Arrival in Barrow (10 Dec. 2008)

Cameron and Chiu have just arrived at Barrow, Alaska late Wednesday evening. Cameron called by cellphone saying that they're at the airport waiting for their ride.

Initially they'll be preparing for a few days, and perhaps giving some talks and presentations to the community before they head out of Barrow onto the frozen ocean.

In the meantime they'll be staying in quarters (with a wood stove) that look something like this image below.



Some photos should be coming soon via email, but below are older photos of Chiu and of Cameron.





I'll keep you posted as more information comes in.

Chuck

Where Cold Performs the Effect of Fire

Barrow, northernmost tip of Alaska--300 miles north of the Arctic Circle; the photo was taken around noon in December 2008, and shows 'nautical twilight," the most light we can expect, and only for a few hours a day.

Forty-eight hours before I get to sleep again, this time on the plane to Barrow. Chiu, coming with me to film first attempts at paraglider aviation on the North Slope in Winter, is also woozy with endless preparations. But it's a familiar exhaustion, an old friend. Soon, I know, cold of the Arctic will revitalize my spirit. Soon I'll be flying an elegant wing over the frozen surface of an ocean.

In that place, as Milton put it in describing the ice cold of Hell,

"The parching air Burns frore,
and cold performs the effect of fire."

Speaking of Milton, my books for the trip -- Milton (Complete poems), a Granta volume of travel writing, Between Earth and Sky (on pioneering efforts in high-altitude ballooning), and the FAA Balloon Flying Handbook. A blank notebook as well, and some writing instruments.

Thanks to Chuck Sullivan for helping with food preparation and packaging! He'll be updating the blog with text, weather reports and images as available, starting on the 10th or 11th of December.

Cheers
Cameron

Tracking Sheet Test

This is a test of the daily tracking sheet for Footsteps on the Arctic. I am Chuck, and I'll be posting daily reports and photos (when available) of Cameron and Chiu as they explore the North Slope of Alaska, and as Cameron attempts to get airborne in his paraglider in the flat, frigid North. Cameron and Chiu will be leaving for Barrow, Alaska on Wednesday December 10, 2008.


Daily Tracking Sheet


DATE: Test

TIME: Test

LAT: Test

LONG: Test

ELEV: test

TEMP: Test

PRESS: Test

WIND VEL: Test

WIND DIR: Test

CLOUD: Test

VISIB: Test

PRECIP: Test

SURFACE: Test

COMMENT: Comments will be here, but since this is a test there are no comments for today except for this test comment.

Perfect Words for my Favorite Season

It's gusting now, the trees still bear a heavy load of wet foliage and the leaves are like books raining from the sky, the air is wet and stony; and TS Eliot delivers me to Scotland with just a few words;

"Rannoch, near Glencoe"
by T S Eliot

Here the crow starves, here the patient stag
Breeds for the rifle. Between the soft moor
and the soft sky, scarcely room
To leap or to soar. Substance crumbles, in the thin air
Moon cold or moon hot. The road winds in
Listlessness of ancient war,
Languor of broken steel,
Clamour of confused wrong, apt
In silence. Memory is strong
Beyond the bone. Pride snapped,
Shadow of pride is long, in the long pass
No concurrence of bone.

Solo Flight Certification

Well, I've passed my P2 flight certification, meaning I can fly my paraglider without the presence of an instructor -- that is, alone. Which means I'll be 'street legal', as far as the FAA is concerned, when I go up to Alaska from 10 December to 03 January to try the first paraglidier aviation on the North Shore. NEWS FLASH: Chiu, my old climbing partner, will be coming along, to shoot video of the project for a TV program in his home country of Taiwan! Hooee what a Relief witha capital R, I don't have to shoot it all myself, like I did in Iceland, for National Geographic. Food is prepped, tickets bought, and last "tweaks" to the plans are coming together! I'm worrying about polar bears again, and enduring -70F windchills. But I'm also remembering the foam of stars; the pulsing aurora; the crash and shatter of snow and ice underfoot; and the feeling of cleanliness that comes of not being advertised-to for nearly a month. That's all worth it!

Release

My short, experiential description of paraglider flight is now available in Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine (November 2008), on pages 66-67. Like a lot of my recent articles, this item;

* started as a little meditation I scribbled in my notebook after an experience

* made its way to a blog post

* was refined and polished in my writing group meetings

* was finally sent by me to a publisher

* and was finally picked up for publication.

The text is available as a JPEG I've scanned in; I like the way the editors broke up the words; I think they understood exactly what I was trying to convey. The print version has a picture associated with the text, but I haven't scanned that. The scan of the text is available below.

Make Way!

This says it all for me today!

Make way, make way! Back to Wasilla, you, and take your bumper-sticker vocabulary! And back, back to Crawford, you, and spend your days cuttin' brush! Clear out your desk, Darth Vader, get back to the dust devils of Wyoming -- and watch the door doesn't hit your ass on the way out!