Discovery Hut

Today I got to go on a tour of Discovery Hut, the building that is at Hut point. It was actually a Hut built by Robert F Scott. A British Navelman largely created with a vast amount of exploration of Antarctica during the years of early exploration. There are monuments and momentos of this man and his expidition all over this island as well as in New Zealand and the UK. If you would like to learn more about him here is a link to Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott#Last_march

The hut was discover in 2002 and opened to reveal items and articles left by Scott and his men, as well as a few others who used it after him. It was as though it were a time capsule with bedding and food still left stacked and waiting to be opened. Crates of dog biscuits, boxes of hot chocolate, as well as can and dried carcasses of animals and skulls. The hut was like an ice box, a fridge where it seemed colder inside than out. What made it real exciting was our guide read to us from his disclaimer card, informing us that the anthrax virus had been discovered in the hut, but was a minimal threat to us as long as we did not touch or lick (I added that) anything. The building was eerie, calm, as if a silent tomb waiting for the bodies to return. Any minute you expected the inhabitants to return and to hear them knocking the snow from their boots and hollering out to one another as the door swings in.

There were only 8 let in at a time, so we took turns with little spoken as we walked and absorbed the revelation of those men who traveled this continent without giant red parkas, warm heated shuttles, GPS tracking and the assistance of synthetic materials or Nalgene water bottles. Not to mention toe warmers and granola bars. How they survived for as long as they did, or got as far is an amazing show of human determination and ingenuity. The galley has pictures they took from their boat of the Antarctica then and sometimes I find myself just staring at those black and white images thinking, wow, who would even dare to come to this harsh wasteland.

After the hut I walked up to the point and took photos of the beautiful scenery, much like I’m sure the early explorers saw it. Amazingly white, serene, but dangerous beneath it’s layer of ice and wind. Viewer beware, there is a beast that lurks in the chilly winds of the South Pole.