jay | Last outpost

That's a bit melodramatic, but the Co-op gift shop sells a T-shirt that says "Resolute isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here." I'm up here, waiting for a charter flight to Devon Island tomorrow.

First, I owe thanks and love to

patgreene and her mom for covering things at home for 2+ weeks while I'm away. And they gave me a lovely farewell dinner Thursday night:

Today,

mouseman,

handslive and

purplejavatroll all met me at the hotel lobby this morning at 9:30 and sent me off together. I feel welcome :-).

The ride from Edmonton to Cambridge Bay, via Yellowknife, was on a convertible mixed cargo-passenger 737. These have large forward hatches that are used to load cargo pallets.

This photo shows it in use. Note that passengers use the rear door.
And in this photo, one can see the cargo in the front compartment (through an access door).

These older 737s have a special gravel-kit that allows them to safely use gravel and dirt landing strips. They have probes in front of the engine intakes that blow high-pressure bleed air to keep gravel and debris out of the engines, and a metal plate behind the nosewheels to protect the fuselage from rocks. This photo shows it in use, leaving Cambridge Bay and heading back southward.

By the way,

oceansedge, Canadian North says that they extend partner-airline staff travel privileges...

I had almost two hours to spend in Cambridge Bay's tiny airport... about a mile away were radomes of a DEW line station, built in the 1950s and soon to be decommissioned.

Then a noisy, cramped Beech 100 turboprop flight lasting two hours... arriving in Resolute around 8pm. After dinner (the kitchen kept something warm, knowing we were late arrivals) I walked around Resolute a bit. It's cold here, currently zero-C. 70F colder than two days ago in California.

Here's the view from my hotel window, looking north at downtown Resolute about an hour ago (a bit past midnight). Note the sun's position (behind the high overcast)...

Walking around, I saw this polar bear skin hung out for drying outside an Inuit home:

Equipment-wise, I talked to my Vancouver-based customs broker again from Cambridge Bay and he said that there's no one available on weekends to clear it. So the gravity meter won't make it up until Wednesday's flight, and I have no idea how it will get to Devon Island before I leave.

And... my own bags haven't arrived -- they're still enroute from Yellowknife because of First Air's strange rerouting last week (weather and equipment problems). But the airline says that they will arrive tonight on a cargo flight.