Inside Scott's Hut

Scott's Hut

This is Scott's Hut, I mentioned it in an earlier post, but in case you missed that one here is the history:

Scott's Hut is a building located on the north shore of Cape Evans on Ross Island in Antarctica. It was erected in 1911 by the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910–1913 (also known as the Terra Nova Expedition) led by Robert Falcon Scott. In selecting a base of operations for the 1910–1913 Expedition, Scott rejected the notion of re-occupying the hut he had built by McMurdo Sound during the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904. This first hut was located at Hut Point, 20 km south of Cape Evans. Two factors influenced this decision. One was that the hut was extremely cold for living quarters and the other was that Scott's ship, the Discovery, had been trapped by sea ice at Hut Point, a problem he hoped to avoid by establishing his new base further north.

Yeah, I'll address the sign in a minute....


Quick shout out to my tour guide, Mike Santos. You don't know him? He's kind of a big deal....

"Ok so here are some things we have to go over before we enter the hut. Don't touch anything........there is asbestos and traces of Anthrax in the hut...."

What!?

Is there anything here that is not life or death, super extreme, totally over the top? Guess this is why it is such a "harsh continent".

So, I guess it's not that bad. Asbestos; is in every old building somewhere, and the Anthrax is only found in trace amounts, considered not harmful to humans by the powers that be. They had dogs, horses, mutton, seal, and penguins, in one form or another here...so there was germs and disease, whats a little Anthrax?

First thing is first, sign the guest register....

So into the hut, oh how I love old historic buildings....(seriously)

There are windows on almost every wall, but there is very little light. The windows are however wisely double pane; read two windows put together.

The creepiest thing about the hut is that it is still quite well stocked. I almost felt like someone was gonna come in while we were there. I mean there were even clothes hanging.

I have a feeling someone related to my mother was on this expedition. There was as many cases of these dog biscuits as there were cases of human food. I'm an animal lover too, but.....

Some of the instruments they used for science experiments.

Sometimes I guess we all forget the modern conveniences we take for granted. When our next day air package is delayed, or the power is temporarily off, or a simple daily task is frustrating enough to start swearing; we all need to remember how tough it used to be. Here is my reminder, the camp kitchen:

...uh the butcher's area?....still some seal on it...

...and the meat storage, fresh, well; stocked with mutton, seal, and Emperor penguin, yum....

Well that's the fifty cent tour. I'll leave you with a picture and a very cool fact (thanks Santos); this is the only place in the world where the first explorer's original building is still standing....and I was in it.

..........till next time......

...Cooking on Ice...