A Hike

A Fata Morgana.
A month ago, I wanted to head down to Hut Point to make sure Baby Skua had flown away. While out there, we saw some spectacular Fata Morganas. I posted about them before but not everyone was able to see what I was talking about. I think these pictures will help those visually impaired people (Julie!) be able to see them easier.

What you are looking for in the first picture is the repeated (vertically) small islands. They are seen once where the island meets the sea ice and again a little bit above them. This is most easily seen on the vertically smallest islands. Once you notice the effect there, you should be able to see it on the thicker parts of islands as well.


Another Fata Morgana with Mt. Discovery.
This second picture may be a little harder to see the Fata Morgana in. You are looking at Mt. Discovery. The base of the mountain doesn't sheer off into cliffs. The bottom part of the mountain that is meeting the sea ice only looks like a cliff (the repeating pattern) because of the Fata Morgana that allows sea ice level images to appear higher than they are.


Just a neat picture of the Ross Island coastline.
It might just be that my ankle is all messed up and I can't hike anywhere right now, but I don't know if we've had such a nice day since that hike. I miss it. I miss being able to get out. I'm headed to physical therapy in twenty minutes, but as usual, I'm impatient to heal up. Lisa says I'm supposed to stay off it for three months! As a lot of you know, the chance of me staying off anything for three months is slim even if my x-rays came back inconclusive about if I do or do not have a fracture. However, this might be a great chance to heal properly too since I can't go too far. If nothing else, I'll be patient today since it is Condition 2 out. I was waiting all night for something to break through my window. Luckily, nothing did and I was only robbed of a little sleep.


Discovery Hut with McMurdo base in the background.