shirley Island sign post. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Shirley Island at the ice bridge. Photo: Jacque Comery |
As you walk every step has a musical quality. The packed snow squeaks and creaks beneath your feet. The micro spikes on your boots ring and tinkle as the strike the ice underfoot, and frozen melt streams add a disconcerting crack and thud noise all at once as hollow pockets collapse and move under your weight. If you stop and listen you can hear your own heart beating, in between the huffing and puffing of your breaths in the cold air.
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| McMullin Island. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Sculpted Snow. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Rocky outcrop on the Bailey Peninsula. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Crossing the frozen melt lake. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Snow trapped in the ice. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Bergs and blue ice. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Mat and Adam. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Beall Island. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Ice scoured of snow cover by the blizzard. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Shifting snow. Photo: Jacque Comery |
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| Jacqueline, on the way home. Photo: Adam Roberts |
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| View over Newcomb Bay on return to Casey. Photo: Jacque Comery |
