Episode 155 - Jenn Kunze, living and working at McMurdo station in Antarctica, Stomp hikes a Pemi Loop

[00:00:00] We're excited to invite you to Seek the Peak. Join us for the 24th annual Ultimate Hike-a-thon in support of the non-profit Mount Washington Observatory,

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[00:00:59] to support the legendary Mount Washington Observatory.

[00:01:02] Presenting sponsors for SeekThePeak are Great Glen Trails and Eastern Mountain Sports, with support from this radio station.

[00:01:11] Here is the latest Higher Summits forecast brought to you by our friends at the Mount Washington Observatory.

[00:01:20] Weather above treeline and the White Mountains is often wildly different than at our trailheads.

[00:01:28] Before you hike, check the Higher Summits forecast at MountWashington.org.

[00:01:34] Weather observers working at the non-profit Mount Washington Observatory write this elevation-based forecast every morning and afternoon.

[00:01:44] Search and rescue teams, avalanche experts, and backcountry guides all rely on this information.

[00:01:51] To anticipate weather conditions above treeline, you should too.

[00:01:57] Go to MountWashington.org or text FORECAST to 603-356-2137.

[00:02:12] And here's your forecast for Friday, June 7th and Saturday, June 8th.

[00:02:21] In and out of the clouds under mostly cloudy skies with showers and thunderstorms likely mainly late.

[00:02:27] With a high in the mid to upper 40s, winds will be southwest at 15-30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph, higher gusts possible with thunderstorms.

[00:02:39] Friday night in the clouds, chance of showers and thunderstorms early.

[00:02:43] Again with a low in the 40s, southwest winds at 15-30 mph and gusts up to 40.

[00:02:49] Higher gusts possible with thunderstorms.

[00:02:53] Wind chill will be falling to 25-35 above.

[00:02:57] And then Saturday, the big 48 peaks day.

[00:03:01] We have in the clouds, chance of showers and thunderstorms late.

[00:03:05] With a low to mid 40s for a temp.

[00:03:09] Winds will be west at 20-35 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.

[00:03:17] And the wind chill will be rising to 30-40 above.

[00:03:22] Alright, have a great weekend out on the hills everybody.

[00:04:01] Broadcasting from the Woodpecker Studio in the great state of New Hampshire.

[00:04:06] Welcome to the Sounds Like A Search and Rescue podcast.

[00:04:09] Where we discuss all things related to hiking and search and rescue in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

[00:04:16] Here are your hosts, Mike and Stomp.

[00:04:38] Okay, that's right. We're rolling this back.

[00:04:41] So, episode 155, Stomp, take two.

[00:04:44] We're with Jen Kunze.

[00:04:46] Yeah, nailed it.

[00:04:48] Your German counterpart here.

[00:04:50] Right.

[00:04:52] Yeah, Germany represent tonight.

[00:04:55] So how you been Stomp? You've been out hiking. I'm proud of you.

[00:04:58] I've still been recovering.

[00:05:00] Oh, from your upper respiratory business or whatever?

[00:05:03] Yeah, I'm still hacking up a lung over here.

[00:05:05] So I apologize ahead of time if I start coughing.

[00:05:08] Yeah, well I'm recovering in my own way after that Pimmy loop.

[00:05:12] But we'll talk about that.

[00:05:14] Yeah, it sounds very eventful so we'll get going on that.

[00:05:18] Welcome to episode 155 of the Sounds Like A Search and Rescue podcast.

[00:05:22] This week we are joined by Jen Kunze who is going to share her tale of spending time living and working as a sous chef at McMurdo Station in Antarctica for like four or five months it sounds like.

[00:05:34] So Jen spent the fall of 2023 through I think February or March of 2024 down in Antarctica and got to experience a bunch of cool adventures while at McMurdo.

[00:05:45] So we'll learn a little bit about her background and she'll tell us some stories about what it takes to live in one of the most remote areas of the world.

[00:05:52] All this plus we've got rabies news, we've got the longest day hike for Alzheimer's event this weekend.

[00:05:58] We've got some news out of Mount Everest.

[00:06:00] Stomp has set up Pimmy Loop FKT for being the first and fastest hiker to carry a pool noodle on the route.

[00:06:07] And then we've got search and rescue news on falling waters, Kearsarge North and Mnadnock.

[00:06:13] So I'm Mike.

[00:06:15] And I'm Stomp. Let's get started.

[00:06:37] Alright, Stomp. So this is the part of the show where we do a hiking buddy spot.

[00:06:41] So the very posh and polite Andrew Barlow is going to kick it off.

[00:06:47] That's right. Another one coming up.

[00:07:00] This has been Pease from Hiking Buddies.

[00:07:02] We are a 501c3 nonprofit committed to reducing avoidable tragedies through education, impactful projects, and fostering a community of support.

[00:07:10] You can find out more at hikingbuddies.org.

[00:07:13] We wanted to say thank you to those who have supported our mission.

[00:07:15] And most importantly, say thanks to those who speak up, who ask questions, and who are willing to provide guidance and assistance on the trails when needed.

[00:07:23] You embody what it means to be a hiking buddy.

[00:07:25] And now for all my newer hikers out there, here's this episode's Hiking Buddies quick tip.

[00:07:31] Speak up.

[00:07:38] If you are becoming uncomfortable or physically unable to perform, do not put yourself and others in danger by pressing on.

[00:07:46] This is not just true in winter conditions, but particularly more dangerous in colder climates and poor weather conditions.

[00:07:57] Very good Stomp.

[00:08:05] Yeah. Good tips.

[00:08:07] Did you learn anything in that one?

[00:08:09] I sure did. I loved last week's though. That was my favorite. I think the last week's was the poop one.

[00:08:15] Yes.

[00:08:17] That's always a fun topic.

[00:08:19] Yes, especially when Andrew says poop.

[00:08:20] Right.

[00:08:22] Six inches.

[00:08:24] Excellent. So, yeah.

[00:08:26] So, this weekend, just a heads up for listeners.

[00:08:30] So we've got the 48 peaks, the longest day celebration for Alzheimer's.

[00:08:36] So what's on the agenda for that Stomp?

[00:08:38] Well, I believe doors open at three o'clock and this is at Reckless Brewery.

[00:08:43] A lot of teams have hiked already, but some teams will be hiking this Saturday.

[00:08:48] And what is that?

[00:08:50] Saturday, June 8th.

[00:08:52] We'll be doing music all day, raffles and all kinds of fun stuff.

[00:08:57] So hope to see you there.

[00:08:59] And this is Reckless Brewery at the Pint House in the back of Reckless, right in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, which is north of the Notch.

[00:09:06] Nice. Yeah, I'm getting out on Saturday.

[00:09:08] We're hiking. I'm on Lynn's team, so we're hiking Galehead.

[00:09:13] So it should be fun.

[00:09:15] The weather doesn't look great, but we'll get a little wet.

[00:09:19] Yeah. So your team's all filled up?

[00:09:22] I think so, yeah. It's more than filled because I'm bringing my daughter and her boyfriend too, so they're tagging along.

[00:09:28] Okay. Hey, listen, this is the moment of the show where I open my beer with my teeth to freak you out.

[00:09:34] I heard it.

[00:09:36] So what happens if you're in Antarctica and you get like a broken tooth or something major like that?

[00:09:43] Do they have a dentist down there that can fix you up?

[00:09:46] They do, however, for... Well, they may not have a dentist always on station.

[00:09:52] However, one of the friends I made while I was down there had an issue with, I think maybe an impacted tooth or something.

[00:10:01] They flew her back to Christchurch, New Zealand to have it taken care of and then flew her back.

[00:10:10] Really?

[00:10:11] Yeah.

[00:10:12] So that would be just like Stomp to do something stupid like crack open a beer with his teeth and then have to get flown off of Antarctica to make a whole scene out of it.

[00:10:22] I guess from what I understand, this season was record... They're called Medivacs.

[00:10:26] And this was a record-breaking season for people having to be flown off the ice for whatever reason.

[00:10:32] Oh boy. Wow.

[00:10:34] You know, there's a lot of people... We'll get into it in more detail, but like you've got almost a thousand people.

[00:10:39] So it's bound to... You're bound to have some people that run into issues.

[00:10:43] But Stomp is like he's going to do a self-inflicted wound here. It's ridiculous.

[00:10:48] I don't understand the teeth thing.

[00:10:50] No.

[00:10:51] Just grow your nails.

[00:10:52] The teeth thing?

[00:10:53] Yes.

[00:10:54] I can't.

[00:10:55] I agree.

[00:10:56] I'm a guitarist by trade here, so I can't have long nails.

[00:10:59] We are not... Opening the beer with the teeth is not going to become a regular thing. I'm not allowed.

[00:11:07] That's great.

[00:11:08] If it helps, I will not be opening my beer with my teeth.

[00:11:12] Thank you, Jen. I appreciate it.

[00:11:15] All right. So if anybody wants to come out and meet Stomp, and I'll be there soaking wet like a drowned rat at three o'clock at Reckless.

[00:11:24] We'll be there on Saturday. So we're looking forward to meeting everybody.

[00:11:26] Yeah. How's the forecast looking? I think what, 15-20% rain maybe?

[00:11:30] I don't know.

[00:11:32] Yeah. I don't know. It looks kind of overcast and dreary, but we'll see.

[00:11:36] Yeah. We'll make it work.

[00:11:38] Yep. All right, Stomp. Then we've got a listener, Eric J72, wanted us to put a plug in for a fundraiser in memory of his mother.

[00:11:49] I think that this is legit, but the disease that he is supporting, it looks like a disease that was put in purposely to make me pronounce something incorrectly.

[00:11:59] So I'm going to ask you to pronounce this disease.

[00:12:03] Okay. So this is a plug for Eric's effort here. Apparently, this August 15th to 18th, he's going to be doing a Pemi-Loop in memory of his mom who passed away from this rare form of cancer.

[00:12:17] And I'll give it a shot as well. It's cholangiocarcinoma, which is a rare liver cancer.

[00:12:24] We have the link for you in the events called Summits for Cindy.

[00:12:30] And at that link, you can donate there for this event and this fundraiser.

[00:12:35] And wish you the best, Eric. It's a great, great cause.

[00:12:39] Yeah. We'll definitely put this in the show notes.

[00:12:41] And Stomp, I'm very impressed that you were able to get that pronunciation down.

[00:12:46] Thank you.

[00:12:48] Summits for Cindy. And we'll keep this in the show notes up until the event that goes off on August 15th to the 18th.

[00:12:53] Sounds good.

[00:12:55] Excellent. Next up, Stomp, a little plug here that there is a race that is going off.

[00:13:01] It's the Squam Ridge Race.

[00:13:03] And it looks like it's on September 29th from 7.30am to 6pm.

[00:13:12] So signups are now open.

[00:13:15] Cool.

[00:13:17] And it looks like there's two options.

[00:13:20] There is a 12-mile course and then there's a 4-mile course.

[00:13:24] And there's a competitive 12-mile race and then there's a hiking for fun 12-mile race.

[00:13:30] And the 4-mile, I think, is just for fun.

[00:13:32] But it looks like it starts on some trails along 113 on True Farm Road.

[00:13:38] Maybe that's a road.

[00:13:40] And then you run up to Mount Percival and then make your way back along Mount Morgan

[00:13:46] and then over to Livermore.

[00:13:51] So yeah, it looks like a fun little area.

[00:13:55] I never really made it past that southern part of Ridgepole Trail

[00:14:01] because we stopped at Morgan that time.

[00:14:03] So I haven't really been in that area.

[00:14:05] But the Squam Ridge is a lot of up and down so it's probably going to be a fun one.

[00:14:08] Absolutely.

[00:14:10] That's a great traverse.

[00:14:12] 12.2 miles for the full thing.

[00:14:14] And about 3,000 feet of elevation gain.

[00:14:18] Pretty cool.

[00:14:20] I'm still looking to do this, to finish off that southern terminus

[00:14:24] that we have not done yet.

[00:14:26] But yeah, sounds like fun.

[00:14:28] Excellent.

[00:14:30] And then next up, Stomp, you pulled an article.

[00:14:33] A young man from Rutland, Massachusetts was able to summit Mount Everest.

[00:14:39] So I think he was like 18 or 19 years old.

[00:14:43] Yeah, pretty young.

[00:14:45] This is pretty cool.

[00:14:47] So he funded his trip.

[00:14:49] Usually it costs about $50,000 to do Mount Everest, plus or minus $10,000, $15,000.

[00:14:54] But he made his money playing Minecraft on YouTube.

[00:14:58] So he's like a YouTuber.

[00:15:00] And he made enough money to pay for his trip to Mount Everest.

[00:15:04] So I guess he documented it on his YouTube channel.

[00:15:08] And he trained going up and down Wachusett Mountain.

[00:15:12] And sometimes he would do like 12 hours up and down.

[00:15:15] So that's pretty cool.

[00:15:17] He flew out of Boston on April 19th and it took him 42 days, but he made it to the summit.

[00:15:23] Excellent.

[00:15:25] Yeah, past all the drama and the queues and all the other stuff that's going on.

[00:15:30] But I like that.

[00:15:32] 12 hour jaunts up and down Wachusett, that's great.

[00:15:34] With a 35 pound pack, that seems a little light.

[00:15:37] But I'm sure maybe he amped it up a bit.

[00:15:39] Well, they have Sherpas there, Stomp.

[00:15:41] They're carrying their stuff for them.

[00:15:45] Not all of it.

[00:15:49] Yeah, I guess not.

[00:15:51] All right, Stomp.

[00:15:53] So I pulled this article, I saw this across the news, and I thought this was kind of funny.

[00:15:56] There's this waterfall.

[00:15:59] It's a thousand foot waterfall in China that attracts a lot of tourists.

[00:16:03] And I guess a hiker had noticed, they were like, wow, this is usually the dry season

[00:16:08] and it seems like the waterfall is flowing pretty well.

[00:16:10] So this hiker went up and climbed to the top of the waterfall

[00:16:16] and discovered that the park service in China had installed a pipe

[00:16:22] that was able to run water from the top of the waterfall

[00:16:26] so that the waterfall would continue to basically be spectacular year round.

[00:16:32] So he put the video on social media and everyone's upset

[00:16:38] because they're like, it's not natural now, it's fake.

[00:16:42] A little sleight of hand.

[00:16:44] It's in China, so word is that the guy that posted the video

[00:16:48] is no longer coming down for dinner tonight.

[00:16:51] Oh my goodness.

[00:16:53] He's assumed room temperature?

[00:16:55] Yeah, so it would be like if somebody piped in water

[00:17:00] on top of Champney Falls or Ripley Falls or something like that.

[00:17:06] Right.

[00:17:09] What a crazy story.

[00:17:11] I thought that was fun.

[00:17:13] And then Stomp, you had talked about rabies last week.

[00:17:16] So there's a little bit of rabies news.

[00:17:18] I pulled this article.

[00:17:20] So there's a singer, I don't know anything about her.

[00:17:22] So there's a bunch of interesting things about this story.

[00:17:23] So the singer's name is Taylor Momsen, who I've never heard of.

[00:17:27] Apparently she was like an actress in Gossip Girls.

[00:17:29] Jen, do you know Gossip Girls?

[00:17:31] Did you watch the whole season when you were in Antarctica?

[00:17:33] I never watched Gossip Girls on any continent.

[00:17:37] Okay.

[00:17:39] All right, well.

[00:17:41] She apparently was an actress, but now she's a singer.

[00:17:45] And there's this video going around where she's singing

[00:17:49] and she's wearing a mini dress.

[00:17:51] But underneath the mini dress, there's this brown thing sticking out.

[00:17:55] And she's walking around for a good two, three minutes

[00:17:59] and everyone's like, what is that brown thing under her dress?

[00:18:02] And then she bends over to shoo it away.

[00:18:04] And sure enough, it's a bat had landed on her leg

[00:18:07] while she's singing on her set.

[00:18:11] Mr. Stomp told me about this.

[00:18:14] Yeah, yeah.

[00:18:16] And basically, I don't know how long the bat was there.

[00:18:19] It was there for over a minute when I saw the video.

[00:18:21] But they had to, you know, I guess she had gotten bitten by the bat

[00:18:26] while she was on stage.

[00:18:28] And now she's got to get rabies shots and get treatment.

[00:18:32] A lot of rabies talk going on lately, kids.

[00:18:35] A lot of rabies talk.

[00:18:37] So I figured I would grab that one.

[00:18:39] Now, here's the crazy thing.

[00:18:41] Because that's not crazy enough.

[00:18:43] Yeah, yeah, that's not crazy enough.

[00:18:45] She was opening for ACDC.

[00:18:47] Stomp, can you believe that those guys are still talking?

[00:18:51] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:18:53] But the bat thing is more like you wish it would have been

[00:18:55] Ozzy Osbourne or something, you know?

[00:18:57] He was all about the bats.

[00:18:59] Yeah, Ozzy could have grabbed it and bit the head off.

[00:19:01] But here's the thing.

[00:19:03] I looked up ACDC.

[00:19:05] So Angus Young is 69 years old.

[00:19:09] So he's relatively young compared to a lot of these guys.

[00:19:12] Brian Johnson, who's the lead singer, he's 76.

[00:19:17] And then Malcolm Young, who had passed away probably about five years ago,

[00:19:23] has been replaced by his nephew, Steve Young.

[00:19:26] So I just thought that that was crazy that ACDC is out there touring

[00:19:30] when they're all in their 70s.

[00:19:32] And then it reminded me that the Rolling Stones are out on tour as well.

[00:19:36] It's amazing what you can do when you can recycle your blood

[00:19:40] and get all the impurities out every week, you know what I mean?

[00:19:43] Yeah, I know.

[00:19:45] I feel like there's nothing...

[00:19:47] Is there anything less rock and roll than these old rock stars

[00:19:52] touring and refusing to let it go?

[00:19:54] It's just sad.

[00:19:56] Yeah, I know. It is funny.

[00:19:58] I was just talking about David Gilmour from Pink Floyd

[00:20:00] with my folks last week.

[00:20:02] And he put out a new album and there's a video of him in the studio

[00:20:05] surrounded by a bunch of people praising him.

[00:20:08] And it just occurred to me that nobody's going to tell him

[00:20:11] that that take was awful or this song is terrible.

[00:20:14] Everybody's surrounding him going,

[00:20:16] yeah, that's great, Dave.

[00:20:18] It sounds great.

[00:20:20] And it's so mediocre.

[00:20:22] Yeah, well, the thing I'll say about Gilmour and Pink Floyd

[00:20:24] is like the one thing I will say about them is like ACDC

[00:20:26] and Rolling Stones, they've made the stage activity,

[00:20:30] the event in their tours, like Gilmour and Pink Floyd,

[00:20:34] they made more like the light show and the music, their experience.

[00:20:37] So I feel like somebody like David Gilmour can get away

[00:20:40] with sort of being more in the background.

[00:20:42] And he's had some performances where he's been unbelievable.

[00:20:45] But yeah, it's time to pack it in.

[00:20:47] More immersive.

[00:20:49] Yeah. Yeah, true.

[00:20:51] Anyway. All right. So enough of this nonsense.

[00:20:53] So let's get back to I pulled the search and rescue

[00:20:57] from the regular news and just pulled it forward

[00:20:59] because I thought this was interesting.

[00:21:01] So there was a rescue of a glider in,

[00:21:05] I guess it was by Mussolini.

[00:21:07] Was it by Mussolini?

[00:21:09] No, no. It was.

[00:21:11] I'm pretty certain it was near Canon and Franconia Ridge

[00:21:14] and into Benton.

[00:21:16] Okay. That backside of Canon.

[00:21:18] Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

[00:21:20] I think they launch out of that back Kinsman side.

[00:21:22] Yeah. Yeah. So for people that are not aware,

[00:21:24] like you can a lot of times in the summer,

[00:21:26] if you go to Franconia Ridge or you do Canon,

[00:21:28] there's tons of gliders around.

[00:21:30] And I've been up on Franconia when there's like three

[00:21:32] or four of these gliders circling around.

[00:21:34] So it's not uncommon to see them,

[00:21:36] but maybe it's a little early in the year.

[00:21:39] I don't know.

[00:21:41] Maybe the updrafts aren't what they usually are,

[00:21:43] but an 84 year old pilot from Turnbridge, Vermont,

[00:21:48] apparently was gliding around Canon Mountain

[00:21:52] and he tried to turn back and he had trouble getting lift.

[00:21:54] So he was circling the ridge near Hogsback,

[00:21:57] I guess is the mountain or the summit.

[00:21:59] And he couldn't get lift,

[00:22:01] hit a downdraft and then crashed near the saddle

[00:22:05] of Hogsback around 430.

[00:22:07] He was about 20 feet up.

[00:22:09] He was off the ground.

[00:22:11] He was able to call 911 and they were ultimately

[00:22:13] able to get him.

[00:22:15] So he crashed around five o'clock

[00:22:17] and they were able to get him back out of there

[00:22:19] around like 10 o'clock at night.

[00:22:21] So the FAA is investigating

[00:22:23] and it looks like it was just one of these bad luck stories.

[00:22:27] But I don't know enough about gliders

[00:22:29] to know whether he made any mistakes or anything.

[00:22:31] But I do know that it's a pretty busy area

[00:22:33] on Franconia Ridge where the gliders hang out.

[00:22:35] And I know that there's a lot of people

[00:22:37] on Franconia Ridge where the gliders hang out.

[00:22:39] Yeah, I wonder if they have emergency parachutes.

[00:22:44] Can they eject?

[00:22:46] I don't know enough about it either.

[00:22:48] But if you look at the picture, man,

[00:22:50] that glider is face first hanging from a tree.

[00:22:53] That guy's very, very lucky.

[00:22:55] Yeah, yeah.

[00:22:57] I mean, the wingspan on those gliders is huge too.

[00:22:59] So they're pretty light, but they're also very big.

[00:23:02] Yeah.

[00:23:04] Incredible.

[00:23:06] It's pretty cool if you get up on Franconia

[00:23:08] and the gliders are up there and you watch them

[00:23:10] because they're pretty high up.

[00:23:12] They're a couple thousand feet above the summit.

[00:23:14] So they have to be flying around

[00:23:16] like, I don't know, eight or nine thousand feet of elevation.

[00:23:18] Sounds reasonable.

[00:23:20] Yep.

[00:23:22] We all know that hiking a mountain can be hard at times.

[00:23:26] So here's a corny dad joke to help you get over it.

[00:23:31] Bum-bum.

[00:23:36] All right, Stomp.

[00:23:38] This is the part of the show where I do a dad joke.

[00:23:41] So, Jen, do you like my dad jokes?

[00:23:44] I am a huge fan of puns.

[00:23:47] And I mean, that naturally blends into dad jokes.

[00:23:51] Okay.

[00:23:53] I have a bad dad joke.

[00:23:55] Okay, all right.

[00:23:57] Hold for a minute and we'll do yours right after mine.

[00:24:00] So how are scrambled eggs in baseball teams the same?

[00:24:04] They both get beaten.

[00:24:07] Oh, man.

[00:24:10] That's pretty weak.

[00:24:12] All right, Jen, see if you can beat that dad joke.

[00:24:14] Don't follow that.

[00:24:16] Yeah, Jen.

[00:24:18] Why do dads tell such corny jokes?

[00:24:20] I give up.

[00:24:22] Because they want you to grown up.

[00:24:24] Okay.

[00:24:26] I don't know which one is worse.

[00:24:29] Oh, boy.

[00:24:31] Those are rough.

[00:24:33] All right, those are rough.

[00:24:34] I couldn't come empty handed.

[00:24:36] Yeah, I appreciate it though.

[00:24:38] A for effort and Stomp, you're going to have to edit that little bit there.

[00:24:41] I will.

[00:24:43] All right, this is the part of the show where we do an advertiser.

[00:24:45] We're going to be doing Volkluce.

[00:24:47] All right, Volkluce gear.

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[00:25:01] As you know, sweat is a serious risk factor in both hot and cold climates.

[00:25:03] As your clothes get wet, your core temperature can dramatically fluctuate.

[00:25:07] This can result in hypothermia, heat exhaustion and dehydration.

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[00:26:02] Plus you let them know that Mike and Stomp sent you.

[00:26:06] Cool.

[00:26:08] All right.

[00:26:10] We will have stickers at the show this or the event this Saturday,

[00:26:14] but you can also get them at Ski Fanatics in Campton, New Hampshire

[00:26:18] off of exit 28 or Spinners Pizza Parlor in Andover

[00:26:22] off Daskam Road 93 in Massachusetts.

[00:26:25] If anybody's interested, we do have advertising

[00:26:28] packages if you want to get your product or whatever it may be advertised.

[00:26:32] And we do have a few donations this week, which is great.

[00:26:36] If you want to support the podcast with a donation,

[00:26:39] we have a site at Buy Me A Coffee, which you can go to and do so.

[00:26:44] So this week we have a five coffee donation from Anonymous.

[00:26:48] Thank you, Anonymous.

[00:26:50] So mysterious.

[00:26:52] NL Gagnon donated three coffees.

[00:26:55] Then we have Alex M.

[00:26:57] who donated five.

[00:26:59] Jeff P. also donated five coffees and then Paul donated 20 coffees.

[00:27:03] So thank you everybody so much for that.

[00:27:05] It's much appreciated.

[00:27:07] Thank you.

[00:27:09] Stomp's going to get new microphones now.

[00:27:11] Yeah, or new dentures for my teeth after all this beer opening.

[00:27:14] True, true.

[00:27:17] So we'll talk about beer in a minute, but we've got another sponsor here.

[00:27:21] CS Coffee.

[00:27:23] Yeah, let's see.

[00:27:25] Our podcast is supported by CS Instant Coffee,

[00:27:27] makers of eco-friendly instant coffee.

[00:27:29] It's perfect for anyone who loves the outdoors as much as we do.

[00:27:33] Great for backpacking, day hiking, camping, and even at home.

[00:27:37] Learn more and get in touch at www.csinstant.coffee

[00:27:43] or email us at info at csinstant.coffee.

[00:27:50] Jen, what was the coffee situation in Antarctica?

[00:27:53] You must go through an insane amount of coffee there.

[00:27:56] Thankfully, the cooks did not have to brew the coffee for the cafeteria.

[00:28:00] But we did have that 24 hours a day.

[00:28:04] But there is actually a coffee house that's open during the summer.

[00:28:09] It's open 24-7 and volunteers will work as a barista.

[00:28:16] So I absolutely had a cappuccino or a latte down there.

[00:28:21] And sometimes the cooks would put together different syrups,

[00:28:25] flavored syrups, or maybe somebody would donate something to the coffee house

[00:28:30] so you could get something different.

[00:28:34] Were you able to maintain?

[00:28:36] No, I'm sorry.

[00:28:38] The coffee beans that were used, I want to say they were roasted

[00:28:44] by a company out in South Carolina, maybe.

[00:28:49] I don't remember.

[00:28:53] Okay.

[00:28:55] When you're in that environment where it's daylight,

[00:29:00] almost 24 hours a day or a long period of time,

[00:29:04] do you get out of sync or are you able to maintain a regular

[00:29:08] sleep schedule where you sleep at night and then wake up in the morning?

[00:29:11] It was a weird adjustment because my brain equates daytime

[00:29:18] with get out and do things.

[00:29:20] And I actually had to set my phone to military time.

[00:29:25] If I fell asleep and woke up, I couldn't tell if it was 10 p.m. or 10 a.m.

[00:29:31] because it was all the same for the majority of the time, like daylight.

[00:29:36] We had really good blackout curtains in the rooms

[00:29:40] and I invested in a really good sleep mask.

[00:29:43] And once I kind of got myself on a schedule after all the traveling

[00:29:48] and craziness, it wasn't terrible.

[00:29:50] It wasn't too tough to adjust, but it definitely did take an adjustment.

[00:29:54] Yeah.

[00:29:56] I'd have to imagine that coffee is a big thing down in Antarctica.

[00:30:00] So I would be a priority.

[00:30:04] Yeah. I saw your pictures, Jen.

[00:30:06] They were great.

[00:30:08] I actually saw a Starbucks logo.

[00:30:10] Is that legit Starbucks or is that a...

[00:30:12] No.

[00:30:13] That had to do with Ice Stock, the New Year's Eve celebration that we had.

[00:30:20] And I may be completely incorrect, but I believe it was a coffee setup

[00:30:28] that was put on maybe by the carpenters or the electricians.

[00:30:31] They had their own little booth and it was not the Starbucks logo.

[00:30:37] It was slightly different because they were serving it with...

[00:30:42] They were serving it with alcohol pretty much for the New Year's celebration.

[00:30:47] I got it.

[00:30:49] That's cool.

[00:30:51] We'll get into this in a little bit more detail.

[00:30:53] I'm just kind of curious on these questions.

[00:30:55] But speaking of alcohol, this is the part of the show where we talk about

[00:30:58] what beer we are drinking.

[00:31:00] So I'm still dealing with this upper respiratory thing.

[00:31:02] So I'm just drinking water.

[00:31:04] But Jen, you've got something going on there.

[00:31:06] Yes. In honor of one of my favorite breweries, which we just found out

[00:31:10] is closing down for good.

[00:31:12] It's Hermit Thresh out of Brattleboro, Vermont.

[00:31:16] And actually I think...

[00:31:20] Stop. Was it last episode or the episode before you were drinking a sour?

[00:31:25] Yes.

[00:31:27] Yeah, they only do sours.

[00:31:29] Oh my goodness.

[00:31:31] And I absolutely... I am a huge, huge fan.

[00:31:34] I know they're not for everybody.

[00:31:36] But this is Brattle Beer.

[00:31:39] It's a founder aged sour ale with local apples.

[00:31:44] It's super tasty.

[00:31:46] So we actually just drove up to Brattleboro, my partner and I,

[00:31:51] to pick up about four cases to help them liquidate their inventory.

[00:31:57] Oh, nice.

[00:31:59] Oh, interesting.

[00:32:01] Is it super tart? Like really tart?

[00:32:03] Yes.

[00:32:05] I know they're still in stores.

[00:32:08] If you're at all curious, I know that there are...

[00:32:11] Brattle Beer might not be in stores,

[00:32:13] but some of their like Party Jam and other sour wild ales

[00:32:19] might still be in stores.

[00:32:22] Okay. Yeah, keep an eye on it.

[00:32:24] It's good to know.

[00:32:26] And Stomp, I actually did ask my daughter's boyfriend

[00:32:28] about that Greater Good sour that you had.

[00:32:30] And that was what he... he likes those too.

[00:32:32] I think it's like Funky Town or something.

[00:32:34] Oh my goodness.

[00:32:37] That was so sour.

[00:32:39] I couldn't believe it. He likes those.

[00:32:41] It was like a candy.

[00:32:43] What was the company? Or what's the brewery?

[00:32:45] Because I need to check them out.

[00:32:47] Yeah, it's Greater Good is the brewery out of Worcester.

[00:32:50] And the beer... hold on, I'll tell you right now if I can find it.

[00:32:58] Well, this ties in good with what I have tonight, actually.

[00:33:01] Funky...

[00:33:03] Funk Daddy is what it is.

[00:33:05] It's an Imperial Sour IPA 8%.

[00:33:08] Oh, I don't know about...

[00:33:10] Right. So it buries that beer taste.

[00:33:12] I don't know about sours and IPAs.

[00:33:14] I have always... I'm not a huge IPA fan.

[00:33:17] And anytime I find one that I like,

[00:33:19] I figure it's probably a bad IPA.

[00:33:24] Yeah, I don't know. I've never had one.

[00:33:26] Maybe.

[00:33:28] I can tell you it did not taste like beer at all

[00:33:30] because the lemon, the sour was so overwhelming.

[00:33:33] Mrs. Stomp took a sip and she's like,

[00:33:35] she cringed up or she puckered up.

[00:33:38] I mean, it was so sour.

[00:33:40] I'm definitely going to need to check them out.

[00:33:42] Yeah, yeah.

[00:33:44] They're nice.

[00:33:46] I mean, Worcester just in general has a bunch of good places to go.

[00:33:49] But speaking of that,

[00:33:51] my favorite is the Pulp Daddy from those guys.

[00:33:54] And tonight when I was going to get something for tonight,

[00:33:57] I found this Juice Daddy, which is ridiculous.

[00:34:01] It's 9.9, but what it is is that Pulp Daddy.

[00:34:04] So I guess it's like a hybrid in between that Funky Town

[00:34:07] and the Pulp Daddy that I'm really fond of.

[00:34:10] So it's again, it's more, it's amped up on the sour stuff.

[00:34:15] So it has a lot more of the orange

[00:34:17] and things that give it that fruity citrus type of flavor.

[00:34:21] Really good.

[00:34:23] So Stomp's going with another version of greater good tonight.

[00:34:25] So all right, well, hopefully next week I will be back at it.

[00:34:28] And I just, I don't know, I can't kick this thing.

[00:34:31] I've been muting my button and coughing all over the place.

[00:34:34] So I apologize.

[00:34:35] But working through it.

[00:34:37] All right, Stomp.

[00:34:39] And then this is the part of the show where we talk about recent hikes.

[00:34:42] So I got nothing.

[00:34:44] I am getting out on Saturday, hopefully.

[00:34:46] But you've been up to a bunch of stuff.

[00:34:48] So why don't you share with the listeners, Stomp,

[00:34:50] where you've been going?

[00:34:52] Yeah, I just want to give a plug to the Quincy Bog.

[00:34:55] Just yesterday I had some time to kill.

[00:34:58] And the Quincy Bog is in,

[00:35:00] it's off of Tenney Mountain Drive in Plymouth.

[00:35:04] And it's a beautiful one mile loop around a bog

[00:35:10] that is sort of like,

[00:35:12] it rests at one of the flanks of Mount Stinson.

[00:35:15] If you're familiar with Mount Stinson.

[00:35:17] And it's 43 acres, a beautiful place.

[00:35:19] The bugs are a little outrageous,

[00:35:21] but they are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year

[00:35:25] for the protection of that bog.

[00:35:28] So it's been 50 years since the foundation

[00:35:30] of the trust that protects the bog.

[00:35:32] And it's a neat place.

[00:35:34] It's like maybe a third mile,

[00:35:36] maybe up to a half a mile of just bog bridges

[00:35:38] that you walk on.

[00:35:40] And then, you know, mostly flat

[00:35:42] for people that have issues with elevation.

[00:35:45] So check it out.

[00:35:47] It's really nice.

[00:35:49] But at the moment,

[00:35:51] you might want to bring your bug spray or bug net.

[00:35:53] And then, yeah, moving on to the big enchilada.

[00:35:56] I did the single day Pemi loop

[00:35:58] and I went clockwise

[00:36:00] this time around.

[00:36:02] So this would be my fourth time doing it.

[00:36:04] Now I've done it twice,

[00:36:06] counterclockwise and twice clockwise.

[00:36:08] I think I mentioned online

[00:36:10] that it's easier mentally

[00:36:12] and psychologically for me to go clockwise.

[00:36:15] I don't know if people agree with that or not,

[00:36:17] but that's what I find.

[00:36:19] I started about 830 in the morning

[00:36:21] and I took my time.

[00:36:23] I had, you know,

[00:36:25] backpacking heavy leather boots on.

[00:36:27] I had my, you know,

[00:36:29] I had probably like 40 pounds.

[00:36:31] I had all my stuff with me thinking,

[00:36:33] okay, I haven't done this in a while.

[00:36:35] I think my max mileage

[00:36:37] up until recently has been about 10 miles.

[00:36:39] So I said to myself,

[00:36:41] if I can make it to say Bond Cliff

[00:36:43] and I crash, then I can crash.

[00:36:45] So I really took my time.

[00:36:47] I came out at 19 hours,

[00:36:49] which is, you know,

[00:36:51] that sort of stings a bit,

[00:36:53] since I did it in 12,

[00:36:55] like a couple years back

[00:36:57] before my hip surgery and all that,

[00:36:59] but I'm not going to make excuses.

[00:37:01] So it was phenomenal.

[00:37:03] The weather was perfect.

[00:37:05] I did get to see that Black Hawk extraction

[00:37:07] from a distance.

[00:37:09] The Black Hawk was busy rescuing somebody

[00:37:11] that had a medical emergency

[00:37:13] just below the summit of Haystack.

[00:37:15] And when I got to Haystack,

[00:37:17] I met some of the Alpine stewards,

[00:37:19] Carla and Leanne.

[00:37:21] They were fantastic.

[00:37:23] And I really was unaware

[00:37:25] that they were Alpine stewards.

[00:37:27] I thought I knew about the stewards

[00:37:29] of the peaks.

[00:37:31] You have stewards as well?

[00:37:33] Yeah, I've run into them in the past.

[00:37:35] And they're sort of like just advising people

[00:37:37] to just stay on the trail

[00:37:39] and stay out of the fragile vegetation

[00:37:41] and all that stuff.

[00:37:43] So yeah, they're great.

[00:37:45] Yeah.

[00:37:46] Yeah.

[00:37:48] Super cool.

[00:37:50] So I made it to Twin,

[00:37:52] South Twin by the time sunset hit.

[00:37:54] And at that point,

[00:37:56] I still had...

[00:37:58] The sign at Geo says 8.1 miles

[00:38:00] to Lincoln Woods.

[00:38:02] So I still had at least 15 miles

[00:38:04] to go when it was sunset.

[00:38:06] Wow.

[00:38:08] So I just sat on the top of South Twin

[00:38:10] and just resolved,

[00:38:12] like just said,

[00:38:14] okay, let's get it in gear and go.

[00:38:16] By the time I got to Geo,

[00:38:18] I had to put the headlamps on

[00:38:20] and that was a thrill.

[00:38:22] I mean, I've never seen a sky,

[00:38:24] a night sky like this

[00:38:26] probably in my memory.

[00:38:28] It was absolutely phenomenal.

[00:38:30] No clouds,

[00:38:32] somewhat sketchy coming through Geo

[00:38:34] and then coming down Bond

[00:38:36] was...

[00:38:38] I forgot how rough that is,

[00:38:40] coming down Bond and then transitioning

[00:38:42] to the flat.

[00:38:44] Yeah, it's a lot longer.

[00:38:46] It's a lot longer.

[00:38:48] Like you go into the trees a little bit

[00:38:50] and then you come out.

[00:38:52] It's a long distance to get over to Pond Cliff.

[00:38:54] Yeah.

[00:38:55] Yeah.

[00:38:56] I thought it was a beer,

[00:38:58] but it ended up being three young ladies

[00:39:00] that were hiking up and heading over to Geo.

[00:39:02] So that was neat.

[00:39:04] And yeah, so

[00:39:06] yeah, a great time.

[00:39:08] I came out and I saw sunrise

[00:39:10] and then I spent Sunday on the couch

[00:39:12] just totally recovered.

[00:39:14] Besides those three,

[00:39:16] did you see anybody else coming up Lincoln Woods

[00:39:18] at night?

[00:39:20] I saw nobody on Lincoln Woods.

[00:39:22] Nobody at all.

[00:39:24] Boy, was that a long walk out.

[00:39:26] Yeah.

[00:39:28] So tell me about the time and your thoughts, huh?

[00:39:30] Oh, dude.

[00:39:32] Yeah.

[00:39:33] That whole thing.

[00:39:35] You know how adverse I am to having people on trail?

[00:39:37] Just I love being alone.

[00:39:39] I was actually welcoming those brief little

[00:39:41] encounters with people that would pass me

[00:39:43] just for those few words.

[00:39:45] It was great.

[00:39:47] And yeah, so that's that.

[00:39:49] And then there's the whole,

[00:39:51] the whole thing.

[00:39:53] Yeah.

[00:39:55] So he took like a inspiration from Larry the log.

[00:39:57] And instead of a log, he's smart.

[00:39:59] He took a pool noodle,

[00:40:01] which weighs like nothing.

[00:40:03] And he set the fastest time

[00:40:05] for a hiker carrying a pool noodle.

[00:40:07] And then he also did a video,

[00:40:09] which was great.

[00:40:11] He used like Lord of the Rings.

[00:40:13] And then like he did the behind the scenes

[00:40:15] because you always see the hiking videos on YouTube

[00:40:17] where they'll show them like walking past the camera.

[00:40:19] But Stomp did the thing where he actually

[00:40:21] like forgot to edit out the setting up the camera.

[00:40:23] And like he would walk

[00:40:25] and then come back and get his camera,

[00:40:27] but he wouldn't edit it out.

[00:40:29] So it's kind of funny because you don't really

[00:40:31] think about that, but you're like,

[00:40:33] oh, that's what they're doing is they're like.

[00:40:35] And I've done that before.

[00:40:37] Honestly, I've done that before.

[00:40:39] But yeah, I thought it was kind of funny.

[00:40:41] You know, it was very epic.

[00:40:43] Yeah.

[00:40:45] Mrs. Stomp and I thought of that.

[00:40:47] We were grocery shopping last Friday night

[00:40:49] and we saw the pool noodle on the way out of Haniford.

[00:40:51] And immediately the two of us are like,

[00:40:53] OK, so you're right, though.

[00:40:55] That was the funny thing about it.

[00:40:57] I have always found it humorous

[00:40:59] that people, content creators,

[00:41:01] edit out the setup portion

[00:41:03] of those videos of them walking by

[00:41:05] or walking through.

[00:41:07] So I had to keep it.

[00:41:09] And I actually want to thank Dave for that

[00:41:11] because Dave Schittz was my comic like supervisor

[00:41:13] on the Mike Dave.

[00:41:15] Should I keep that in?

[00:41:17] And he's like, absolutely.

[00:41:19] Pure gold.

[00:41:21] So it was funny.

[00:41:23] It was great.

[00:41:25] And last thing about this, though,

[00:41:27] there were a lot of comments along the way.

[00:41:29] And what I started doing

[00:41:31] when people would pass me,

[00:41:33] everybody was asking,

[00:41:35] like, what's the noodle for?

[00:41:37] So I started saying different things

[00:41:39] to different people.

[00:41:41] Like some people I would say,

[00:41:43] oh, it's insulation for one of the huts

[00:41:45] or what else?

[00:41:47] For people, I slap people with the noodle

[00:41:49] if they have flip flops on,

[00:41:51] things like that.

[00:41:53] I'm going to swim in Garfield Pond

[00:41:55] or whatever.

[00:41:57] Yeah, right, right.

[00:41:59] It was a good time.

[00:42:01] Well, stop.

[00:42:03] Maybe it'll be your thing.

[00:42:05] You can be the pool noodle guy.

[00:42:07] Yeah.

[00:42:08] Good luck trying to crush that record.

[00:42:12] Good luck to you.

[00:42:14] So Jen, have you been out at all hiking recently?

[00:42:16] I have.

[00:42:18] And just a just kind of a PSA.

[00:42:20] If you've ever if you ever decide

[00:42:22] to spend four to six months

[00:42:24] in Antarctica

[00:42:26] and then come back

[00:42:28] and then spend about a week

[00:42:30] moving your items from one home

[00:42:32] to another,

[00:42:34] and then you take a trip out to Arizona,

[00:42:36] which is also incredibly dry.

[00:42:38] Yeah.

[00:42:40] Make sure you hydrate because

[00:42:42] I have been absolutely toast,

[00:42:44] like 100 percent.

[00:42:46] And I've I learned my lesson

[00:42:48] early on hiking the whites

[00:42:50] about how necessary hydration

[00:42:52] is.

[00:42:54] And apparently I didn't learn anything

[00:42:56] from it because I've I've been

[00:42:58] recovering.

[00:43:00] So I just got out on the trails

[00:43:02] was today, Thursday.

[00:43:04] So I went out Wednesday to a local

[00:43:06] spot in the North Borough Mass

[00:43:08] area called Mount Pigsaw

[00:43:10] and did I had

[00:43:12] this great little this great

[00:43:14] little three mile loop that I was

[00:43:16] going to do to explore the trails.

[00:43:18] And I did a mile and a quarter

[00:43:20] of it and got out

[00:43:22] today and actually did

[00:43:24] just under three miles

[00:43:26] with slightly better shoes

[00:43:28] and slightly better clothes

[00:43:30] and some bug spray.

[00:43:32] But my strength,

[00:43:34] my strength is gone.

[00:43:36] Like I think back to all the hiking

[00:43:38] I've done in the whites and I

[00:43:40] couldn't do any of that right now.

[00:43:42] Well, you work your way back.

[00:43:44] But yeah, Arizona's brutal.

[00:43:46] Like I think I was like, oh,

[00:43:48] I do a three mile hike in Arizona

[00:43:50] and the heat would be the equivalent

[00:43:52] of like a nine or 10 mile hike in

[00:43:54] the whites.

[00:43:55] Yeah.

[00:43:57] Between between the elevation,

[00:43:59] the dry climate.

[00:44:00] And then I don't know what I spent

[00:44:02] a couple of days in Phoenix and then

[00:44:04] friends and I went up to Flagstaff

[00:44:06] and the allergy, whatever

[00:44:08] was up there hit me so hard

[00:44:10] that my sinuses were so clogged.

[00:44:12] So between that and then plane

[00:44:14] flights and elevation

[00:44:16] and air pressure as miserable.

[00:44:17] So I just need a break.

[00:44:19] Well, you'll be you'll be back

[00:44:21] at it soon enough.

[00:44:22] But all right.

[00:44:24] Well, hopefully I'll have a story

[00:44:26] to tell soon enough, Stomp.

[00:44:28] But I'm proud of you for the Pemi loop

[00:44:30] and Jen, I'm glad that you're

[00:44:32] getting back into it.

[00:44:34] Yeah, definitely.

[00:44:36] Stomp. So this is the part of the show

[00:44:38] where we do an advertisement

[00:44:40] for 48 Peaks.

[00:44:42] All right.

[00:44:44] This is the big weekend.

[00:44:46] The Alzheimer's Association

[00:44:48] is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

[00:44:50] About 400 plus hikers will climb

[00:44:52] New Hampshire's 4000 footers

[00:44:54] or create their own challenge

[00:44:56] to support the mission

[00:44:58] of the Alzheimer's Association.

[00:45:00] The annual hiker celebration

[00:45:02] will take place Saturday,

[00:45:04] this Saturday, June 8th

[00:45:06] at Reckless Brewing Company

[00:45:08] with Raffles Food

[00:45:10] and an amazing community.

[00:45:12] Hike that weekend or any day you want.

[00:45:14] Excuse me.

[00:45:16] If you're one of those hikers,

[00:45:18] visit alz.org

[00:45:20] right slash 48 Peaks

[00:45:22] to learn more.

[00:45:25] It's time for

[00:45:27] Slasher's Notable Hike

[00:45:29] of the Week.

[00:45:31] If you want to be considered

[00:45:33] for the hike of the week,

[00:45:35] simply tag Slasher

[00:45:42] on your social media post.

[00:45:44] Very good.

[00:45:45] Stomp.

[00:45:46] Now we have a backlog

[00:45:48] of notable hikes

[00:45:50] that we have to go through

[00:45:52] and we're running out of time.

[00:45:54] So if you want to tag us

[00:45:56] for your hike,

[00:45:58] do so and you can be considered

[00:46:00] for Slasher's Notable Hike

[00:46:02] of the Week.

[00:46:03] And I really want to just say

[00:46:05] props to the people

[00:46:07] that have tagged us.

[00:46:09] They're really doing some

[00:46:11] really novel and new

[00:46:13] and interesting things

[00:46:15] to tag us for.

[00:46:17] So we start with Northeast

[00:46:19] The Grateful Hiker

[00:46:21] completed the Spring Fling Trail

[00:46:23] Challenge along with Allison

[00:46:25] 75 miles from March to May

[00:46:27] finishing on Mount Manatnock.

[00:46:29] What is this Spring Fling

[00:46:31] Challenge?

[00:46:32] Do we know what this is?

[00:46:34] No, no, we don't.

[00:46:36] We have to Google this.

[00:46:38] All right.

[00:46:40] You mind if I can say?

[00:46:42] Sorry.

[00:46:43] All right.

[00:46:44] No problem.

[00:46:46] Researching as you're talking.

[00:46:48] We're going to start with

[00:46:50] Northeast Discovery.

[00:46:52] Now, this is a cool one to

[00:46:54] hiked up the novel,

[00:46:56] which is slash maybe a

[00:46:58] bushwhack, a little bit of

[00:47:00] Herd Path, a little combo.

[00:47:02] It's the little bump just

[00:47:04] below North Twin that you

[00:47:06] can see from certain vistas.

[00:47:08] It's also known as

[00:47:10] Haystack Mountain in

[00:47:12] Bethlehem.

[00:47:13] Sea Gothberg hiked

[00:47:15] Wildcat Ridge, Wildcat River

[00:47:16] Route 16, that is.

[00:47:18] And that's a death march.

[00:47:20] That is a death march.

[00:47:22] I've done that from Gorham

[00:47:24] all the way back to

[00:47:26] Glen Boulder on that road.

[00:47:28] That's a nightmare.

[00:47:30] A couple more.

[00:47:32] We have EC Banks Hikes

[00:47:34] hiked Avalon Field, Tom

[00:47:36] Willie Twins for 20 miles

[00:47:38] and six oh seven point

[00:47:40] six thousand vertical.

[00:47:42] And I don't know who this

[00:47:44] is.

[00:47:46] She did the Grand Traverse

[00:47:48] from Tecumseh to Dickey and

[00:47:50] parentheses.

[00:47:51] She wants to let you know

[00:47:53] that she said she'd get

[00:47:55] you a puppy if you vote

[00:47:57] for her.

[00:47:59] I don't know.

[00:48:01] I don't know who that is,

[00:48:03] but whatever.

[00:48:04] Yeah.

[00:48:06] Northeast Discovery did

[00:48:08] Glen Boulder.

[00:48:09] Oh man, we do have a

[00:48:11] backlog.

[00:48:13] And then Laura Eli was

[00:48:15] up Mount Hale and Zealand

[00:48:17] Loop.

[00:48:18] Hiking Feeds My Soul and

[00:48:20] Miles did Smarts Mountain

[00:48:22] 52 without a view.

[00:48:24] A couple more here.

[00:48:26] Liz Fay was up on

[00:48:28] Pyramont Mountain, which is

[00:48:30] one of the New Hampshire

[00:48:32] highest five hundred.

[00:48:33] Oh yeah.

[00:48:35] Margaret and Spence,

[00:48:37] Margaret and her dad

[00:48:39] hiked Carter Dome,

[00:48:41] Mount Heights, South

[00:48:43] of the 4000 footers.

[00:48:45] And on the 29th,

[00:48:47] Margaret's dad completed

[00:48:49] a single day Mahoussik

[00:48:51] Traverse north to south.

[00:48:53] Yikes.

[00:48:54] Grafton Notch to Gorham.

[00:48:55] That's impressive.

[00:48:57] Yeah, it sure is.

[00:48:59] Our good friend Jess D'Lo

[00:49:01] did a few days on the Sky

[00:49:03] Trail in Scotland.

[00:49:04] That's pretty neat.

[00:49:06] NL Gagnon

[00:49:08] hiked Middle Sugarloaf.

[00:49:10] P.

[00:49:11] M.

[00:49:12] Jr.

[00:49:13] Hiked Madison and then

[00:49:15] Isolation.

[00:49:16] That's that's a lengthy

[00:49:18] trip as well.

[00:49:19] Gingerbeard Keene.

[00:49:21] This is cool.

[00:49:23] This is something that

[00:49:25] Larson tackled and set a

[00:49:27] fastest known time for

[00:49:29] a couple of years back.

[00:49:31] It's the Skyline Loop

[00:49:33] in Waterville Valley,

[00:49:35] and they did 35 miles

[00:49:37] 10.9 thousand elevation

[00:49:39] over 14 hours.

[00:49:40] The Summit's tagged us

[00:49:42] for a Memorial Day

[00:49:44] hike.

[00:49:45] They carried remembrance

[00:49:46] stones up Mount Double Top

[00:49:48] in Baxter State Park

[00:49:50] as part of the summit project.

[00:49:52] So they hiked with a team

[00:49:54] of five, each carrying a

[00:49:56] stone for a fallen veteran

[00:49:58] hero, and these stones

[00:50:00] were given to them by

[00:50:02] Gold Star families and

[00:50:04] then returned to them

[00:50:05] after the hike was

[00:50:06] completed.

[00:50:07] Awesome.

[00:50:08] Wow, that's great.

[00:50:09] I think I'm going to go

[00:50:11] so Margaret and Spence.

[00:50:12] I'm going to get I got

[00:50:13] a soft spot for the

[00:50:14] father-daughter deal.

[00:50:15] And then, you know,

[00:50:17] dad did a muhosic traverse

[00:50:18] single day and he did it

[00:50:19] north to salt.

[00:50:20] So that's give you that

[00:50:21] one.

[00:50:22] And then Gingerbeard with

[00:50:23] the Skyline Loop

[00:50:25] and then we'll give

[00:50:26] it to full strength

[00:50:27] coffee and Steve Summit.

[00:50:28] So Jeff and Steve on

[00:50:30] the Baxter adventure.

[00:50:32] So three for three.

[00:50:34] Wow.

[00:50:35] Three for three.

[00:50:36] So wait a minute.

[00:50:37] You're passing on a puppy.

[00:50:39] Yeah.

[00:50:40] Yeah.

[00:50:41] I'm hearing right now.

[00:50:42] Mrs. Mike won't be

[00:50:43] happy.

[00:50:44] Mrs.

[00:50:45] Stomp shows up with a

[00:50:46] puppy.

[00:50:47] Mrs.

[00:50:48] Mike is not going to she's

[00:50:49] going to send it back to

[00:50:50] you.

[00:50:51] It's just going to be too

[00:50:52] much trouble than it's

[00:50:53] worth.

[00:50:54] So I suit your suit

[00:50:55] yourself.

[00:50:56] That's all right.

[00:50:57] So Jen, this is your

[00:50:58] moment.

[00:50:59] This is your time.

[00:51:00] I'm ready.

[00:51:01] We're going to get into

[00:51:02] your segment.

[00:51:03] All right.

[00:51:04] So I'm going to start

[00:51:05] this off with a quote by

[00:51:06] Anthony Bourdain, who

[00:51:07] visited in 2017.

[00:51:08] So we're talking about

[00:51:09] Antarctica.

[00:51:10] It's a continent of

[00:51:11] travels of seekers

[00:51:12] united in the

[00:51:13] continuation of

[00:51:14] exploration, learning

[00:51:16] the search for greater

[00:51:17] understanding, the

[00:51:18] pursuit of pure

[00:51:19] knowledge.

[00:51:20] So that's Anthony Bourdain.

[00:51:21] Was it that epic from

[00:51:22] your perspective, Jen?

[00:51:25] It's tough to say the

[00:51:28] overall experience when

[00:51:29] I look back on it and

[00:51:31] in the arrival was

[00:51:32] incredibly epic.

[00:51:34] But the day to day

[00:51:36] was incredibly

[00:51:37] exhausting and probably

[00:51:38] not what people

[00:51:41] expect to hear.

[00:51:43] Yeah, it's like so

[00:51:45] Jen has been in contact

[00:51:46] with us like she's been I

[00:51:48] think her and Stomp

[00:51:49] connected like a while

[00:51:50] back and she had told

[00:51:52] us that she was down in

[00:51:53] Antarctica working and we

[00:51:54] were like, oh, we

[00:51:55] definitely want to have

[00:51:56] you on to learn more

[00:51:57] about this because I feel

[00:51:58] like the listeners would

[00:51:59] be super interested.

[00:52:01] So you got back and

[00:52:02] we're happy to have

[00:52:03] you here.

[00:52:05] So why don't you start

[00:52:06] off and we'll talk a lot

[00:52:08] about the station and

[00:52:10] the whole layout.

[00:52:11] But why don't you just

[00:52:12] start off with an

[00:52:13] introduction?

[00:52:14] Tell us a little bit

[00:52:15] about sort of your

[00:52:16] background and your

[00:52:17] early life experience and

[00:52:18] a little bit about your

[00:52:19] hiking background.

[00:52:20] Sure.

[00:52:21] I was born and raised on

[00:52:22] Cape Cod and I was of

[00:52:24] the generation where

[00:52:26] when you got home from

[00:52:27] school, you changed out

[00:52:28] of your school clothes

[00:52:30] into play clothes and you

[00:52:31] went outside so that you

[00:52:32] didn't bother mom, you

[00:52:33] know, for the next few

[00:52:34] hours.

[00:52:35] And you'd go back at

[00:52:36] dinnertime.

[00:52:37] So while I wasn't

[00:52:38] necessarily into hiking

[00:52:39] at a young age, it was

[00:52:40] out riding my bikes or

[00:52:41] playing with the kids in

[00:52:42] the neighborhood or

[00:52:43] exploring the woods.

[00:52:46] My first experience

[00:52:48] hiking was actually up

[00:52:50] in Baxter State Park and

[00:52:51] I had really no idea how

[00:52:53] special it was until I

[00:52:55] really look back on it.

[00:52:57] I was it was probably

[00:53:00] 12, 13 years old and

[00:53:02] my best friend

[00:53:03] at the time invited me

[00:53:04] to go with her mom and

[00:53:06] a friend of theirs.

[00:53:08] And we hiked

[00:53:10] Black Cat.

[00:53:11] We hiked North

[00:53:13] Traveler, Double Top

[00:53:15] and I don't

[00:53:17] remember which peak of

[00:53:18] Katahdin.

[00:53:19] I know we did not do the

[00:53:20] Knife's Edge,

[00:53:22] but I have these

[00:53:24] pictures of me with

[00:53:26] the like with the external

[00:53:27] frame backpack that is

[00:53:28] bigger than me.

[00:53:30] You know, the knee socks

[00:53:31] up there.

[00:53:32] I have the knee socks

[00:53:33] up to my knees

[00:53:35] and I look so

[00:53:36] ridiculous, like

[00:53:38] so tiny.

[00:53:39] I have no idea how

[00:53:41] I carry that pack around,

[00:53:42] but it's youth,

[00:53:44] you know, and you don't

[00:53:45] you don't think twice

[00:53:46] about it.

[00:53:47] And I was just along

[00:53:48] to hang out with my

[00:53:49] best friend and we

[00:53:50] camped out in the woods

[00:53:51] and we saw, you know,

[00:53:52] moose and we heard

[00:53:53] loons and we were up

[00:53:54] on mountains and it

[00:53:55] was amazing.

[00:53:57] And then I didn't do

[00:53:58] anything because,

[00:54:00] you know, for years

[00:54:01] people came along and

[00:54:03] the malls were there

[00:54:04] and the boys were

[00:54:05] around and I didn't want

[00:54:06] to be out, you know,

[00:54:07] hiking.

[00:54:10] And after

[00:54:12] college,

[00:54:14] I moved down

[00:54:16] to be with my now

[00:54:18] ex-husband in

[00:54:19] Central Kentucky.

[00:54:21] And when that

[00:54:22] kind of went south,

[00:54:24] I realized

[00:54:26] I needed to get

[00:54:27] out.

[00:54:28] I needed to make new

[00:54:29] friends and get back

[00:54:30] out into the world

[00:54:31] rather than being upset

[00:54:32] about a divorce.

[00:54:34] And I found

[00:54:36] the Red River Gorge

[00:54:37] in Kentucky,

[00:54:38] in Eastern Kentucky,

[00:54:39] and I got back

[00:54:40] out hiking

[00:54:41] and learned about

[00:54:42] geocaching,

[00:54:43] which plays an important

[00:54:44] part in me getting

[00:54:45] into the whites.

[00:54:47] And I realized

[00:54:49] like I have been

[00:54:50] wasting my time,

[00:54:51] you know, not hiking.

[00:54:53] So I moved back

[00:54:55] to the Cape

[00:54:56] in 2005

[00:54:58] and immediately

[00:54:59] I started exploring.

[00:55:00] I had geocaching

[00:55:01] as a hobby at that point

[00:55:02] as an activity.

[00:55:03] It got me out,

[00:55:04] it kept me active.

[00:55:05] And while

[00:55:07] the Cape is not

[00:55:08] necessarily a sandbar,

[00:55:09] I mean, it does have

[00:55:10] some elevation changes.

[00:55:13] I realized

[00:55:15] as I kind of geocached

[00:55:17] my way through

[00:55:18] the Cape,

[00:55:20] I kept venturing

[00:55:22] further out

[00:55:23] into Massachusetts

[00:55:25] and explored the Blue Hills

[00:55:26] and Wachusett,

[00:55:27] all pretty much

[00:55:28] geocaching driven.

[00:55:30] And that is what

[00:55:31] brings me to the whites.

[00:55:33] A couple

[00:55:34] caching friends of mine

[00:55:36] wanted to go after

[00:55:37] a specific geocache

[00:55:38] on Mount Success.

[00:55:40] It was

[00:55:41] April.

[00:55:42] I'm sorry.

[00:55:45] It was very cool

[00:55:46] and I had absolutely

[00:55:47] no idea what I was in for.

[00:55:49] So you're going

[00:55:50] to Mount Success

[00:55:51] in April though?

[00:55:52] In April, yes.

[00:55:54] All right.

[00:55:55] So did the three of you

[00:55:56] were in for or

[00:55:57] you were just caching?

[00:55:58] No, we were caching driven.

[00:56:00] That's a muddy mess.

[00:56:01] Yeah.

[00:56:02] No search and rescue

[00:56:03] was needed,

[00:56:04] thankfully.

[00:56:05] I can say that now.

[00:56:07] So we're driving up,

[00:56:08] you know, we leave early,

[00:56:09] early morning

[00:56:10] and there's

[00:56:11] an older geocache

[00:56:13] that's just off the summit

[00:56:14] near the

[00:56:15] plane wreckage.

[00:56:17] And

[00:56:19] we get maybe

[00:56:20] an hour

[00:56:21] from, I think it's

[00:56:22] Berlin or Milan.

[00:56:24] Yes.

[00:56:25] And it starts snowing.

[00:56:27] We're like,

[00:56:29] what the heck

[00:56:30] do we do?

[00:56:32] I think we stopped

[00:56:34] at the Walmart

[00:56:35] on the way

[00:56:36] and kind of

[00:56:37] got ourselves some gloves

[00:56:38] and maybe some

[00:56:39] long sleeve stuff

[00:56:40] and because, you know,

[00:56:41] April down here

[00:56:42] is completely different.

[00:56:44] Yeah.

[00:56:45] You're going up Success Pond Road

[00:56:46] in April.

[00:56:47] Like it's, oh boy.

[00:56:49] Well, thankfully

[00:56:50] the guy who was driving

[00:56:51] had a Jeep

[00:56:52] four-wheel drive

[00:56:53] so we were okay with that.

[00:56:55] But

[00:56:57] we get to the trailhead

[00:56:58] and if I remember

[00:56:59] correctly,

[00:57:00] it pretty much

[00:57:01] just starts up

[00:57:02] like, you know,

[00:57:03] most trailheads.

[00:57:05] And I'm thinking

[00:57:06] like I'm screwed.

[00:57:07] Like what?

[00:57:09] How is this?

[00:57:10] This is just supposed

[00:57:11] to be a walk in the woods

[00:57:12] to find a geocache,

[00:57:13] you know.

[00:57:15] And it was

[00:57:17] definitely more than

[00:57:18] I had wanted

[00:57:19] to tackle.

[00:57:20] But once we got up

[00:57:21] on the ridge

[00:57:22] and headed

[00:57:23] towards

[00:57:25] the summit,

[00:57:26] I was just

[00:57:27] absolutely blown away.

[00:57:28] And it was

[00:57:29] you know,

[00:57:30] bluebird conditions.

[00:57:31] It was beautiful.

[00:57:32] You could see Washington

[00:57:34] snow-capped,

[00:57:35] you know,

[00:57:36] in the background

[00:57:37] and I was

[00:57:38] 100% hooked.

[00:57:39] I still did not

[00:57:40] like the effort

[00:57:41] it took

[00:57:42] to get up there

[00:57:44] but I was absolutely hooked.

[00:57:45] Although I

[00:57:46] and I don't know

[00:57:47] what happened

[00:57:48] in between

[00:57:49] between 2012

[00:57:50] and

[00:57:51] 2016

[00:57:52] but 16

[00:57:53] was my first

[00:57:55] 4000 footer

[00:57:56] we did Osceola

[00:57:57] and East Osceola

[00:57:58] with one of the

[00:57:59] the other two

[00:58:00] that I

[00:58:01] joined for that

[00:58:03] for Mount Success

[00:58:05] and we did

[00:58:06] Hey Jen

[00:58:07] I'm sorry

[00:58:10] How were the roads

[00:58:11] getting in there?

[00:58:12] Were they just muddy?

[00:58:13] Because that is mud season

[00:58:14] right?

[00:58:15] I don't remember

[00:58:16] And those are all muddy

[00:58:17] dirt roads

[00:58:18] I don't remember a lot of mud

[00:58:19] It must have been cold enough

[00:58:20] to where the roads

[00:58:21] were pretty solid

[00:58:22] but they were open

[00:58:23] Okay

[00:58:24] Sure

[00:58:25] Because that must be

[00:58:26] a mess up there

[00:58:27] when it warms up

[00:58:28] Yeah I have not been

[00:58:29] up there

[00:58:30] Actually I went after

[00:58:32] I've been up there

[00:58:33] one other time

[00:58:34] going after

[00:58:35] another

[00:58:36] geocache

[00:58:37] related to

[00:58:38] Goose Eye

[00:58:40] but I want to say

[00:58:41] maybe that was

[00:58:42] June, July

[00:58:43] so I definitely

[00:58:44] didn't have the same issues

[00:58:45] but I don't remember

[00:58:46] any mud issues

[00:58:47] so it must have been

[00:58:48] cold enough

[00:58:49] Yeah it was probably

[00:58:50] too cold

[00:58:51] because the thing

[00:58:52] about that side

[00:58:53] is that it's not

[00:58:54] direct sun

[00:58:55] so it doesn't get

[00:58:56] a lot of direct sunlight

[00:58:57] so I've been up there

[00:58:58] I've hiked in like August

[00:58:59] and it was like wet

[00:59:00] and muddy still

[00:59:01] so it was probably

[00:59:02] still sort of pretty firm

[00:59:03] when you got up there

[00:59:04] Yeah definitely

[00:59:05] But

[00:59:06] Anyway

[00:59:07] So fast forward

[00:59:08] to 2016

[00:59:09] though you started

[00:59:10] did you start the

[00:59:11] 4000 footers

[00:59:12] at that point?

[00:59:13] Yes

[00:59:14] So we learned

[00:59:15] I had a good friend

[00:59:16] at the time

[00:59:17] that was also

[00:59:18] into geocaching

[00:59:19] and he was willing

[00:59:20] to hike with me

[00:59:21] and after

[00:59:22] after summiting

[00:59:23] Mount Success

[00:59:24] we learned about

[00:59:25] the 52 of the view

[00:59:26] which of course

[00:59:27] led to the 48

[00:59:28] and we started

[00:59:29] going after

[00:59:30] summits that had

[00:59:31] geocaches on them

[00:59:32] you know

[00:59:33] two for kind of a

[00:59:34] you know

[00:59:35] two birds with one stone

[00:59:37] and we started

[00:59:38] with Osceola

[00:59:39] because it's labeled

[00:59:40] as easy

[00:59:41] you know

[00:59:42] the easiest

[00:59:43] I

[00:59:44] I swear

[00:59:45] I was like

[00:59:46] was it the

[00:59:47] was that the woman

[00:59:48] from like

[00:59:49] Alabama

[00:59:50] or something

[00:59:51] who complained

[00:59:52] about the rocks

[00:59:53] on the

[00:59:54] Yeah yeah

[00:59:55] she wrote the letter

[00:59:56] yeah that was

[00:59:57] that was I think

[00:59:58] Jackson Webster Trail

[00:59:59] that she was complaining

[01:00:00] But still

[01:00:01] I mean we all know

[01:00:02] for the most part

[01:00:03] how ridiculous

[01:00:04] the whites are

[01:00:05] and

[01:00:06] and I'm coming

[01:00:07] from a lifetime

[01:00:08] of wooded

[01:00:09] trails

[01:00:10] you know

[01:00:11] with some elevation

[01:00:12] but not where

[01:00:13] half of the trail

[01:00:14] is a big

[01:00:15] ginormous rock slab

[01:00:16] and I

[01:00:17] it

[01:00:18] it beat me up

[01:00:19] almost every step

[01:00:20] going up

[01:00:21] but again

[01:00:22] I had the right conditions

[01:00:23] when we get up to the top

[01:00:24] and we

[01:00:25] we are early starters

[01:00:26] so we were up there

[01:00:27] before the crowds were

[01:00:28] and this was

[01:00:29] maybe a June

[01:00:30] maybe June of 2016

[01:00:31] there was nobody up there

[01:00:32] when we got to Osceola

[01:00:33] and the views were just

[01:00:34] amazing

[01:00:35] totally hooked me

[01:00:36] we went and did East

[01:00:37] Osceola

[01:00:38] the chimney scared me

[01:00:39] but

[01:00:40] I

[01:00:41] I really think

[01:00:42] that

[01:00:43] that's

[01:00:44] that's

[01:00:45] that's

[01:00:46] that's

[01:00:47] that's

[01:00:48] I really think

[01:00:49] that the bypass

[01:00:50] which was my plan

[01:00:51] was

[01:00:52] tougher than the chimney

[01:00:53] yeah yeah

[01:00:54] it's

[01:00:55] you take your pick

[01:00:56] yeah

[01:00:57] but

[01:00:58] but we did that

[01:00:59] and when we came back

[01:01:00] it looked like there was a

[01:01:01] cafeteria

[01:01:02] up there

[01:01:03] like there were so many people

[01:01:04] up there

[01:01:05] which

[01:01:06] totally cemented my love

[01:01:07] of starting early

[01:01:08] so we get back down

[01:01:09] I'm

[01:01:10] practically

[01:01:11] in tears

[01:01:12] from relief

[01:01:13] when we get down to the parking lot

[01:01:14] because

[01:01:15] that was a lot more work

[01:01:16] than I ever wanted to do

[01:01:17] but

[01:01:18] but that year

[01:01:19] I did

[01:01:20] something like seven peaks

[01:01:22] because I was so

[01:01:23] incredibly hooked

[01:01:25] and it was just amazing

[01:01:26] and there was nothing like it

[01:01:27] you know obviously

[01:01:29] down where I am

[01:01:31] and

[01:01:32] and I mean from that

[01:01:35] I

[01:01:36] I didn't stop

[01:01:37] I mixed

[01:01:38] you know 52s

[01:01:39] 48s

[01:01:40] I

[01:01:41] tackled a couple of

[01:01:43] 4ks in Vermont

[01:01:44] when I could

[01:01:45] and

[01:01:46] started looking at

[01:01:47] Western Mass

[01:01:48] for

[01:01:49] I had done Greylock

[01:01:50] previously but

[01:01:52] but I just

[01:01:53] I just started hiking

[01:01:54] anytime that I could

[01:01:55] and

[01:01:56] it's

[01:01:57] it's a little

[01:01:58] I was working a really weird

[01:02:01] job

[01:02:02] hours

[01:02:03] hours wise

[01:02:04] and schedule wise

[01:02:05] I only had

[01:02:06] two weekends off a month

[01:02:09] so

[01:02:10] the weather had to agree

[01:02:11] and I had to be able to get up there

[01:02:13] but

[01:02:14] anytime I could

[01:02:15] I was

[01:02:16] up in the whites

[01:02:17] because it's just

[01:02:18] gorgeous

[01:02:19] it's unreal

[01:02:20] and then what

[01:02:22] what

[01:02:23] caused you to suddenly

[01:02:25] sometime

[01:02:26] I'm assuming at some point around

[01:02:27] 2022

[01:02:28] or

[01:02:29] 2023

[01:02:30] you started looking into

[01:02:32] this idea of doing like

[01:02:34] a grand trip

[01:02:35] had you done anything like this before

[01:02:37] like

[01:02:38] trying to go off

[01:02:39] and do long travel

[01:02:40] or

[01:02:41] work somewhere outside of your area

[01:02:44] actually yeah

[01:02:45] and it's another

[01:02:46] I've done some

[01:02:48] my first bit of international travel

[01:02:49] down to

[01:02:51] other than Canada and Mexico

[01:02:53] was down to Brazil

[01:02:55] to go after a geocache

[01:02:57] and

[01:02:58] that really opened up

[01:02:59] travel for me

[01:03:01] and

[01:03:02] I'm constantly

[01:03:03] I may not have

[01:03:05] the flexibility

[01:03:07] job wise

[01:03:08] at this point

[01:03:09] but

[01:03:10] I'm constantly looking at

[01:03:12] what can I get away with

[01:03:13] traveling to

[01:03:14] where can I go

[01:03:15] what can I see

[01:03:16] and

[01:03:17] I was

[01:03:18] I came across this woman's blog

[01:03:20] twice

[01:03:22] once maybe in

[01:03:23] 2020

[01:03:24] 2021

[01:03:26] and

[01:03:27] I kind of thought about it

[01:03:29] like glancing

[01:03:30] like there's no way I could ever do

[01:03:31] that kind of thing

[01:03:32] but she wrote about

[01:03:34] getting paid to travel

[01:03:35] and one of the locations

[01:03:37] that she had experienced

[01:03:38] traveling to

[01:03:39] was Antarctica

[01:03:40] I'm thinking

[01:03:41] wow that's

[01:03:42] amazingly cool

[01:03:43] but there's no way I could

[01:03:44] ever do something like that

[01:03:46] and

[01:03:48] then I

[01:03:51] ended up falling into a

[01:03:52] volunteer position

[01:03:53] with the

[01:03:54] Mount Washington

[01:03:55] Weather Observatory

[01:03:57] in

[01:03:58] 2023

[01:04:00] of March and April

[01:04:02] and I did that for a week

[01:04:03] and I thought

[01:04:05] well if I can do that

[01:04:06] for a week

[01:04:08] I might as well apply

[01:04:10] why not

[01:04:11] and I think I'd seen her blog

[01:04:12] again like just before

[01:04:13] I spent the week up at the summit

[01:04:15] and

[01:04:16] without telling anybody

[01:04:18] I applied for it

[01:04:20] and about a week later

[01:04:21] I got an email back

[01:04:22] saying

[01:04:23] hey you

[01:04:25] you meet the minimum requirements

[01:04:27] and

[01:04:28] I'm like oh that's great

[01:04:29] It's the

[01:04:30] nightmare scenario

[01:04:31] like the

[01:04:32] tentative job applicant

[01:04:34] all of a sudden hears back

[01:04:35] and they're like

[01:04:36] we want to hire you

[01:04:37] and you're like oh no

[01:04:38] this is

[01:04:39] my fantasy

[01:04:40] and it's suddenly real

[01:04:41] suddenly exactly

[01:04:42] suddenly it's very real

[01:04:43] that's cool

[01:04:44] it

[01:04:45] kind of blew me away

[01:04:46] even with the whole

[01:04:47] minimum requirement

[01:04:49] you know

[01:04:50] kind of dig

[01:04:53] but

[01:04:54] so I

[01:04:55] told my partner about it

[01:04:56] he was very

[01:04:57] very supportive

[01:04:59] told my family about it

[01:05:01] he's like I would love to see you go away for six months

[01:05:05] yeah

[01:05:06] that was pretty much it

[01:05:08] he's been along on some of my hikes

[01:05:10] and some of my

[01:05:11] cashing

[01:05:13] shenanigans

[01:05:14] and yeah he's like

[01:05:15] yeah we can use a break

[01:05:17] or I can use a break from your craziness

[01:05:20] but everybody I talked to

[01:05:21] was very supportive

[01:05:22] that's awesome

[01:05:24] and I figured what did I have to lose

[01:05:26] the worst that could happen

[01:05:27] is they'll say no

[01:05:29] yeah

[01:05:30] so you hear from the recruiter

[01:05:31] or the HR person

[01:05:32] or whatever

[01:05:33] and then

[01:05:34] did you have to go through an interview

[01:05:35] process

[01:05:36] yep

[01:05:37] I went through

[01:05:38] a first interview

[01:05:40] with actually one of the current sous chefs

[01:05:42] who was off station

[01:05:43] at the time

[01:05:45] and I actually got to see her

[01:05:48] while I was down on the station

[01:05:50] which is very cool to chat with her

[01:05:52] and

[01:05:53] after that

[01:05:55] I had an interview

[01:05:56] maybe

[01:05:57] maybe about

[01:05:58] two three weeks later

[01:05:59] I had an interview with the executive chef

[01:06:02] and

[01:06:03] my partner suggested

[01:06:04] you know

[01:06:05] for this zoom interview

[01:06:06] you really need to throw something

[01:06:08] in your background

[01:06:10] you know for this whole zoom thing

[01:06:11] and

[01:06:12] it's like you need to do

[01:06:13] something that was

[01:06:14] like one of the pictures

[01:06:15] from Mount Washington

[01:06:17] observatory since it's all

[01:06:18] you know snow and crazy

[01:06:19] and world's worst weather

[01:06:21] and I ended up putting a picture

[01:06:23] of the

[01:06:24] kind of looking down

[01:06:25] on the summit cone

[01:06:27] or rather from the summit cone

[01:06:28] up to the

[01:06:30] to the

[01:06:31] Sherman building

[01:06:33] and sure enough

[01:06:34] like we connect

[01:06:35] the zoom call happens

[01:06:37] and the first thing the chef says

[01:06:38] is wow

[01:06:39] where is that picture

[01:06:42] and we end up chatting for probably

[01:06:43] about 20 minutes

[01:06:44] unplanned about my time

[01:06:46] at the weather observatory

[01:06:48] and

[01:06:49] and then the rest I kind of feel

[01:06:50] like was just

[01:06:52] like obligatory

[01:06:53] you know we have to go through this

[01:06:54] process

[01:06:55] and

[01:06:56] and at the end he said yeah

[01:06:57] we'd like to have you come down

[01:06:58] here

[01:06:59] you'll get information about

[01:07:00] the rest of the process

[01:07:01] you know in the next coming days

[01:07:02] and

[01:07:03] I was both

[01:07:05] out and extend

[01:07:06] just ecstatic

[01:07:08] I bet did you ever find out

[01:07:10] like later did you ever ask them

[01:07:11] like hey how competitive is this

[01:07:13] like did you interview like 10

[01:07:14] 15 20 people

[01:07:16] and pick me or do you have any

[01:07:17] idea I have a little bit of an

[01:07:19] idea not necessarily

[01:07:21] for my

[01:07:23] my interview time

[01:07:25] there are a ton of people who

[01:07:27] interview

[01:07:28] the good for that station

[01:07:30] itself but there are so many

[01:07:31] different departments and the food

[01:07:33] service department like anywhere

[01:07:34] else is always hurting

[01:07:36] and in fact

[01:07:38] the season that I was down there we

[01:07:39] were probably only 75 percent

[01:07:41] staffed

[01:07:43] really one of one of the things you

[01:07:45] have to pass is a background check

[01:07:48] and I'm sure most of us know

[01:07:50] that food service workers aren't

[01:07:52] always you know

[01:07:54] can't always pass that

[01:07:55] they have their moments

[01:07:57] I've worked in a kitchen for many

[01:07:58] years I know what that's all about

[01:07:59] some people get hung up by that

[01:08:01] and that but yeah

[01:08:02] but there are there are some

[01:08:03] people who interview for years

[01:08:05] and don't get it

[01:08:06] and I'm guessing

[01:08:08] that they probably interview in

[01:08:10] different departments

[01:08:12] because food service is always you

[01:08:13] know it's always haunting

[01:08:15] yeah got it so you had a good hook

[01:08:17] with the photo when the zoom

[01:08:18] background and that was it

[01:08:20] so did you see you

[01:08:22] had like three four weeks to go

[01:08:23] through this process at any point

[01:08:25] where you're like I can't do this

[01:08:26] this is not going to work

[01:08:27] or the money situation

[01:08:29] or leaving for six months

[01:08:31] no not really I

[01:08:33] had I was living with family

[01:08:35] at the at the time

[01:08:37] I was kind of looking to get out

[01:08:39] of the job that I was in

[01:08:41] and hoping to move up to where

[01:08:43] I am now so

[01:08:45] it kind of helped me accelerate

[01:08:46] that plan and it gave me a reason

[01:08:48] to leave work

[01:08:51] work was very supportive

[01:08:53] even though it was kind of

[01:08:55] like a one-time thing

[01:08:57] it was kind of going to be a

[01:08:59] it ended up being kind of a last

[01:09:00] minute

[01:09:02] they were aware that I was going

[01:09:03] through the process

[01:09:04] but when it when I did finally

[01:09:06] get the OK here's your ticket

[01:09:08] it was they wanted me to leave

[01:09:09] like that week

[01:09:11] it ended up being about a two

[01:09:12] week notice that I gave

[01:09:14] them well

[01:09:16] did you did they push you pretty

[01:09:17] hard in the interview process

[01:09:18] about like hey you know

[01:09:20] this isn't this isn't like

[01:09:22] rainbows and unicorns like you're

[01:09:23] going to be in a tough

[01:09:25] environment and you got to be

[01:09:26] mentally strong enough to deal

[01:09:27] with this

[01:09:28] there was there was definitely

[01:09:29] conversation about that

[01:09:31] but also after

[01:09:33] the actual interview process you

[01:09:34] have to go through

[01:09:36] medical testing

[01:09:38] and dental testing for those

[01:09:39] for those dental reasons

[01:09:41] stomp

[01:09:44] so stop if you want to go to

[01:09:45] Antarctica

[01:09:47] I'd never pass

[01:09:48] stop opening beers with your

[01:09:49] teeth

[01:09:53] but yeah there was I mean

[01:09:54] there's you know a drug test

[01:09:55] there's a background test

[01:09:57] I had I had more stuff

[01:09:58] to do after the interview

[01:10:00] that took me months

[01:10:02] because I applied in

[01:10:04] April

[01:10:06] went through the went through the

[01:10:07] interview process in May

[01:10:09] and then it took me from the like

[01:10:11] the end of May until September to

[01:10:12] get medically cleared

[01:10:15] and then you start in October

[01:10:17] yeah I flew down they told me

[01:10:18] October

[01:10:20] 4th that

[01:10:22] that I was you know 100 percent

[01:10:23] cleared and ready to go do

[01:10:24] and I flew out October 14th

[01:10:27] got it and I think I just so you

[01:10:28] know I'm pretty sure I found the

[01:10:29] blog post that you were

[01:10:30] referencing so I did a little bit

[01:10:32] more digging

[01:10:34] the last couple of days on it so

[01:10:35] I may be like you

[01:10:37] may be like how do you know so

[01:10:38] much Mike and it's like I think I

[01:10:39] pretty much found a lot of the

[01:10:40] info that you did but

[01:10:42] so I had read that like basically

[01:10:44] for the travel they say

[01:10:46] you've got an 80 85 pound

[01:10:48] limit and then you can take like

[01:10:49] 10 or 15 pounds worth of carry

[01:10:51] on and then they give you a list

[01:10:53] of a lot of the gear that you

[01:10:54] have to bring

[01:10:56] so did you have any trouble

[01:10:57] packing all that stuff in for

[01:10:59] yes 100 percent I

[01:11:02] went with

[01:11:05] I think I ended up buying a

[01:11:08] 100 liter

[01:11:12] re I kind of duffel bed

[01:11:14] duffle with the with the backpack

[01:11:16] straps because I knew I could

[01:11:18] I knew I could carry a you

[01:11:20] know 35 pound because I'm

[01:11:22] always I don't pack well for my

[01:11:24] hikes I'm always heavy but so

[01:11:26] I knew I could I could handle one

[01:11:28] pack on my back and then be able

[01:11:30] to carry a second duffle bag

[01:11:33] and I probably spent

[01:11:36] a good solid week packing and

[01:11:37] unpacking and weighing

[01:11:40] and then repacking and I actually

[01:11:41] ended up mailing myself

[01:11:44] a bunch of stuff

[01:11:47] just like I think maybe the day

[01:11:48] before I left

[01:11:49] probably three or four boxes of

[01:11:51] miscellaneous junk that I didn't

[01:11:53] necessarily need but I wanted I

[01:11:54] brought down Christmas decorations

[01:11:56] and Halloween nonsense and just

[01:11:58] and some snacks and comforts

[01:12:00] that I knew I didn't need to pack

[01:12:02] with me but

[01:12:04] but yeah I have

[01:12:06] 100 percent I have hiking in the

[01:12:08] whites to thank for learning how to

[01:12:10] layer properly

[01:12:12] that was a huge help in deciding

[01:12:14] what to bring

[01:12:16] and then I went to the

[01:12:17] when you have to book the travel

[01:12:19] do you eventually like I'm assuming

[01:12:21] you get to New Zealand which is the

[01:12:22] closest point

[01:12:24] to McMurdo station and then

[01:12:26] and then you have to take a plane

[01:12:28] from Christchurch New Zealand

[01:12:30] into McMurdo is that it

[01:12:32] yep thankfully I don't have to

[01:12:34] do any of the booking and all the

[01:12:35] travel is covered

[01:12:37] which was definitely one of the I

[01:12:39] mean how else am I ever going to get

[01:12:40] to Antarctica I don't have that kind

[01:12:42] of money

[01:12:44] but yeah I think I've been

[01:12:47] and so they take care of your

[01:12:49] plane ticket that you let them know

[01:12:52] Boston is my area of departure

[01:12:54] and I flew from Boston

[01:12:56] to Houston

[01:12:58] and then Houston to

[01:13:01] Auckland on northern New

[01:13:03] Zealand went through customs there

[01:13:06] missed my flight down to Christchurch

[01:13:08] but so did like four other people who

[01:13:10] were also going down

[01:13:12] we flew into Christchurch they

[01:13:14] put us up in a hotel for three

[01:13:16] or four days and during

[01:13:18] that time we

[01:13:20] have a little bit of time to roam around

[01:13:22] Christchurch and kind of get

[01:13:25] our sleep schedule back because I

[01:13:27] don't know about anybody I had a rough

[01:13:29] time sleeping from Houston to Auckland

[01:13:31] that was a long long flight

[01:13:34] what was your first impression of some of

[01:13:36] your co-workers as you started to meet

[01:13:37] them at the airport did you have a lot

[01:13:38] in common or were you like these people

[01:13:40] are totally different than they were

[01:13:42] they were like I met a couple of

[01:13:44] scientists type people I met

[01:13:46] a firefighter I met a heavy equipment

[01:13:48] operator who was heading out to

[01:13:50] one of the camps in

[01:13:52] West Antarctica

[01:13:54] and by camps like literally

[01:13:56] like camps like there's no

[01:13:58] there are no fixed buildings out there

[01:14:00] and I'm thinking oh yeah well

[01:14:02] all I am is a cook like

[01:14:04] like I totally felt like they were way up

[01:14:06] here and I'm down here

[01:14:08] and that was a common theme for

[01:14:10] me

[01:14:12] going through the trip

[01:14:14] the entire experience but there were so

[01:14:16] many people who

[01:14:18] were so appreciative of

[01:14:20] the people who helped make that station

[01:14:22] run it's probably

[01:14:24] the it's probably the most

[01:14:26] level playing field I've ever been on

[01:14:28] as far as work goes

[01:14:30] where everybody's job

[01:14:32] is important I mean there's you know

[01:14:34] without janitors

[01:14:36] the place isn't gonna run without cooks

[01:14:38] you know without the laundry

[01:14:40] without lodging without

[01:14:42] everybody the scientists

[01:14:44] aren't gonna be able to do their thing

[01:14:46] and hearing

[01:14:48] hearing that appreciation

[01:14:50] from you know people who I was just

[01:14:52] like holy crap you're you know you're studying

[01:14:54] penguins for years down here

[01:14:56] like that's amazing and they're like yeah well you're feeding

[01:14:58] me so that's even more amazing

[01:15:00] that was that was really something else

[01:15:02] yeah yeah

[01:15:04] and so my understanding on

[01:15:06] the so this

[01:15:08] station there's a bunch of research that's going on

[01:15:10] here there's somewhere anywhere between what

[01:15:12] 800 to 1000 people

[01:15:14] down there so it's really like a small town

[01:15:16] there's multiple buildings there's

[01:15:18] like diesel generators

[01:15:20] there's you know there's electricity and power

[01:15:22] and it's a whole thing

[01:15:24] going on down there

[01:15:26] and then the busy period

[01:15:28] is really like the

[01:15:30] sun season which is

[01:15:32] what's October through

[01:15:34] about February or March

[01:15:36] and then there's also a period where

[01:15:38] you also get resupply from

[01:15:40] so there's an there's an air there's an air strip

[01:15:42] so you fly in with like what

[01:15:44] is it like an

[01:15:46] A130 plane or something like that like a big

[01:15:48] plane yeah from Christchurch

[01:15:50] down to Phoenix

[01:15:52] which is on the

[01:15:54] ice shelf which is

[01:15:56] just bizarre I didn't

[01:15:58] you don't think about it when you're landing

[01:16:00] and you're getting herded off the plane

[01:16:02] but later on you look back

[01:16:04] you're like wow I just landed on ice

[01:16:06] that's really crazy

[01:16:08] that was a 317

[01:16:10] to go down and there was

[01:16:12] a helicopter in the

[01:16:14] cargo area like 6 feet

[01:16:16] away from me which was just bizarre

[01:16:18] on the

[01:16:20] trip down and then

[01:16:22] there is also like a bay there

[01:16:24] so there's a period where resupply

[01:16:26] ships will show up in like

[01:16:28] January or February and then essentially

[01:16:30] for like two three weeks everybody stops

[01:16:32] doing everything else

[01:16:34] and they unload these big ships

[01:16:36] for supplies right yeah

[01:16:38] so when I got down there in October

[01:16:40] the station was right around

[01:16:42] 600 people

[01:16:44] in January during the height of

[01:16:46] resupply we were at 972

[01:16:48] because they fly down extra

[01:16:50] people to help with the

[01:16:52] unload and the ice

[01:16:54] breaker from Seattle comes down

[01:16:56] to break

[01:16:58] open the channel because

[01:17:00] McMurdo

[01:17:02] and Ross Island

[01:17:04] and McMurdo Sound

[01:17:06] is the southern most

[01:17:08] location that ships

[01:17:10] can access Antarctica

[01:17:12] if I've said that correctly

[01:17:14] so

[01:17:16] the ice breaker

[01:17:18] creates this channel

[01:17:20] so that the

[01:17:22] resupply ship

[01:17:24] the fuel tanker can

[01:17:26] get in and research vessels

[01:17:28] can get in and it all happens

[01:17:30] within about

[01:17:32] three or four weeks in January

[01:17:34] and it's just it is a

[01:17:36] bustling town and there is stuff

[01:17:38] they are unloading 24 7

[01:17:40] around the clock and

[01:17:42] everybody eats food and I just really

[01:17:44] wanted them to stop at that

[01:17:46] point feeding 972

[01:17:48] people and then they don't

[01:17:50] allow any drinking during that period right

[01:17:52] no boozing no partying during

[01:17:54] that period absolutely I'm not going to

[01:17:56] say it didn't happen

[01:17:58] but they don't sell alcohol

[01:18:00] at that time

[01:18:02] got it got it so

[01:18:04] you arrive there you're on this big plane

[01:18:06] what is orientation

[01:18:08] like what is it like when you start to get to meet

[01:18:10] your day to day co-workers

[01:18:12] there's not most of the

[01:18:14] orientation happens in Christchurch

[01:18:16] you go through training

[01:18:18] online you get all of your

[01:18:20] gear and what

[01:18:22] and you meet

[01:18:24] I probably connected with about a dozen

[01:18:26] maybe 12 to

[01:18:28] 18 people who were down in Christchurch

[01:18:30] at the same time I was

[01:18:32] so at least I had that kind of

[01:18:34] group going in and

[01:18:36] you get maybe

[01:18:38] one day or the remainder of your

[01:18:40] day after you arrive

[01:18:42] at the airfield and get bused

[01:18:44] into McMurdo

[01:18:46] you get the rest of your day to kind

[01:18:48] of pick up your lodging key like

[01:18:50] get your linens make your bed

[01:18:52] figure out how many people you're staying with

[01:18:54] you know figure out where the food

[01:18:56] is and then I mean

[01:18:58] I don't know about other departments but I was at work

[01:19:00] the next day at 9 o'clock

[01:19:02] and it was very intimidating

[01:19:06] How did you handle the dorm

[01:19:08] situation and living with

[01:19:10] a bunch of people? I was not

[01:19:12] looking forward to it

[01:19:14] I kind of lucked out

[01:19:16] you get a among

[01:19:18] other things you get a little survey

[01:19:20] before you even leave the US

[01:19:24] what pronouns do you use

[01:19:26] what are you

[01:19:28] comfortable with as far as living

[01:19:30] situations and different genders

[01:19:32] and then there's like your

[01:19:34] ECW gear your extreme cold weather

[01:19:36] gear and all this other stuff that

[01:19:38] they want you to go through

[01:19:40] on my living

[01:19:42] survey I guess

[01:19:44] I wrote because

[01:19:46] I'm older I am definitely not a

[01:19:48] I didn't go down there

[01:19:50] to party I wasn't looking for

[01:19:52] like kind of college

[01:19:54] campus summer camp shenanigans

[01:19:56] I value my sleep

[01:19:58] and I wrote that half

[01:20:00] heartedly thinking you know whatever

[01:20:02] I just said I'm hoping to room with

[01:20:04] somebody maybe closer to my own age

[01:20:06] because I really value

[01:20:08] my sleep and instead of

[01:20:10] putting me in room

[01:20:12] in building 155 which is the

[01:20:14] large blue building where the cafeteria

[01:20:16] is the largest building in the station

[01:20:18] and a lot of the dorms are

[01:20:20] and those dorm rooms hold

[01:20:22] five people

[01:20:24] and if

[01:20:26] you know some of your roommates

[01:20:28] might be on a midnight schedule

[01:20:30] rather than you know your schedule

[01:20:32] I was really hoping to

[01:20:34] avoid that and I ended up in the building

[01:20:36] across the street and

[01:20:38] only had two other roommates and I didn't even

[01:20:40] have two roommates full

[01:20:42] time I think I really lucked out

[01:20:44] as far as roommates go

[01:20:46] both with being able to get along with them

[01:20:48] and not having any for

[01:20:50] a little bit of the time while

[01:20:52] I was down there because a lot of people

[01:20:54] start in the McMurdo before

[01:20:56] going to the South Pole or before going

[01:20:58] out to one of the camps

[01:21:00] out in the wilderness

[01:21:02] All right and then you're feeding

[01:21:04] so you're working as

[01:21:06] a sous chef you're feeding like six to nine

[01:21:08] hundred people like is your background in food

[01:21:10] service or I'm assuming you had some

[01:21:12] Yeah I've worked

[01:21:14] in restaurants and

[01:21:16] a school and hospital

[01:21:18] kitchen for

[01:21:20] almost all my life

[01:21:22] food service is fairly easy may not always

[01:21:24] be fun but it's always there

[01:21:26] it's always available

[01:21:28] and I actually started out I got hired as a

[01:21:30] production cook and

[01:21:32] started out in the salad room

[01:21:34] which is fantastic because

[01:21:36] we had access and we were

[01:21:38] kind of the gatekeepers to the fresh

[01:21:40] produce which is

[01:21:42] a valuable position

[01:21:44] until of course you don't have any fresh produce

[01:21:46] and you're making up really weird

[01:21:48] salads without

[01:21:50] fresh produce

[01:21:52] but I got started

[01:21:54] there and then we had a couple

[01:21:56] of cooks that moved to

[01:21:58] the South Pole or when they went out

[01:22:00] to one of the camps or they

[01:22:02] got medevacked out and they were losing

[01:22:04] kind of losing staff out in the

[01:22:06] bigger kitchen and I

[01:22:08] got offered the position of sous chef

[01:22:10] which is not the kind of position

[01:22:12] that I like but I

[01:22:14] figured you know what I'm already kind of out

[01:22:16] on a limb here and

[01:22:18] I know it'll be over

[01:22:20] you know come February so

[01:22:22] why not so I accepted the position

[01:22:24] and was

[01:22:26] sous chef for the

[01:22:28] lunch period so I was there from

[01:22:30] 5am until 3pm

[01:22:32] and that's six days a

[01:22:34] week? Six days a week, nine hours a day.

[01:22:36] Okay and then

[01:22:38] what did you do during off time? What was

[01:22:40] available? I mean it's obviously a lot of

[01:22:42] indoor time because you've got you know

[01:22:44] cold weather and whatnot but

[01:22:46] what were your little hobbies?

[01:22:48] About the cold weather

[01:22:50] the air, the climate is so dry

[01:22:52] there's no moisture in the air

[01:22:54] like a 30 degree day

[01:22:56] with full sun feels

[01:22:58] like a breezy 50

[01:23:00] so I would be out in

[01:23:02] a long sleeve t-shirt

[01:23:04] or just my

[01:23:06] chef coat walking across

[01:23:08] the road to work.

[01:23:10] It's amazing what moisture

[01:23:12] what humidity will do

[01:23:14] and there were a lot of times

[01:23:16] I had to remind myself that I was in

[01:23:18] Antarctica because it didn't

[01:23:20] you know you don't have what you expect

[01:23:22] like you know just cold craziness

[01:23:24] snow all the time

[01:23:26] in the summer time our roads were

[01:23:28] you know it was dirt, it was dirt road

[01:23:30] and bright sun

[01:23:32] outside and it

[01:23:34] wasn't like deathly cold

[01:23:36] unless it was dry.

[01:23:38] So you could do a lot of outdoor stuff but did you like

[01:23:40] the first

[01:23:42] immediate thing I would do like the second

[01:23:44] I had a time off is I would immediately start

[01:23:46] digging around like looking for

[01:23:48] where they keep the UFOs and the aliens

[01:23:50] so

[01:23:52] I mean I would check every corner

[01:23:54] of that place. Yeah, it was

[01:23:56] really interesting

[01:23:58] because a lot of people

[01:24:00] the station was built what I think

[01:24:02] in the 50s, 56, 57

[01:24:04] and a lot of people who have been

[01:24:06] there have a really interesting sense of

[01:24:08] humor.

[01:24:10] I did find not on my

[01:24:12] own but I did find

[01:24:14] there's a secret

[01:24:16] Elmo

[01:24:18] temple. Yes

[01:24:20] somewhere on the station I won't say

[01:24:22] where.

[01:24:24] That's awesome.

[01:24:26] Yeah and honestly

[01:24:28] we'll link the pictures in the show notes but

[01:24:30] some of the pictures you sent, like Stomp

[01:24:32] I don't know if you got this impression but for me

[01:24:34] I was like this looks like

[01:24:36] the set of Lost. There's big

[01:24:38] mainframe computer looking things

[01:24:40] and there's weather equipment

[01:24:42] and weather balloons and all this stuff. I'm like this

[01:24:44] is straight out of Lost.

[01:24:46] Oh yeah, it's such a

[01:24:48] weird conglomeration of images.

[01:24:50] It's really something else

[01:24:52] the station itself

[01:24:54] is kind of like a mining

[01:24:56] camp where there's nothing pretty

[01:24:58] down there. It's a bunch of

[01:25:00] heavy equipment running around

[01:25:02] and diesel fuel

[01:25:04] fumes and

[01:25:06] stark buildings but there's

[01:25:08] also a list

[01:25:10] of I think 20

[01:25:12] or 25 metal sculptures

[01:25:14] that are hidden in plain sight

[01:25:16] around the station.

[01:25:18] Once I found out about those

[01:25:20] that was one of the things that

[01:25:22] I added into my

[01:25:24] time. There were geocaches

[01:25:26] on the island that

[01:25:28] of course I went after. There's hiking trails

[01:25:30] to go after and then

[01:25:32] inside there's

[01:25:34] a craft room, there's a music room

[01:25:36] there's a library that you

[01:25:38] can volunteer to run. There's

[01:25:40] the coffee shop that you can barista

[01:25:42] at. There's so many things

[01:25:44] there's so much stuff to do down

[01:25:46] there. If I ever

[01:25:48] went back I would probably not do

[01:25:50] food service because that

[01:25:52] sapped a lot of my

[01:25:54] energy and I feel

[01:25:56] like I missed out on doing

[01:25:58] a lot of things down there.

[01:26:00] Anything

[01:26:02] you can think of

[01:26:04] I probably did.

[01:26:06] One thing I noticed

[01:26:08] too in some of the pictures that you took

[01:26:10] is that so the way that the

[01:26:12] station is set up, there's a bunch of buildings

[01:26:14] and then if you look around

[01:26:16] the photos that you put on there

[01:26:18] there's little mountains that are

[01:26:20] surrounded. There's got to be like five or six

[01:26:22] of these little summits and I'm assuming

[01:26:24] there's trails to go up there and you can get

[01:26:26] nice views of the bay and what not.

[01:26:28] Is there any restrictions on hiking those?

[01:26:30] Obviously there's weather rules

[01:26:32] depending on what category

[01:26:34] of weather is allowed

[01:26:36] but if it's a category one weather

[01:26:38] situation where there's no issue

[01:26:40] can you just go out and hike on those

[01:26:42] mountains? It's reversed.

[01:26:44] There are three conditions. There's a condition three

[01:26:46] which is really that there are no conditions.

[01:26:48] There's a condition two

[01:26:50] where

[01:26:52] travel should be limited

[01:26:54] you know, you're not leaving

[01:26:56] the station unless you

[01:26:58] really need to or you have authorization

[01:27:00] and then there's condition one

[01:27:02] where it's pretty much a white out. You should

[01:27:04] be staying where you are whether

[01:27:06] it's work or your dorm

[01:27:08] or whatever.

[01:27:10] That there shouldn't be any travel. I only

[01:27:12] saw one condition

[01:27:14] one when I was down there and I think

[01:27:16] I saw condition two and it gets

[01:27:18] pretty hairy out there

[01:27:20] but in the

[01:27:22] summertime there were

[01:27:24] probably

[01:27:26] half of the trails you could go

[01:27:28] by yourself without an issue

[01:27:30] at any time.

[01:27:32] A couple of the trails you would

[01:27:34] need to have at least one other

[01:27:36] person with you. You would have to file

[01:27:38] a plan online with the

[01:27:40] communications department

[01:27:42] and check out a radio.

[01:27:44] Those are just some of the longer ones.

[01:27:46] There's the Cape

[01:27:48] Armitage Trail that actually

[01:27:50] brought you off the

[01:27:52] island over the sea ice

[01:27:54] past

[01:27:56] the New Zealand

[01:27:58] station and then you connected with

[01:28:00] the road that brings you out to

[01:28:02] Williams Field and Phoenix

[01:28:04] Airfield. That was lengthy

[01:28:06] but you had to have, you couldn't do that one

[01:28:08] solo.

[01:28:10] Same with

[01:28:12] a feature called Castle Rock

[01:28:14] which is one of the hikes I didn't get to do.

[01:28:16] You had to have somebody

[01:28:18] with you and a radio

[01:28:20] and file a plan to go out there.

[01:28:22] You don't really have to worry too much

[01:28:24] about wildlife like you got penguins and

[01:28:26] walruses and some birds but that's about it

[01:28:28] right? No, yep, no walruses.

[01:28:30] Seals, you had

[01:28:32] Weddell seals.

[01:28:34] Giant puppy dogs.

[01:28:36] We saw

[01:28:38] Adélie penguins

[01:28:40] and very few emperor penguins

[01:28:42] and then there was

[01:28:44] one bird

[01:28:46] plentiful, it's called a skua

[01:28:48] very similar to our seagulls

[01:28:50] and there's apparently

[01:28:52] a second bird was

[01:28:54] sighted. I don't remember the name of it

[01:28:56] but it was a big thing

[01:28:58] because there was a second different

[01:29:00] kind of bird spotted and available

[01:29:02] but that was it

[01:29:04] for wildlife.

[01:29:07] Would you typically go

[01:29:09] after shift or would you wait to do these

[01:29:11] adventures on your day off?

[01:29:13] It kind of depends.

[01:29:15] I wanted to look for the weather

[01:29:17] because if I was going to hike somewhere with a view

[01:29:19] I wanted to be able to see

[01:29:21] and I knew that I had

[01:29:23] another four months or so to be there

[01:29:25] so I would cherry pick my days

[01:29:27] where if the weather was going to be nice

[01:29:29] I would go on my day off.

[01:29:31] In the beginning

[01:29:33] October and

[01:29:35] November I did do a lot of

[01:29:37] activities

[01:29:39] after work because the population

[01:29:41] was lower but once we got

[01:29:43] into Thanksgiving

[01:29:45] was a 12 hour day, Christmas was

[01:29:47] a 12 hour day and then in January

[01:29:49] with the resupply shifts

[01:29:51] it was just exhausting

[01:29:53] so I would go to work

[01:29:55] I would come home

[01:29:57] I would sleep usually through

[01:29:59] dinner, wake up early morning

[01:30:01] and not really

[01:30:03] do much because I knew I had to get back into work

[01:30:05] so January kind of sucked

[01:30:07] and a lot of people don't want

[01:30:09] to hear the reality of it, they just want to

[01:30:11] hear, oh it's not my thing

[01:30:13] but January was

[01:30:15] rough.

[01:30:17] Did you get along pretty well with

[01:30:19] your co-workers?

[01:30:21] That's the thing too is as a woman

[01:30:23] I think it's like, I'm assuming that

[01:30:25] it skews pretty heavily men

[01:30:27] as well so was there a weird

[01:30:29] dynamic with that or did you tend to get along

[01:30:31] with everybody? No not really

[01:30:33] this is after having spent

[01:30:35] 30 some odd years in the

[01:30:37] food service this was probably the least

[01:30:39] toxic kitchen that I've ever been in.

[01:30:41] I mean you don't just

[01:30:43] I don't think, you don't just

[01:30:45] fall into a job in Antarctica

[01:30:47] you're there because you want to be there

[01:30:49] rather than

[01:30:51] getting a hook up from

[01:30:53] somebody you know or whatever

[01:30:55] so you already have

[01:30:57] this kind of commonality and

[01:30:59] I didn't meet

[01:31:01] anybody there that was

[01:31:03] boring. I mean

[01:31:05] everybody is just so amazing

[01:31:07] and whether you get along

[01:31:09] there's always going to be some kind of personality

[01:31:11] rifts maybe but

[01:31:13] you're

[01:31:15] stuck, it's a very small

[01:31:17] community and even if you don't

[01:31:19] know a person you know who they are, you've seen

[01:31:21] them especially working in food service, you've seen

[01:31:23] them come through the cafeteria because everybody

[01:31:25] eats and everybody

[01:31:27] knows everybody.

[01:31:29] I didn't personally

[01:31:31] have any issue with either

[01:31:33] personality conflicts

[01:31:35] or any kind of

[01:31:37] sexual harassment

[01:31:39] there was a lot of

[01:31:41] training that went towards

[01:31:43] sexual harassment and

[01:31:45] it was definitely probably a

[01:31:47] 70-30, 60-40

[01:31:49] kind of split between men

[01:31:51] and women down there.

[01:31:53] Okay and

[01:31:55] special events

[01:31:57] so you sent some pictures over like it

[01:31:59] looked like there's a good New

[01:32:01] Years event where you have like a live

[01:32:03] music and

[01:32:05] it seems like, I was reading online

[01:32:07] that it seems like there's a

[01:32:09] bunch of sort of cultural things that go

[01:32:11] on there like people are very into dressing

[01:32:13] up in costumes and onesies and things

[01:32:15] like that so can you talk a little bit about like Ice

[01:32:17] Talk and some of the other special events

[01:32:19] that went on? Yeah

[01:32:21] Ice Talk was

[01:32:23] a ridiculous blast. I mean it's

[01:32:25] New Years Eve with full sunlight

[01:32:27] you know for the entire day

[01:32:29] and uh

[01:32:31] it really really was

[01:32:33] I will probably never again celebrate

[01:32:35] New Years, a New Years Eve countdown

[01:32:37] in full sunlight

[01:32:39] and almost

[01:32:41] I probably could have worn shorts it was so warm

[01:32:43] outside

[01:32:45] and as an added bonus

[01:32:47] NASA

[01:32:49] along with a couple

[01:32:51] of other

[01:32:53] companies that I really don't remember

[01:32:55] they launched a weather balloon

[01:32:57] on January 1st

[01:32:59] and they happened to

[01:33:01] launch it like maybe about an hour

[01:33:03] or I guess December 31st

[01:33:05] they happened to launch it maybe about an hour

[01:33:07] before the countdown so

[01:33:09] it was a beautiful beautiful day

[01:33:11] all the bands that played

[01:33:13] which were probably

[01:33:15] 8 to 12 bands

[01:33:17] were all created down there

[01:33:19] and there were people who had just met each other

[01:33:21] and they would practice in the band room

[01:33:23] or whatever and put on

[01:33:25] all sorts of bizarre shows

[01:33:27] um

[01:33:29] and it was just

[01:33:31] people outside having fun

[01:33:33] and kind of

[01:33:35] forgetting where you are but also

[01:33:37] recognizing how special

[01:33:39] it was to be there like at this time

[01:33:43] Yeah it's so interesting

[01:33:45] it's so interesting with like that

[01:33:47] relatively small number of people

[01:33:49] like you can put together 8 to 10 bands

[01:33:51] with that population

[01:33:53] Well I mean we were

[01:33:55] just getting ready for resupply

[01:33:57] so we were probably at about

[01:33:59] 800 or 900 people

[01:34:01] Okay so the odds are in there

[01:34:03] Yeah

[01:34:05] And then for you

[01:34:07] did you like with the day to day work

[01:34:09] for feeding people how exactly

[01:34:11] does that work is there like a set time

[01:34:13] like where people have to come and eat

[01:34:15] you know 1 o'clock to 3 o'clock for lunch

[01:34:17] or is it um can people just

[01:34:19] roll in whenever they want

[01:34:21] Both actually so

[01:34:23] the cafeteria is open 24 7

[01:34:25] you can come in there's a

[01:34:27] like a deli refrigerated unit

[01:34:29] where you could come in at any time make yourself

[01:34:31] a peanut butter and jelly or

[01:34:33] tuna sandwich or whatever

[01:34:35] happens to be stocked you know

[01:34:37] deli meats and cheese or whatever

[01:34:39] um there is a waffle maker

[01:34:41] much to the chagrin of the

[01:34:43] Stewies that worked kind of the

[01:34:45] like the fun of the house of the kitchen

[01:34:47] Stewies

[01:34:51] Stewards food stewards

[01:34:53] but we

[01:34:55] called them Stewies

[01:34:57] they called themselves Stewies

[01:34:59] um

[01:35:01] but yeah there are always cookies

[01:35:03] unfortunately and

[01:35:05] coffee and hot chocolate and tea

[01:35:07] and you know just about anything

[01:35:09] you would want to maybe

[01:35:11] munch on um there was

[01:35:13] also a grab and go

[01:35:15] refrigerated area where

[01:35:17] we would wrap up

[01:35:19] leftovers you know if people wanted

[01:35:21] to come in and grab

[01:35:23] four pieces of fried chicken you know that didn't

[01:35:25] sell you know last week or not

[01:35:27] last week you know a couple days ago

[01:35:29] that was always stocked and then

[01:35:31] uh we did

[01:35:33] breakfast uh

[01:35:35] I think it's a two and a half hour

[01:35:37] uh time period for

[01:35:39] breakfast and then lunch

[01:35:41] which I was responsible for was

[01:35:43] 11 to 1

[01:35:45] and then dinner

[01:35:47] if I remember correctly

[01:35:49] was maybe 5 to 7 or 5 to 7

[01:35:51] 30 and then there was also during

[01:35:53] the height of summer there was or during

[01:35:55] the summer season there was also a mid rat

[01:35:57] a midnight um

[01:35:59] meal as well

[01:36:01] so it was 24 around the

[01:36:03] clock we had a five week

[01:36:05] menu rotation

[01:36:07] um

[01:36:09] you know we have a hotline up there

[01:36:11] with we usually did two vegetables

[01:36:13] and a couple of starches and some proteins

[01:36:15] and a

[01:36:17] vegetarian or

[01:36:19] vegan meal and

[01:36:21] um there was a

[01:36:23] pizza station

[01:36:25] sometimes there's a burger station I mean

[01:36:27] it really got I was really impressed

[01:36:29] with how many options there were

[01:36:31] yeah and the food storage so you've

[01:36:33] got a lot of frozen meat but like you never

[01:36:35] did you ever come close to running out

[01:36:37] of obviously fresh produce is a little

[01:36:39] bit different but uh the meats

[01:36:41] you can freeze did you ever come close to like

[01:36:43] running out of things or was it

[01:36:45] pretty well stocked

[01:36:47] not necessarily running out

[01:36:49] but um at the end

[01:36:51] of February

[01:36:53] when the first round of

[01:36:55] summer staff started leaving

[01:36:57] or started preparing to leave

[01:36:59] there were a number of delays

[01:37:01] and our food

[01:37:03] orders which we would get every week we had

[01:37:05] you know a dry storage and we had

[01:37:07] frozen storage

[01:37:09] on the station as well as

[01:37:11] storage buildings

[01:37:13] in Christchurch you know to restock

[01:37:15] resupply

[01:37:17] but for our local food

[01:37:19] deliveries they are sent

[01:37:21] to us based on population

[01:37:23] so at the end of February

[01:37:25] when we're feeding or yeah

[01:37:27] the end of February we're still feeding like

[01:37:29] 700 people and

[01:37:31] those 700 people are supposed to go

[01:37:33] on a plane maybe

[01:37:35] Monday and that plane gets delayed

[01:37:37] for 4 or 5 days

[01:37:39] as it did then you're

[01:37:41] suddenly feeding 700

[01:37:43] people on like a

[01:37:45] 6 or 500 people

[01:37:47] food budget

[01:37:49] and when your food

[01:37:51] when food runs out at lunchtime

[01:37:53] at like 12 o'clock and you need to

[01:37:55] restock like you can't just say oops

[01:37:57] like sorry you run

[01:37:59] to the idea of either trying

[01:38:01] to figure out something to do with leftovers

[01:38:03] that's close to the menu that's been

[01:38:05] put out station wide

[01:38:07] you don't necessarily want to steal from

[01:38:09] next week because you're really

[01:38:11] just kind of screwing yourself next week and it

[01:38:13] got to be incredibly frustrating

[01:38:15] for everybody because the people who are

[01:38:17] still on station who are supposed to leave

[01:38:19] really want to leave

[01:38:21] and the people who are on station

[01:38:23] really want those people to leave too

[01:38:25] but for like totally different

[01:38:27] reasons and then that happened again

[01:38:31] in March

[01:38:33] I was supposed my original contract

[01:38:35] was until February 19th that was supposed to be

[01:38:37] one of those people to leave

[01:38:39] and I had the opportunity to extend

[01:38:41] my contract for about another 3 weeks

[01:38:43] and I thought

[01:38:45] you know for the maybe the

[01:38:47] opportunity to see some of the night sky

[01:38:49] or to see maybe

[01:38:51] some adverse weather conditions

[01:38:53] I will stay I had the opportunity

[01:38:55] to stay either until March or until May

[01:38:59] because I took

[01:39:01] some time to think about it the May opportunity

[01:39:03] got taken away

[01:39:05] somebody else filled that position so I

[01:39:07] ended up staying until March

[01:39:09] and then

[01:39:11] my flight was supposed to leave March 18th

[01:39:13] I did not leave the ice until April

[01:39:15] 20th

[01:39:17] because of weather delays

[01:39:19] crew delays, mechanic delays

[01:39:21] the C-17s

[01:39:23] I'm not really sure

[01:39:25] I would ever count on them

[01:39:27] for anything again

[01:39:29] the way that they always have parts breaking

[01:39:31] they had

[01:39:33] they were flying people from

[01:39:35] the US to Christchurch

[01:39:37] with specific parts

[01:39:39] with specific people to fix

[01:39:41] the C-17 so we could get out

[01:39:43] and they flew commercial

[01:39:45] and they lost their luggage

[01:39:47] and the parts

[01:39:49] it was just

[01:39:51] it was an unbelievable

[01:39:53] and a record setting

[01:39:55] set of events

[01:39:57] and we were delayed

[01:39:59] are you still working as you're

[01:40:01] waiting to get flown off or

[01:40:03] are you done when your contract

[01:40:05] is done and you're just sitting there waiting

[01:40:07] no, well kind of thankfully

[01:40:09] good for the checkbook

[01:40:11] if your flight

[01:40:13] is delayed

[01:40:15] you are not required to go back into work

[01:40:17] because you never know if the weather

[01:40:19] is going to clear or that part's going to be

[01:40:21] fixed. If your flight

[01:40:23] is cancelled you are expected to

[01:40:25] report back. The good

[01:40:27] thing was and

[01:40:29] hopefully the big bosses aren't

[01:40:31] listening because the big bosses actually

[01:40:33] left, the executive chef and the culinary

[01:40:35] director left at the end of February

[01:40:37] they do

[01:40:39] four or six months on the ice

[01:40:41] and then they work remotely from home

[01:40:43] so the food service supervisor

[01:40:45] was in charge at that point

[01:40:47] and we were fairly well

[01:40:49] staffed for the population at the time

[01:40:51] so it wasn't

[01:40:53] 100% imperative that I work

[01:40:55] my nine hours and there was a lot

[01:40:57] of emotional trauma going on

[01:40:59] from oh you're going to

[01:41:01] leave? Oh you think you're going to leave? No you're not going to

[01:41:03] leave.

[01:41:05] I had two

[01:41:07] weeks of travel plans set for

[01:41:09] the South Island of New Zealand

[01:41:11] the North Island and then Sydney

[01:41:13] Australia and then

[01:41:15] the eclipse back here I was going to get back

[01:41:17] in time to go see the eclipse in

[01:41:19] upstate New York. All of that was

[01:41:21] wiped out. I didn't get to do

[01:41:23] any of that but

[01:41:25] I made money

[01:41:27] and I wasn't spending money. I got

[01:41:29] to see the southern night sky

[01:41:31] which is so bizarre

[01:41:33] looking up at a night sky and not recognizing

[01:41:35] anything

[01:41:37] seeing the Milky Way

[01:41:39] seeing the southern lights

[01:41:41] so yes I was

[01:41:43] supposed to be off the ice

[01:41:45] 33 days prior

[01:41:47] to when I actually left but without

[01:41:49] that delay I never would have had those

[01:41:51] experiences.

[01:41:53] You got to roll with things

[01:41:55] sometimes. Yeah, yeah, no that's

[01:41:57] amazing and then

[01:41:59] as far

[01:42:01] as like the

[01:42:03] mood there when you get delayed

[01:42:05] how long a month was it?

[01:42:07] 33 days

[01:42:09] 33 days

[01:42:11] so you have to

[01:42:13] when your flight is happening

[01:42:15] you will be on a

[01:42:17] roster. You will

[01:42:19] check out, you will essentially

[01:42:21] return your room to the state that

[01:42:23] you found it. All of your bags are packed

[01:42:25] you check your bags in

[01:42:27] at the transportation department

[01:42:29] you get weighed

[01:42:31] your bags get weighed and taken

[01:42:33] you get weighed with your

[01:42:35] ECW on. You have to have it on

[01:42:37] for the flight.

[01:42:39] Your carry-on bag gets

[01:42:41] weighed. Everything gets weighed and

[01:42:43] checked in and all that stuff goes away

[01:42:45] and they palletize it to be

[01:42:47] put on probably a C17

[01:42:49] or a C130

[01:42:51] and then you spend I don't know

[01:42:53] a couple hours. You go

[01:42:55] to the cafeteria to pack some food for

[01:42:57] the flight or you say goodbyes or whatever

[01:42:59] and then you head

[01:43:01] back to the transportation

[01:43:03] building with the

[01:43:05] hopes that you're going to

[01:43:07] one, make it on transport

[01:43:09] you know one of the delta vehicles

[01:43:11] or the crests

[01:43:13] that bring you out to the

[01:43:15] airfield which is about a 45 minute drive

[01:43:17] and then you wait

[01:43:19] in the passenger terminal which is a very

[01:43:21] small building with some seats

[01:43:23] and heat thankfully

[01:43:25] and three times

[01:43:27] we were shuttled out there

[01:43:29] and

[01:43:31] either got I think the first time

[01:43:33] we turned around at mile three

[01:43:35] because the flight had been cancelled

[01:43:37] so we go back

[01:43:39] and everybody kind of expects, you expect

[01:43:41] to get delayed like at least once.

[01:43:43] It's going to happen. It's crazy weather

[01:43:45] and all these things can

[01:43:47] go wrong. The second

[01:43:49] time we made it out to the airfield

[01:43:51] and waited

[01:43:53] for an hour

[01:43:55] and then we found out that

[01:43:57] the plane was actually circling

[01:43:59] about an hour north of us

[01:44:01] for an hour waiting

[01:44:03] for the airfield temperature

[01:44:05] to rise by two

[01:44:07] degrees because of the

[01:44:09] additive in the fuel

[01:44:11] could only work at a certain

[01:44:13] you know temperature parameter

[01:44:15] and it rose

[01:44:17] one degree at like

[01:44:19] four o'clock

[01:44:21] in the afternoon

[01:44:23] and dangerous place. Yeah.

[01:44:25] Yeah and I mean I get

[01:44:27] that like it was incredibly frustrating

[01:44:29] but I also don't want the people who

[01:44:31] are going to fly me off of

[01:44:33] you know the harshest continent

[01:44:35] to you know to do it

[01:44:37] you know without the right stuff.

[01:44:39] Yeah. So I mean

[01:44:41] I understood it but it was

[01:44:43] so incredibly frustrating to hear

[01:44:45] no we're taking you back after

[01:44:47] you've waited for an hour because

[01:44:49] the plane is going to fly back to Christchurch

[01:44:51] otherwise they're going to run out of fuel

[01:44:53] for one degree

[01:44:55] of temperature. Crazy.

[01:44:57] Now Jen if you

[01:44:59] had mentioned like if you could go back

[01:45:01] you wouldn't work in food

[01:45:03] service like what job from your opinion

[01:45:05] like so and I was

[01:45:07] able to find this like there's basically five

[01:45:09] channels that you can pursue. There's five different

[01:45:11] contractors that own

[01:45:13] responsibility for hiring

[01:45:15] at McMurdo Station

[01:45:17] so you can apply for all kinds of different

[01:45:19] jobs. If you could go back now

[01:45:21] what job would you ideally

[01:45:23] like to do?

[01:45:25] I didn't

[01:45:27] do a lot of you have the opportunity to do

[01:45:29] some volunteering or shadowing

[01:45:31] in different departments. One of my

[01:45:33] friends

[01:45:35] volunteered in

[01:45:37] oh I don't remember the exact department

[01:45:39] but they took care of

[01:45:41] all of the equipment that people would use

[01:45:43] for field camps out in the

[01:45:45] you know crazy wilds of Antarctica

[01:45:47] that's something I would love to

[01:45:49] get into or maybe supply

[01:45:51] because you're out and about

[01:45:53] you're not stuck inside

[01:45:55] a windowless room

[01:45:57] you know feeding the masses

[01:45:59] I mean

[01:46:01] I would just I think I would like

[01:46:03] I am a person who likes

[01:46:05] to move so I would definitely still want something

[01:46:07] physical like

[01:46:09] I wouldn't want to be behind a desk or something

[01:46:11] but I just feel like

[01:46:13] the kitchen took so

[01:46:15] much out of me

[01:46:17] I mean I've worked you know

[01:46:19] fast restaurants before where you're feeding

[01:46:21] you know 300 people a night

[01:46:23] but it's a completely different situation

[01:46:25] down there.

[01:46:27] Yeah I think I would

[01:46:29] so I'm looking at these so stop

[01:46:31] if we wanted to get a job down here so basically

[01:46:33] there's this like organization called

[01:46:35] Ghana Iyahu

[01:46:37] I think is that right?

[01:46:39] Close enough.

[01:46:41] Yeah close enough right so

[01:46:43] they're the contractor and they've got like

[01:46:45] there's 75 jobs open right now

[01:46:47] so you can apply

[01:46:49] every supervisor

[01:46:51] there's all kinds of food service

[01:46:53] there's a hair stylist so

[01:46:55] I feel like every dude down there must have

[01:46:57] a big long beard too so the hair stylist

[01:46:59] must be like braiding beards for everybody

[01:47:01] right?

[01:47:03] The running joke was pretty much oh have you met

[01:47:05] you know so and so no who's that

[01:47:07] oh that's the white guy with the beard.

[01:47:09] Yeah yeah yeah right so

[01:47:11] I mean that's 70% of the men on station

[01:47:15] Yeah it's funny so there's

[01:47:17] must have physical therapy need right?

[01:47:19] You know it's funny

[01:47:21] it's funny I brought that up

[01:47:23] because the job just beat me up

[01:47:25] so much

[01:47:27] like why don't we have a physical therapist

[01:47:29] down here and somebody

[01:47:31] I was talking to somebody and they said

[01:47:33] they used to have somebody down there

[01:47:35] but I don't know if

[01:47:37] you know if it was terminated

[01:47:39] or if it was somebody

[01:47:41] who was down there in a different capacity

[01:47:43] who just offered that

[01:47:45] but I would have

[01:47:47] 100% loved that

[01:47:51] Well Stomp I will tell you that

[01:47:53] it's the University of Texas

[01:47:55] Medical Branch that has

[01:47:57] positions open and right now they've got

[01:47:59] physician, dentist,

[01:48:01] nurse administrator, flight nurse

[01:48:03] and then physical therapist

[01:48:05] is listed but it says currently

[01:48:07] not actively recruiting for the position

[01:48:09] so it could be that they

[01:48:11] have somebody or that they just decided

[01:48:13] that they don't want to bring

[01:48:15] somebody on board but there's

[01:48:17] I'll include the links and all the show notes for

[01:48:19] anybody that wants to apply

[01:48:21] but it sounds like

[01:48:23] Jen based on what you're telling me

[01:48:25] you've got to have a hook during the interview

[01:48:27] you've got to, you know that idea about the Zoom

[01:48:29] honestly I've interviewed and I've hired

[01:48:31] thousands of people in my career

[01:48:33] I'm a recruiter by trade and I will

[01:48:35] tell you that first five seconds

[01:48:37] when you start the discussion

[01:48:39] if you can find that hook, you're in

[01:48:41] you just got to find some

[01:48:43] common ground with the interviewer and you can really

[01:48:45] you know you can land some good jobs

[01:48:47] It definitely

[01:48:49] worked for me

[01:48:51] How does law enforcement

[01:48:53] work down there?

[01:48:55] So there is

[01:48:57] one station, there's a station

[01:48:59] manager who pretty much

[01:49:01] you know runs or is

[01:49:03] responsible, the head of the station

[01:49:05] generally speaking as I understand

[01:49:07] it they are a US Marshal

[01:49:09] and that

[01:49:11] is law, that's the law

[01:49:13] enforcement but otherwise it's a

[01:49:15] fairly community

[01:49:17] policed

[01:49:19] area

[01:49:21] but there's so much

[01:49:23] there's

[01:49:25] so much, I don't necessarily

[01:49:27] want to say tolerance but so many people

[01:49:29] are open to so many

[01:49:31] different things because you kind of

[01:49:33] you can't, I don't think that you can

[01:49:35] be a very

[01:49:37] strict, rigid

[01:49:39] not open and

[01:49:41] adventurous person to do

[01:49:43] that kind of an adventure and I'm

[01:49:45] sure that there are some people who are like

[01:49:47] that but it's a lot easier

[01:49:49] if you're open to weirdness

[01:49:51] like you know

[01:49:53] seeing somebody in a unicorn onesie coming

[01:49:55] into the cafeteria at two o'clock

[01:49:57] in the morning you know

[01:49:59] because it happens

[01:50:01] Yeah

[01:50:03] and Stomp basically the way they break it down

[01:50:05] is you've got transport and infrastructure

[01:50:07] jobs, you've got medical jobs

[01:50:09] you've got a group that hires for food retail

[01:50:11] support, engineering

[01:50:13] and IT and then you've got an operations

[01:50:15] and logistics job so like the

[01:50:17] medical jobs are pretty straightforward

[01:50:21] the infrastructure jobs

[01:50:23] are

[01:50:25] like there's a land surveyor

[01:50:27] there's like a fire captain

[01:50:29] there's a supply supervisor

[01:50:31] inventory data specialist

[01:50:33] crane operators

[01:50:35] cargo coordinators

[01:50:37] power plant technicians

[01:50:39] there's all kinds of jobs here

[01:50:41] and then the IT stuff

[01:50:43] is like network administrator

[01:50:45] safety engineer

[01:50:47] satellite communication

[01:50:49] antenna rigging

[01:50:53] so yeah and then

[01:50:55] they've got like

[01:50:57] hair stylist, food

[01:50:59] service, waste management

[01:51:01] postal clerks

[01:51:03] and yeah it's all kinds of

[01:51:05] interesting stuff here so I'll post these links

[01:51:07] Oh there you go

[01:51:09] and I'd love it if any listeners

[01:51:11] land a job down there let us know

[01:51:13] it would be interesting

[01:51:15] Yeah that would be super cool

[01:51:17] I mean if anybody is listening

[01:51:19] wants to go for the food service

[01:51:21] reach out to me and I will

[01:51:23] happily help you get down there

[01:51:25] I mean it's hard but it's an experience

[01:51:27] Yeah we'll put your

[01:51:29] Instagram on there so maybe you get some new

[01:51:31] friends on Instagram

[01:51:33] You can't be a criminal though so don't

[01:51:35] think that like if you spent some time

[01:51:37] in Walpole or Norfolk and then

[01:51:39] you can go down there you can't do that and don't bother

[01:51:41] Jen if you're a criminal

[01:51:43] Yeah that's half of food service though

[01:51:45] Right right

[01:51:47] So but

[01:51:49] I have a couple questions Jen

[01:51:51] just briefly before we move on

[01:51:53] Are you a member of the 200

[01:51:55] Club? I am not

[01:51:57] a member of the 200 Club

[01:52:01] Can I? Do you want to explain that or

[01:52:03] shall I? No go ahead

[01:52:05] Okay so

[01:52:07] at Munson Scott

[01:52:09] South Pole Station

[01:52:11] they have a 300 Club and that basically

[01:52:13] means that when it's 100 below 0

[01:52:15] some people will go into a sauna

[01:52:17] that's measured at about 200

[01:52:19] degrees and then go outside

[01:52:21] and run around naked in their flip flops

[01:52:23] for X amount of time

[01:52:25] The

[01:52:27] McMurdo isn't as cold

[01:52:29] so there's the 200 Club

[01:52:31] which means that you're experiencing

[01:52:33] 0 degree Fahrenheit and going into

[01:52:35] the 200 degree sauna and then doing the same

[01:52:37] thing running around naked

[01:52:39] Apparently it's one of the most exclusive

[01:52:41] clubs in the world

[01:52:45] I had no desire for that

[01:52:47] Alright so you're not a member?

[01:52:49] No not a member

[01:52:51] I will say I was happy

[01:52:53] to see that

[01:52:55] guy in the winter coming out of

[01:52:57] dunks in the shorts

[01:52:59] even though it's

[01:53:01] 30 degrees outside they still

[01:53:03] exist, they exist everywhere

[01:53:05] there are plenty of them down at McMurdo

[01:53:07] There's a short

[01:53:09] person club too I think right?

[01:53:11] Yeah I was too tall for that

[01:53:13] Okay well I'm too tall

[01:53:15] for that too thankfully

[01:53:17] Alright and then my last question is

[01:53:19] a couple questions actually

[01:53:21] Are there really

[01:53:23] dancing penguins down there?

[01:53:27] I mean

[01:53:29] Happy foot

[01:53:31] reference

[01:53:33] I'll take that as a no

[01:53:35] I've never seen that movie

[01:53:37] I will say

[01:53:39] that the Adelie

[01:53:41] penguins that we saw

[01:53:43] first off when the first

[01:53:45] group

[01:53:47] I don't know what a flock of penguins is

[01:53:49] called I should probably know this

[01:53:53] but when the first group of penguins

[01:53:55] are seen on station

[01:53:57] an alert actually goes out

[01:53:59] and just about everything stops

[01:54:01] and people go out to see them

[01:54:03] So Adelie

[01:54:05] penguins are usually a little more

[01:54:07] goofier than emperor penguins

[01:54:09] and they will

[01:54:11] slide and

[01:54:13] move around and whatnot

[01:54:15] but yeah no dancing penguins

[01:54:17] Alright and this is

[01:54:19] my last one before Mike realizes what I'm

[01:54:21] doing and kills me so

[01:54:23] you mentioned helicopters so have you

[01:54:25] met any helicopter pilots named

[01:54:27] RJ McCready and are there

[01:54:29] also flamethrowers in every building?

[01:54:31] So

[01:54:33] I feel like

[01:54:35] so this

[01:54:37] I'm going to go back a little bit

[01:54:39] and when we started getting delayed

[01:54:41] like delay after delay after delay

[01:54:43] the

[01:54:45] there were 8 of us in the kitchen

[01:54:47] that were delayed and

[01:54:49] we started asking each other

[01:54:51] what is your, there has to be some kind

[01:54:53] of unfinished business like what haven't

[01:54:55] you done that you were supposed

[01:54:57] to do what is keeping us down

[01:54:59] here and some people it was like file

[01:55:01] their taxes or get an extension

[01:55:03] or whatever and we realized that

[01:55:05] together like all of us had

[01:55:07] never watched the

[01:55:09] thing while on

[01:55:11] the continent

[01:55:13] I mean I had seen it previously

[01:55:15] but

[01:55:17] so we did have a viewing and

[01:55:19] we laughed at a lot of the nonsense

[01:55:21] that was down

[01:55:23] there

[01:55:25] yeah that was necessary

[01:55:27] that was necessary viewing

[01:55:29] Yeah like write a passage

[01:55:31] Yes

[01:55:33] Just so that everybody is aware

[01:55:35] a group of penguins on land is called

[01:55:37] a wattle

[01:55:39] That makes sense

[01:55:41] Okay

[01:55:43] Makes sense

[01:55:45] I wanted to mention going back to

[01:55:47] your opening this with

[01:55:49] an Anthony Bourdain quote

[01:55:51] I actually

[01:55:53] because he visited the station

[01:55:55] if you haven't seen his documentary

[01:55:57] on his visit it's really

[01:55:59] really fantastic

[01:56:01] Yeah I'll include it in the show notes

[01:56:03] Yeah and he spent a little time

[01:56:05] in the

[01:56:07] radio booth

[01:56:09] in the vinyl room

[01:56:11] and I'm not a huge

[01:56:13] I don't know audiophile

[01:56:15] but I

[01:56:17] did have the opportunity

[01:56:19] to join my friend

[01:56:21] Hershey, trail name Hershey

[01:56:23] from Pennsylvania

[01:56:25] oddly enough

[01:56:27] he did a radio show every Saturday night

[01:56:29] I joined him for a couple just to say that

[01:56:31] I've been on the radio in Antarctica

[01:56:33] and

[01:56:35] the more interesting bit was that

[01:56:37] I got to check out their vinyl room

[01:56:39] which was just really

[01:56:41] amazing and this amazing piece of history

[01:56:43] and sure enough

[01:56:45] in the log book

[01:56:47] for the vinyl room

[01:56:49] is Anthony Bourdain's signature

[01:56:51] Oh wow

[01:56:53] It was really cool

[01:56:55] Wow that's amazing

[01:56:57] So for the listeners if you want to live

[01:56:59] the dream

[01:57:01] I think you've given us the good, bad

[01:57:03] and the real deal

[01:57:05] on what it's like

[01:57:07] It's not all rainbows and unicorns but it is a pretty cool

[01:57:09] adventure

[01:57:11] It's something that

[01:57:13] I think would be of interest

[01:57:15] for people that are looking to make a change

[01:57:17] or they've got the luxury to go off

[01:57:19] maybe they don't want to do a through hike for six months

[01:57:21] they want to go to Antarctica

[01:57:23] I think this is a good idea

[01:57:25] Anything else we missed?

[01:57:27] We'll definitely have you back on in the future to talk more about

[01:57:29] geocaching because I think that's a whole episode

[01:57:31] on its own

[01:57:33] Anything else we missed? Anything you think we should have covered?

[01:57:35] God I don't

[01:57:37] think so

[01:57:39] I think you guys

[01:57:41] are pretty thorough

[01:57:43] I'd say you guys but I know Mike did all the work on this one

[01:57:45] Yeah

[01:57:49] Well Stomp does all the editing so it's even Stephen

[01:57:53] Yeah

[01:57:55] So alright well I think Stomp

[01:57:57] why don't we cut out the

[01:57:59] search and rescue stuff and then I had a history

[01:58:01] segment where we were going to talk about Henry David Thoreau

[01:58:03] but we'll push that to next week

[01:58:05] and we'll call this a wrap

[01:58:07] because we're at about two hours so Jen

[01:58:09] thank you so much for joining us

[01:58:11] and we learned everything about Antarctica

[01:58:13] and all about

[01:58:15] oh actually one other thing before we close

[01:58:17] my understanding

[01:58:19] is that it is illegal to pee

[01:58:21] on the ground in Antarctica

[01:58:23] whether you're a man or a woman

[01:58:25] you have to bring a Nalgene bottle

[01:58:27] and pee into the bottle when you go hiking

[01:58:29] Well there's no

[01:58:31] pee in Antarctica

[01:58:33] There's no pee

[01:58:35] Yes

[01:58:37] So if you are out

[01:58:39] so there's if you're

[01:58:41] something else you might want to include in the show notes

[01:58:43] is information about the Antarctica treaty

[01:58:45] Yes

[01:58:47] I was reading about that

[01:58:49] There's like 30 countries

[01:58:51] about 30 countries that recognize it

[01:58:53] there's no military presence

[01:58:55] allowed other than

[01:58:57] we do have

[01:58:59] military groups that come down to help

[01:59:01] I think

[01:59:03] medically and then probably

[01:59:05] with resupply

[01:59:07] but

[01:59:09] you know it's big on the

[01:59:11] environment you're not supposed to

[01:59:13] mess with penguins

[01:59:15] there's I don't remember it but I think

[01:59:17] it's like 30 feet like you have to be 30 feet away

[01:59:19] if they're nesting

[01:59:21] a little less if they're just you know out and about

[01:59:23] or you know if a

[01:59:25] bird the school lands

[01:59:27] on the trash bin that I am taking

[01:59:29] the trash out from the kitchen

[01:59:31] I can't shoo it away

[01:59:33] Yeah

[01:59:35] We actually had a really interesting situation

[01:59:37] in the kitchen

[01:59:39] where a shipment of

[01:59:41] romaine lettuce came down

[01:59:43] with slugs

[01:59:45] and we had to collect

[01:59:47] the slugs for the environmental

[01:59:49] department so they could categorize

[01:59:51] and you know take note of it

[01:59:53] but it was you know

[01:59:55] in a regular kitchen it's just like

[01:59:57] I'm going to wash this make sure that this

[01:59:59] gets washed and the slugs aren't there but

[02:00:01] in there it's a big deal

[02:00:03] and you know so you're not supposed to

[02:00:05] mess with animals

[02:00:07] you're obviously very very much

[02:00:09] into leave no trace on the

[02:00:11] you know just being out and about

[02:00:13] and yeah you need

[02:00:15] to have a pee bottle if you're going

[02:00:17] to go out you know

[02:00:19] on long distance trails or

[02:00:21] you know there's no reason

[02:00:23] to pee next to the building if you can get inside

[02:00:25] and you know go use an actual

[02:00:27] restroom but if you're out on the trails

[02:00:29] yeah

[02:00:31] Yeah it's a little bit different so yeah it's very interesting

[02:00:33] so I'll include that in the show notes

[02:00:35] and thanks again Jen this has been great

[02:00:37] and we've learned a lot on

[02:00:39] this and I really am interested to see if

[02:00:41] any of the listeners get inspired

[02:00:43] to go try to work down there

[02:00:45] I think that would

[02:00:47] I mean it was

[02:00:49] I had some rough times down there but it was an amazing

[02:00:51] experience I will never regret it

[02:00:53] it was just unreal

[02:00:55] to recognize

[02:00:57] that I was in Antarctica

[02:00:59] like it was really something else so

[02:01:01] yeah I'd love to hear if

[02:01:03] anybody decides to go

[02:01:05] after it or wants more information

[02:01:07] Awesome well thanks for sharing

[02:01:09] Well thanks for having me

[02:01:11] I appreciate it

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[02:03:01] That's

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[02:03:11] We hope you'll join us next week for another

[02:03:13] great show. Until then

[02:03:15] on behalf of Mike and Stomp

[02:03:17] Get out there and crush

[02:03:19] some mega

[02:03:21] peaks

[02:03:51] Holy

[02:03:53] Wild Hell