hides

finishing up a week-long primitive skills workshop as part of survival school staff training. i chose hide tanning as my course.

did two deer hides.
steps: scrape off flesh. soak in lye solution. scrape hair and epidermis. rinse. scrape flesh side again to remove membrane. soak in brain solution. wring out, stretch, rack it up and soften til it's dry. smoke treatment. (smoking the hides will ensure that they stay soft even if they get wet later).

now gotta decide what to make out of these.

WFR

stepping outside the classroom...

Finished the recert class for wilderness first responder. Did lots of good scenarios-- various trauma and medical emergencies, and how to deal with them in the back country.

Now a week vacation before more staff training at the survival school.

almost home again

this is my last night in new zealand. and might be my last trip here, at least for free through antarctic program. i might be done with the ice, for a while anyway.

flying back to the states tomorrow. looking forward to seeing friends and family again.

en-zed

back in new zealand. hiked the routeburn track earlier this week. great views, and also enchanted mossy beech forest(early one foggy morning).

then spent some time at friends' place on the west coast. they have a 1 year old. very cute and fun to be around a wee one. was unusually hot and sunny. so much so that they were worried about running out of water (they use rain catchment system and normally there's far more rain than what they need).

now back in chch. soon will travel around northern end of the island with a friend. haven't been to that part of nz yet. don't know exactly what we'll do or where we'll go. lots of day hiking. maybe no sea kayaking after all so i can give my shoulder a break and let it get all better.

one last trip

not a bad way to end the season.
filming pond algae in hidden valley.

almost done. again.

wow, i'm leaving the ice two weeks from today (weather permitting). hard to believe all this time has past.

crater

got to go up to the crater today. so cool. the plume obscured the lava lake much of the time, but every once in a while i could see the red glow. and although this has been a mellow season with no bombs being shot out (so far), it did make some impressive noises while i was up there. kinda sorta like the sound when a big wave comes and drags the rocks along the beach as it rolls back in to the ocean. kinda. but not exactly.

caving

so many caves on this mountain created by the thermal vents. can usually find entrance by the huge ice towers. inside some of these are the most amazing ice crystals. almost unreal or otherworldly. like if someone in movie biz requested a winterwonderland ice cave set and described what i got to see today, folks back in hollywood would just laugh, not believing anything really existed.

volcano

first, spent two days at fang camp acclimating (about 8000' elevation)

and now, i'm here on the actual volcano. wow. staying at the hut about 1000' from the top. i will be here for a week helping out with camp chores. but i should get to go on a very fun trips too. i think we're about 11,400' elevation here. altitude makes me tired. but i'm also so excited to be posting this from an active volcano.

more rigging

at lake joyce again (taking out the camp this time).
this was a bigger helo--a 212 vs the A-star. rotorwash much stronger, and i was standing on ice instead of gravel. almost blew me over. (but didn't)