2003-07-29

jay: (Default)
2003-07-29 08:43 am

Time to pack

It's snowing, since about 3am... no accumulation yet, as it has been well above freezing the past few days. Yesterday's traverse plans led me to pack for that trip, then others in camp objected that we were taking the MD out of camp, again. The compromise reached after two hours of arg^H^H^H discussion was that the patient would be placed on the first departing Twin Otter, due at four, and afterward we'd leave for the west again with the Humvee.

Hurry up and wait... then the weather worsened. The flight out was delayed, rain began, then gale-force (40 knot) winds. Flight cancelled, hence traverse cancelled. I will leave the gravity meter here for Pascal to take a few more data points on Thursday. Otherwise, my program here this year is done.

Last night after dinner, we had to go out and reinforce several of the tents, generally because the user hadn't bothered tying side reinforcement lines and the winds were caving in the tent frameworks. Mine was OK. Then we heard a space medicine talk by Jeff Jones and then a high-school-genre remake of "Taming of the Shrew" called "Ten Things I Hate About You". With the cancellations and the large tent shaking dismally in the whistling wind, we collectively needed something uplifting. I brought out the second box of [profile] patgreene's brownies and the port from Edmonton.

Then Pascal, Jeff and I talked about co-editing an HMP book, covering the project's achievements over its first seven summers. I chatted online with [personal profile] hopeforyou for awhile, then went to bed at 3:30am -- with the sun out.

Yesterday I called airlines -- if I stayed later to get more data, or was delayed by weather and missed Thursday's flight out of Resolute, there are no seats on Saturday's flight. So in that case I'd be stranded in Resolute until a week from now, and not home until Wednesday. So I must try to leave the field as scheduled, today or tomorrow, weather permitting.

Up at 7:30am, in time for breakfast. Current weather is marginal, but Polar Shelf will try to get two pull-out flights in around lunchtime. Time to pack, at least the work stuff, so this may be my last entry from Devon Island this year. I'll wait to fold my tent until I have confirmation that the plane is aloft -- I'd be on the second flight, anyway.
jay: (Default)
2003-07-29 02:05 pm

Plane's on its way

I need to take down my tent, and should be in Resolute tonight... somewhere, since cancelled flights have left the few hotel beds full. If possible, I'll post a few photos from there tonight. Signing off from Devon Island for this year...
jay: (flowers)
2003-07-29 09:16 pm

Some camp notes

As a kind of field wrap-up, here are some notes and photos regarding day-to-day life at the Haughton-Mars Project camp...

daily mundane things )