|
Don's Journal:
Today started great. Last night I slept like the dead.
Amazing what a "little" hiking can do to the body. This
daylight thing really is interesting as to how it affects
the mind. Your mind wants to stay awake because it is still
daylight, but the body fights it all the way. In either case
I really needed the sleep. TOY
Today we all went to the Happy Valley Site.  More
walking on another 1 km square grid and making active layer depth measurements.
I thought walking was tough at the Imnavait Site. This one was at least
3 times as bad. The tussocks made going along very tough. A tussock is
a mound of dirt, grass, and other plants that stick up but is not really
stable. When you step on them they roll over and try to grab your feet
like they're alive I think. They are a pain in the rear!!! The mosquitoes
were also out today. They weren't as bad as some of the experienced researchers
around here have seen them, but worse than I have ever experienced. They
seem to just boil up out of the ground and get in your nose, your ears,
your eyes, everywhere. I loved it when the breeze came up later in the
day because it kept the bugs away a lot better than the bug repellant.
Vegetation near the stream at Happy Valley
Frost mound beside the Dalton Highway on the north side
of Atigun pass.
 On
the way home we took a brief stop at Slope Mountain. There we saw some
ice mounds, which are large up-heavings of earth caused by ice under the
ground. This one had caved in because of the thaw but another researcher
said that changes of 2 meters in height for these mounds is not uncommon.
We also saw some sheep up on the mountain but they were too far away to
get any pictures.
Once back at camp, we ate and then had a Toolik Sauna
Experience. This is the first time that I have ever had a
WARM bath while out camping in the wilds. I'll tell you
what, it sure does feel nice to get warm and clean after two
days of traipsing around the tundra. Because of a lack of
wood (everything needs to be shipped in), the sauna only
runs every other day. I am already looking forward to Sunday
night.
JAVIER'S PIECE:
Although I am a greenhorn field researcher, today was one of those days
where things just don't go your way. When we arrived at the grid (Happy
Valley), I was given a section to the North-West. Me, not having my compass
handy at the moment, went wandering by poles right into the center of
Don's grid, about 600 meters off of my starting position. Thankfully,
Don got me headed in the right direction and after a short break, I started
taking readings.  The
whole time, traveling at about .000001 m/h, I was being assaulted by a
squadron of killer mosquitoes (or at least really really really annoying
ones). Luckily, I had my 500 degree mosquito net on in the 100 degree
weather - and I'm not exaggerating (well maybe a little). Another peril
of Happy Valley (I have no clue how this Godforsaken place got this ill-suited
name) were the prolific tussocks that swarmed to wherever I was going.
They just wouldn't leave me alone - even after I stabbed a couple of them
with the probe! Honestly, though, it gives me a new respect for all of
the scientists who spend their time out in the field and work in those
conditions. I personally don't find myself acclimated for such kind of
labor, but who knows, people change.
Sunset at Toolik Lake.
|