Room pictures and a Bike to Northeast Bay then a Hike to Porpoise Point

 

A friend, Matt, whom I met at McMurdo Station, Antarctica winter 2012 makes me a calendar every year with pictures he uses from this blog. We both work satellite communications and I last saw him when I relieved him at the South Pole for my winter 2017 at Amundsen Scott South Pole Station. This is the 2022 calendar he mailed to me. Thanks, Matt!

My room after 5 months on Ascension Island.

The green turtles have arrived on the island to lay their eggs.

I biked to Northeast Bay on the other side of the island then hiked another letterbox trail.

After two months with my bike, my rear tire is worn bald. Tires don't last long here. I installed a new tire.

A pair of fairy terns posing for me. They are together for life. A very curious bird they ofter hover above me.

The hike to Porpoise Point in the distance.

More turtle tracks.

The hatchlings coming from here won't have a chance to get over the rocks.

Interesting lava rock erosion.

After a very difficult hike over sharp lava gullies, I found the letterbox. There have been times that after the hike the letterbox eludes me.

Looking back to where I started.

A very worn stamp.

This hike took me 3 hours not 2.

A long hot hike back to my bike.

The hatchlings from here don't stand a chance.

Salt forming.

The land crabs are now migrating from Green Mountain to Northeast Bay to mate and spawn.

This crab was barely alive and dying. After the crabs release their eggs in the ocean they come ashore and die. 

Wolf's Bluff, Bird Cave, Mars Bay and Shelly Beach Hikes

 

The view from Wolf's Bluff.

Looking down from the Wolf's Head. It was a 30-foot vertical climb to get here. Easy though as there are plenty of holds for hands and feet.

The howling wolf's head. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the letterbox after much searching. So no stamp for my hiking book. That has been the case on a few other hikes. It seems as though some letterboxes are placed to make them harder to find. Maybe I'll hike this again for another look.

A very interesting story about Mars Bay.

Thousands of nesting Sooty Terns made a big fuss as I walked by. So I turned around and went another way. I'm glad I was wearing my bike helmet as they dove at me.  I circled way around the nesting area. The runway on Ascension was made during WWII and was called "Wideawake Field" due to the noisy birds. The airfield is still called Wideawake Field.

Looking back at Dark Slope Crater where I started the Bird Cave hike. The wind turbines are no longer in use.

I found Bird Cave! Sometimes the letterboxes are very difficult to find.

The letterbox is in an old lava tube.

Another letterbox stamp in my hiking book.

A nice view of the runway and my workstation.

The location of Mars Bay and Shelly Beach.

Shelly Beach

It was a tough hike across sharp lava fields on the way to Shelly Beach. This was my second hike here.

A Sooty Tern following me.

Shelly Beach. Filled with shells and coral pieces.

A great place to explore many tidepools. These are all open to the ocean through underground tunnels.

I found another letterbox and stamp.

A rough map of the island shows running and biking miles. It is all uphill to the village of Two Boats. It takes me 50 minutes on the bike to get to Two Boats but then 15 minutes back to the base on the back road. My favorite swimming /snorkeling beach is English Bay which is about a 40-minute bicycle ride from my barracks.