Click photos to enlarge.
Moon over the Arctic Ocean:
Cameron and Chiu dressed to get groceries. Cameron holding satellite phone in box:
Cameron unpacking gear:
Bingo Pull Tabs:
Friday, December 12, 2008
North Slope photos: 12 Dec. 2008
Here are some photos that Cameron just sent.
Click photos to enlarge.
Moon over the Arctic Ocean:
Cameron and Chiu dressed to get groceries. Cameron holding satellite phone in box:
Cameron unpacking gear:
Bingo Pull Tabs:
Click photos to enlarge.
Moon over the Arctic Ocean:
Cameron and Chiu dressed to get groceries. Cameron holding satellite phone in box:
Cameron unpacking gear:
Bingo Pull Tabs:
North Slope news: 12 Dec. 2008--update
Got a call from Cameron this morning. He says it's minus 20 degrees F with a little fog but no clouds. There's also a full moon.
Cameron and Chiu will walk to BASC (Barrow Arctic Science Consortium) today to pick up Cameron's sled, which he left there last year. Then they'll bring the sled back to their base. It's a three mile walk each way.
Tomorrow (13 Dec.), Cameron will give a talk on Neanderthals. Then they hope to head out toward Iko Bay on Sunday, or Monday at the latest.
Cameron and Chiu are going through their gear to see if they've forgotten anything. It turns out that Chiu forgot his face mask, but fortunately Cameron has an extra one. Cameron says that he's probably forgotten something himself, and that Chiu will most likely have a backup for him.
So, they're continuing to get prepared, and, as Cameron told me "Everything's pretty good right now."
--Chuck
Cameron and Chiu will walk to BASC (Barrow Arctic Science Consortium) today to pick up Cameron's sled, which he left there last year. Then they'll bring the sled back to their base. It's a three mile walk each way.
Tomorrow (13 Dec.), Cameron will give a talk on Neanderthals. Then they hope to head out toward Iko Bay on Sunday, or Monday at the latest.
Cameron and Chiu are going through their gear to see if they've forgotten anything. It turns out that Chiu forgot his face mask, but fortunately Cameron has an extra one. Cameron says that he's probably forgotten something himself, and that Chiu will most likely have a backup for him.
So, they're continuing to get prepared, and, as Cameron told me "Everything's pretty good right now."
--Chuck
North Slope news: 12 Dec. 2008
Cameron and Chiu now have a satellite phone. Cameron called yesterday to test the phone, and it worked just fine.
Cameron sent me an email yesterday (presumably from the local library). He'll be emailing me some photos soon (which I'll post here), and he'll soon provide more specific details on the plan.
Below is an email comment from Cameron:
"Right now we're settling into the 'Polar Bear Theatre', an
interestingly-named and thoroughy run-down and ramshackle structure used by sea-ice scientists when they visit here in the summer. But we have no complaints, we have a shower and a stove, and it's over 50F inside, which is wonderful compared to the -10F outside. The moon is full or near it; this morning I watched it slowly blaze up white as fog rising from the sea ice blew across its disc, then it dimmed and then vanished, swallowed by a low, black, fast-moving cloud. Dramatic scenes. A seal-hunter just went by on a snow machine. Dogs are barking at something somewhere.
Chiu and I are going to head out now to buy supplies; ammunition for the polar-bear deterrent (a gruesome 12-guage that neither of us is interested in having to use), stove fuel, jellybeans (they keep me going on the march)...and a bell. A single bell to be hung on a line we're devising to encircle the camp and act as a polar bear warning. No, I'm not too convinced by this contraption, either. But you do your best and then get skating as they say.
Tomorrow AM it's off to the hangar to get my sled, stored here since my last visit, then spend the day packing. Saturday I'll do a community talk (on Neanderthals and what we know about them that we didn't know even 10 years ago) and Sunday or Monday at latest we're off across the snow and headed for Iko Bay, where all my attention will shift to the exact formation of the bluffs and the wind conditions...if everything is perfect, I'll try to fly the paraglider...and I imagine that if we wait long enought, some time the conditions will actually settle in...OK that's it for now -- off to the trading post. Cheers, Cameron"
Cameron sent me an email yesterday (presumably from the local library). He'll be emailing me some photos soon (which I'll post here), and he'll soon provide more specific details on the plan.
Below is an email comment from Cameron:
"Right now we're settling into the 'Polar Bear Theatre', an
interestingly-named and thoroughy run-down and ramshackle structure used by sea-ice scientists when they visit here in the summer. But we have no complaints, we have a shower and a stove, and it's over 50F inside, which is wonderful compared to the -10F outside. The moon is full or near it; this morning I watched it slowly blaze up white as fog rising from the sea ice blew across its disc, then it dimmed and then vanished, swallowed by a low, black, fast-moving cloud. Dramatic scenes. A seal-hunter just went by on a snow machine. Dogs are barking at something somewhere.
Chiu and I are going to head out now to buy supplies; ammunition for the polar-bear deterrent (a gruesome 12-guage that neither of us is interested in having to use), stove fuel, jellybeans (they keep me going on the march)...and a bell. A single bell to be hung on a line we're devising to encircle the camp and act as a polar bear warning. No, I'm not too convinced by this contraption, either. But you do your best and then get skating as they say.
Tomorrow AM it's off to the hangar to get my sled, stored here since my last visit, then spend the day packing. Saturday I'll do a community talk (on Neanderthals and what we know about them that we didn't know even 10 years ago) and Sunday or Monday at latest we're off across the snow and headed for Iko Bay, where all my attention will shift to the exact formation of the bluffs and the wind conditions...if everything is perfect, I'll try to fly the paraglider...and I imagine that if we wait long enought, some time the conditions will actually settle in...OK that's it for now -- off to the trading post. Cheers, Cameron"
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
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
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
Monday, December 8, 2008
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
Sunday, December 7, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
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.
"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.
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