My Man Stan

Flat Stanley and I Working at Lawson Creek
Flat Stanley at the Onyx River Box With Lake Vanda in the Background
I Put Flat Stanley to Work Shooting Lake Levels
Flat Stanley and I at Don Juan Pond...It Felt Like We Were On Mars
Flat Stanley's First Helicopter Ride

There has been a new addition to the Stream Team.  With all the work we have had to close out the season, we were able to get a friend, by the name of Flat Stanley, to help us out.  Mrs. Lemieux's first grade class, from St. Francis Xavier School in my hometown Acushnet, MA, dressed our friend Flat Stanley in a Big Red jacket along with other cold weather gear and sent him south.  He arrived not to long ago and has accompanied me inspecting gauge sites, making discharge measurements, and shooting lake levels.  He even has his own sleeping bag set up in my tent.  He snores a little bit, but with the long days we have been having, I'm still able to fall asleep.  Today we had a great trip closing out three remaining gauge boxes and shooting lake levels, to see how much the lakes have risen from the stream water that has emptied into them.  Flat Stanley is a great shot.  We visited new lakes and valleys that I had yet to visit.  One location goes by the name of Don Juan Pond.  It is located between steep mountain peaks and an elevated plateau.  There are scattered boulders in the area and a tint of red to the surrounding rocks.  With the remoteness of the area and color of the rocks, my team, Flat Stanley, and I, all said we felt like we were walking on Mars.  Today was truly amazing, the sights were like nothing I have ever seen before.  Flat Stanley has been a great help and I don't know if we could have gotten the job done without him.  He has brought a change of clothes and will join me as I do some backpacking in New Zealand and snowboarding in Colorado, after I leave the ice.

Flat Stanley couldn't have arrived at a better time, as tonight will be my last night in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica.  We closed up our main base camp at F6 on Wednesday, and will be leaving our camp at Lake Hoare tomorrow afternoon.  My time in the Dry Valleys has been the experience of a life time.  I've learned many things along the way, about Antarctica, about stream gauging, and about myself.  I've met incredible people doing amazing research and have seen things that seem to be from another planet.  My camera has snapped over 2,ooo photos and I'll be able to look back years from now and remember all the awesome experiences I have had.  I have been putting together a slide show of my favorite shots I've collected, and will post those on February 4th, my last day Down On The Ice.  Tomorrow we will head to two more lakes to shoot levels, which are in a remote area that I have yet to see.  Then we will take the 45 minute flight across McMurdo Sound to McMurdo Station, where we will spend a few days finishing up end of the season duties.  As for tonight, I think Flat Stanley and I will go on a short hike, take it all in, and enjoy the last night sleeping in a tent in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.