Cape Evans and Scott’s Hut
Antarctica isn’t just a continent of glaciers and mountains, it’s also packed with history. Ross Island, where McMurdo Station is located, was also where many of the expeditions of the Heroic Age of Antarctica exploration were based. One of the most famous was Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition, in which he fatally raced Roald Amundsen to the South Pole.
Scott’s Hut at Cape Evans is located about 12 miles up the coast from McMurdo, and for several weeks at the beginning of the season we’re allowed to take a Sunday tour to visit it. Due to the dry, cold weather the hut is in amazing condition, still full of the everyday items (including food!) as when it was used 100 years ago. It’s almost as though the last person walked out the door 10 minutes before I arrived. The only indications of how much time has passed are the old style brands on supplies and the skeleton of the dog in the stables, still on his chain.
Inside the hut are a well-stocked kitchen, bunk quarters for the crew, a science lab full of chemicals and charred test-tubes, plus Scott’s bed. Next to Scott’s bed is a table where the crew was doing a scientific exam of a dead penguin. The rear of the hut has stables, which were used to house dogs and ponies, as well as supplies.
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