The Journey Begins

It has been two years since I last set foot on the world's most remote continent. Prior to that, I had been going to the Antarctic continent for over a decade twice a year. Covid-19 had put a halt on all extraordinary visits to the United States Antarctic Programs research stations unless considered necessary for the essential function of operations. To my delight back in January, I got the email that I was being considered for deployment to Palmer Station and for work on the research vessels that the USAP/NSF (United States Antarctic Program/ National Science Foundation) operates.

Palmer Station Antarctica

Laurence M. Gould & Nathaniel B. Palmer

My journey begins at home - Ester Alaska - which is near Fairbanks Alaska. I left my wife Erin and daughter Aurora on April 1, 2022 at 0155 AM from the airport and flew to Seattle where I had a short layover, and then flew on to San Francisco CA. Here we had to stay in a hotel ( The Grand Hyatt) for a little over 3 days where we were screened for Covid before making a long charter flight to Punta Arenas Chile.

My total flight miles was 9796 miles one way. The flight from San Francisco to Punta Arenas Chile was a charter flight meaning we were the only passengers. This was done to preserve our quarantine state as much as possible. So all 12 of us in our group were allowed to spread out on the Boeing 767-200ER which is capable of handling over 200 passengers. As you can see there was plenty of room to get up and stretch during the flight.

The flight from San Francisco had a late-night stopover at AFW Airport which is a commercial shipping airstrip near Dallas Fort Worth (TX). We pulled up to a dimly lit hanger ( see picture above right) on the fringes of the airfield and were met by a solitary fuel truck. After a changeout of the crew, we were taking off on the long 12-hour flight to Punta Arenas Chile - More than half a world away.

When the sun rose we were treated to a beautiful view of the Torres del Paine National Park a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia.