The Long Winter Nights Begin –  Copyright 1999 Jack W. Cummings

For those of us wintering at Hallett Station, the long winter’s night or our period of isolation began with the departure of the Icebreakers from the waters of the Antarctic. Until the bay ice froze over, we would have no way of preparing the ice runway for aircraft. Since the age of tourism had not yet begun in the Antarctic, there were no other ships in the area. We were truly isolated. If one of us were to be injured or get sick, we would have to be treated by whatever means available on the station. I had not thought about it much before now, but we were a lot like future space travelers. If there were problems, we worked them out on station. I can not recall when the day arrived that we were in total isolation. I guess my feeling was that once I arrived at Hallett, I did not expect to leave until a year had gone by. If you dwelled on it I guess it could have become a problem. So I busied myself with other things. Continue reading “My Antarctic Adventure – Part V”