A Hike Through Taylor Valley

One of the Many Ventifacts above Lake Bonney
Photo Op with Taylor Glacier in the Background
Seuss Glacier
Long Haired Bearded Man and a Glacial Waterfall

My teammate and I were dropped at Lake Bonney on Friday (12/19) to work on our stream sites we had there.  After a day of measuring and sampling I had some free time, so I decided to take a solo hike up a steep incline to an area where I was told I could find ventifacts.  A ventifact is a rock that has been shaped by wind blown particles, such as sand or ice crystals.  They are found in dry environments, such as the desert that I currently inhabit.  The rock features I saw were incredible.  Some looked like waves, fine art, and pretty much anything you could creatively imagine.  With no people or shelters in sight, the views from up high gave me that feeling of the last man on Earth again.  I couldn't stop laughing and smiling.

The following day, the two of us set out on a hike to Lake Hoare Camp down the Taylor Valley (the camp I've referred to as my weekend resort.)  We started out hiking up to a ridge above our camp at the lake basin.  With a 40 lb. pack strapped to my back, I could feel the burn in my legs as we climbed upwards.  At the time I was thinking the payoff would come when we reached the top (as well as riding halfpipe when I return to Colorado).  Once at the top of the ridge, we took a quick breather, sipped water from our Nalgenes, snapped photos, and continued on.  As we hiked, I continued to look all around me at the glaciers and mountain peaks above, as well as the basin below.  Shortly after we came upon an ungauged low flowing stream.  A quick dip of the hands and the water was the best I have had in my life, coming directly from the glacier above the ridge.  We rock hopped across the stream and began our descent down the mountain.  An hour or two later we came to the defile at the Seuss Glacier, where we followed a path along the glacial terminus on our way to a gauging site on the opposite side of the glacier.  As we made our way to our site, there were small glacial waterfalls forming low streams that trickled into another ice covered lake, Lake Chad.  We soon got to our gauge, got our work done, and headed on to Lake Hoare Camp.  We arrived at Lake Hoare camp at around 1800 hours (6 p.m.), filtered our samples and sat down to eat an hour later. The camp manager had cooked up some Indian food and it was delicious, I went for seconds.  After the long day and a great meal, I did some reading, zipped up my sleeping bag and was fast asleep.  Overall the trip was 7 hours, covering a distance of about 8 miles, and change in elevation of 1,500 feet.  What a day!!!