McMurdo Day 44: Discovery Hut

On Wednesday, I went on a tour of Discovery Hut. I'll give a summary of Robert Falcon Scott's first Antarctic expedition from 1901-1904, when the hut was built.

I am a little behind on blog posts; the internet has been out most afternoons and evenings this past week. During the mornings, because everyone's been on, it's been SUPER slow (slower than normal!). Plus, the season has picked up and I've been busy (more on that in future posts).

I walked out to Discovery Hut (also called Scott's Hut) after dinner last Wednesday, in a group of 8 people. Only 8 people are allowed in the hut at a time, and only 2000 visitors are allowed per year, to help preserve the hut. The hut was preserved and restored by the Antarctic Heritage Trust in 2015.

Discovery Hut, looking out towards Hut Point.

Discovery Hut was built by Robert Falcon Scott in 1902, on his first (of two) expeditions to Antarctica. During this first expedition, called the Discovery Expedition, Scott's crew charted some of the Transantarctic Mountains, discovered an emperor penguin colony at Cape Crozier, reached a new furthest south extent, and discovered the Dry Valleys.

Crates of food in Discovery Hut.

The Discovery expedition was funded by the British Government, the Royal Society, and the Royal Geographical Society. Most of the food supplies were donated by commercial sponsors (including Cadbury and Colman's).

A box of Colman's whole wheat meal in the hut, left behind from Scott's 1901 Discovery expedition.

They sailed out on the newly-built RRS Discovery in August 1901, and stopped in Cape Town in November for final preparations, before departing south in late December. The Discovery stopped at Cape Adare, and again at Cape Crozier (the farthest-east point on Ross Island). They finally arrived in Winter Quarters Bay in early Feb 1902.

Winter Quarters Bay is where the modern-day floating ice pier is built for the vessel to dock and unload in McMurdo.

Once Scott's crew arrived, they began work on what is now known as Discovery Hut. The hut was a prefabricated model from Australia; ideal for keeping you cool in the hot Australian outback, but, in fact, terrible at keeping you warm in the freezing Antarctic desert. The Australian-made hut also features a verandah on three sides, which often got drifted in with snow (again, not ideal for Antarctica). Because it was so difficult to keep the hut heated, it was mostly used as a storehouse during the Discovery Expedition, with the crew instead sleeping and working on the Discovery ship, which froze into the sea ice that winter.

The prefabricated walls of the hut were labelled with numbers to aid in construction.

During the winter of 1902 (May-August), the prepared their equipment for the scientific work they would be doing in the summer. They also took meteorological and magnetic data during the winter.

The kitchen in the hut, created on Scott's second expedition, using empty food crates for the walls.

A different angle looking into the kitchen. The walls are made of crates of "Special Cabin Biscuit".

In the summer, a small party ventured out and discovered the emperor penguin colony at Cape Crozier (where some scientists are out tagging the baby penguin chicks this very week!). Scott's crew started experiencing early symptoms of scurvy. They began killing seals and eating seal meat and liver to prevent scurvy (which worked; most animals, besides humans, make their own Vitamin C, and a diet with fresh meat can be enough to prevent and partially treat scurvy).

There is a seal carcass still inside the hut. It is remarkably well-preserved for being over 100 years old. When the hut was restored, they added a pan underneath the seal carcass to prevent the blubber from oozing into the floor and destroying it.

In November, Scott and a small party headed out, with the intention of traveling as far south as they could. They tried to use sled dogs, but were not very experienced, and ended up spending most of the trek carrying their sleds of food and equipment on foot. They continued on the Ross Ice Shelf and reached the then-furthest-explored southern latitude of 82°17′S in late December. The party turned back and returned to the Discovery, which was still frozen in Winter Quarters Bay, in early Feb 1903. They had a rough journey, and experienced scurvy, frostbite, and snow blindness.

Crates of "Special Dog Biscuit For use on Voyage"

By the time the party made it back to the Discovery, a relief ship had arrived with new supplies. The Discovery was still frozen into the sea ice, which Scott had not expected, and was stuck there. Some of Scott's crew went home early on the relief ship.

On Scott's second expedition in 1910, the crew built a stove to burn seal blubber to heat the hut. Most of the surfaces inside the hut are now covered in a greasy, black layer because of this.

Scott and the remaining crew prepared for the rest of their expedition during the 1903 winter. They set out to explore the mountains to the west of Ross Island in late October. They discovered Ferrar Glacier and the Antarctic Plateau, a large flat region extending over East Antarctica (and where the South Pole is located). On the slow journey home, with dwindling supplies, they discovered the McMurdo Dry Valleys, which are an extremely dry and snow-free area of Antarctica with some really cool microbial species (that are being studied by a few scientists deployed in McMurdo right now!).

Early ECW gear. Scott's crew wore canvas pants (for windproofing) and wool underwear.

After Scott returned to the Discovery, he had hoped that it would be in open water again, but it was still stuck in the sea ice. Two relief ships came down, and would carry the crew back if they could not free the Discovery from the ice by late Feb 1904. They used explosives and ice saws to help break up the sea ice, and were finally able to sail the Discovery back to New Zealand in mid Feb. Before their return, the crew removed most of the supplies from the hut, except a large stockpile of food.

More crates of food in the hut. There are some unwrapped biscuits laying out on shelves that are preserved in the dry, cold environment.

Me next to a crate that says "Scott's Antarctic Expedition 1910 - Homelight Lamp Oil".

It was such a neat experience to be able to go inside the hut that Scott built back in 1901. The cabin smells musty and rich (like oozing seal blubber) and it was colder inside the hut than out. We have such an easy time in Antarctica now compared with the early explorers, who laid the stepping stones for us to get here.

More seal carcasses in a side-room of the hut. I am very glad that the Antarctic Treaty means that no more seals can be killed.

Boxes of oatmeal, shovels, and a sack of onions.

In other news, the icebreaker ship (the Polar Star) arrived on Tuesday (day 43). The ship will go back and forth in the McMurdo Sound, breaking up the sea ice, before it docks in a few weeks. As Scott himself experienced, you can't rely on the sea ice to break up and expose Winter Quarters Bay, especially not on any time schedule. The cargo vessel with more fuel and supplies will be arriving and docking on the ice pier after the Polar Star.

The Polar Star breaking a path through the sea ice.

It was pretty startling to walk outside on Tuesday morning and just see a giant red boat sitting in the ice. Penguins and more seals should start appearing as the icebreaker creates more open water for them to swim in! And unlike Scott, I will NOT be eating them.