|
|
|
|
|
|
Today, Stacy, Craig, Ted, Jeff, and myself went back in time as we walked in the footsteps of early explorers. Dan recuperated from a bout with the Mac-town crud and Jonna finished her side project on tunicates. We visited the Terra Nova hut at Cape Evans and were very fortunate to have Ted Dettmar along to tell us stories about the hardship that these men endured. Ted has spent 11 seasons on 'the ice' and is very knowledgeable in the history of the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. Many pictures on this page are courtesy of Jeff Miller since my camera has ceased functioning properly (thanks Jeff).
 |
| The Terra Nova hut with Mt. Erebus smoking in the background |
When the Terra Nova arrived in the Ross Sea they had originally planned to land at Cape Crozier but the sea ice was too thick and it forced them to set up at Cape Evans (named after Scott's second in command, Teddy Evans). 25 men (16 officers and 9 enlisted) lived in this hut that measured 50 by 25 feet and 9 feet at its peak.
 |  |
| Some of the leftover food stores from Scott and Shackleton's expeditions. | |
Although there are no defined walls in the hut, the space was separated into officers and enlisted quarters. The two classes slept and ate separately and it was said that what was talked about on one side of the room (undoubtedly heard on the other side) remained there, and vice versa. There was a small darkroom at the back of the hut where all the photographs taken from the expedition were developed.
 |
| Shackleton helped fund his expedition with penguin skins. This animal was obviously spared the knife but still didn't make it. |
 |
| Shackleton's men, stranded with little food, survived solely on seal meat and sometimes seal blubber, shown here. |
 |
| One of the two lab areas used by the many scientists on Scott's expedition. |
On November 1, 1911, the men set out on their 1500 mile round trip journey to the Pole leaving food depots along the route as they went. Most men would turn back after they unloaded their food caches while only five men (Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Oates, and Evans) would continue the final miles to the Pole. Almost concurrently, another expedition to the Pole, led by Norwegian Roald Amundsen, had begun. By the time Scott and his men made it to the Pole, Amundsen had reached it just days earlier. Upon reaching the Pole, Scott wrote in his journal,
'Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have labored to it without reward of priority'.
 |
| At the Pole, L to R: Wilson, Evans, Scott, Oates and Bowers |
Tired, hungry, and cold, their return trip was bleak. The weather was becoming increasingly worse and 650 miles from base camp Scott wrote,
'God help us, with the tremendous summit journey and scant food. I don't like the easy way in which Oates and Evans get frostbitten'.
Evans died 7 days later at the foot of the Beardmore glacier:
'A terrible day. [Evans] was on his knees with clothing disarranged, hands uncovered and frostbitten, and a wild look in his eyes.we got him into the tent quite comatose. He died quietly at 12:30 a.m.' -Scott.
They continued on and felt that Oates was nearing death. His feet had become brutally frostbitten and he said he could not go on and wished to die. He went to sleep that night hoping never to awake again.
'Hoping not to wake; but he awoke in the morning. It was blowing a blizzard. He said, 'I am just going outside and may be some time.' He went out into the blizzard and we have not seen him since.We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman' -Scott.
Two days later, the remaining men (Scott, Wilson, and Bowers) were confined to their tent by a blizzard only 11 miles from One Ton depot.
'no fuel and one or two of food left - must be near end. Have decided it shall be natural - we shall march and die in our tracks' -Scott.
Scott's last journal entry, exact date unknown:
'Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale.'
Almost a year later a search party led by Surgeon Edward Atkinson found the tent with the three bodies and left them where they lay beneath a large snow cairn. The Terra Nova reached New Zealand February 12, 1913 and the news of the expedition gripped the world.
 |