Onward to Pole

Well, the flight did not get cancelled and we PAX were loaded onto a C-130, shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee, boot to boot. We shared the cargo plane with three rather large pallets loaded in the back of the plane. Kind of a human cattle kind of thing going on, now this is the "hurt flight" I remember. Fortunately, it was only a three hour flight to the South Pole. However, this flight could also circle for a couple hours and then head all the way back due to weather and we had a pretty measly sack lunch this time. Fortunately, we did not end up circling and landed with a half a degree (Farenheit that is) to spare or it would have been too cold to land, -51F vs -50.5 F. We landed on the skiway, and as we taxied toward the station, the "Loadmaster" opens the parachute door in the back of the plane (big ramp looking door that drops down) and he releases all the cargo into a cloud of white. The cargo literally falls out the back of the plane onto the skyway as clouds of blowing snow billow into the cargo area of the plane.