Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Cool Vehicles etc.
So, Monday we headed out to another lake (like normal) but it was further away and they hadn't made the ice roads yet (that's what we've been getting the rafts ready for, ice road making season). So, off we went in a Hagglund tracked vehicle. Talk about cool! It's an old army surplus deal, four seats up front plus a crew / cargo self-contained unit that tags along in the back.
The ride over the tundra was super bumpy but, one of my skills is being able to sleep anywhere and true to form, I was out for a good chunk of the trip to L9817. So, once we got there we met up with our friends from Fairbanks: Richard (BLM hydrologist) and Matt (BLM biologist) who flew in on skis. So, the day was pretty fun working with them even though the temperature dropped throughout the day until it was below -30. Not to much wind though (not that it takes much...). It was my first day to need hot pads in my gloves because I was working so much without gloves. The first real kicker of the day was the DO sensor I was installing. It took over an hour to connect the water proof sensor and get the darn thing in the water. In what seems to be a recurring theme for the trip I warmed the cable up by sticking it up my sleeve while the sensor was warmed by driving around the lake. So, eventually we got it. Well, in the mean time one of the snowmachines broke down. The snowmachine committee poked and prodded for a while before deciding it was broken. The aurora was great so I enjoyed the show. However, forgot my tripod so check out this picture using my unpatented mitten monopod. Didn't even look through the camera eyehole for it... got lucky for sure...
So, the consensus was ditch the snowmachine and come back later... So, Mike and Ken tied it to the back of Mike's snow machine and off they went. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we had 6 people instead of the 4 we were expecting (we didn't know Matt was coming with Richard) to fit in the Hagglund. I don't know why it always seems to happen this way but Braden, the grad student we're all up here supporting, ended up riding shotgun and Shane (over 250), Matt (a tall guy), Richard (quite tall), and I ended up splitting the back. Well, no biggie except for the engine housing that sits in the back. So, for the first 2/3s Richard and Shane sat in the two seats, Matt sat on the cover with his back against the back of the cab and I got the front left corner of the cover. After 10 miles of tundra Richard and I switched out and I was able to get in a few more Zs. It was a great day though. Richard, Ken, Mike and I finished it with a good old fashioned bull session in the cafeteria around midnight.
Well, I think you're all caught up. Who knows what insanity Wednesday will bring but I'm still pulling for a Friday return...
The ride over the tundra was super bumpy but, one of my skills is being able to sleep anywhere and true to form, I was out for a good chunk of the trip to L9817. So, once we got there we met up with our friends from Fairbanks: Richard (BLM hydrologist) and Matt (BLM biologist) who flew in on skis. So, the day was pretty fun working with them even though the temperature dropped throughout the day until it was below -30. Not to much wind though (not that it takes much...). It was my first day to need hot pads in my gloves because I was working so much without gloves. The first real kicker of the day was the DO sensor I was installing. It took over an hour to connect the water proof sensor and get the darn thing in the water. In what seems to be a recurring theme for the trip I warmed the cable up by sticking it up my sleeve while the sensor was warmed by driving around the lake. So, eventually we got it. Well, in the mean time one of the snowmachines broke down. The snowmachine committee poked and prodded for a while before deciding it was broken. The aurora was great so I enjoyed the show. However, forgot my tripod so check out this picture using my unpatented mitten monopod. Didn't even look through the camera eyehole for it... got lucky for sure...
So, the consensus was ditch the snowmachine and come back later... So, Mike and Ken tied it to the back of Mike's snow machine and off they went. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we had 6 people instead of the 4 we were expecting (we didn't know Matt was coming with Richard) to fit in the Hagglund. I don't know why it always seems to happen this way but Braden, the grad student we're all up here supporting, ended up riding shotgun and Shane (over 250), Matt (a tall guy), Richard (quite tall), and I ended up splitting the back. Well, no biggie except for the engine housing that sits in the back. So, for the first 2/3s Richard and Shane sat in the two seats, Matt sat on the cover with his back against the back of the cab and I got the front left corner of the cover. After 10 miles of tundra Richard and I switched out and I was able to get in a few more Zs. It was a great day though. Richard, Ken, Mike and I finished it with a good old fashioned bull session in the cafeteria around midnight.
Well, I think you're all caught up. Who knows what insanity Wednesday will bring but I'm still pulling for a Friday return...
