Questions from Eau Claire

Guest

Hi Nikki, we are a 6th grade class at DeLong Middle School in Eau Claire, WI. I will be going to Toolik Lake in a few weeks with the TREC program. The students have a few questions: What clothes do you wear, including your shoes or boots? What do you miss? Is there wildlife? How deep is the snow? Hope you're learning lots and having a wonderful time, Karen Bejin & class.

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 72

Hi guys! Thanks for your questions! Your teacher is going to have so much fun, and learn so many new things! This has been such an awesome opportunity for me, and my students as well!!

Most of the time, I wear several layers of clothing. I start with long underwear, then a light layer of clothing that will wick away water if I were to get wet. Next comes an insulating layer of a fleece jacket, and fleece pants. Lastly, I put on a parka, snowpants, hat, goggles, glove liners, mittens, and big winter boots!! It is a lot of stuff to wear, but it keeps me toasty warm!!! On days like today, when it is pretty warm, you can take off the top layer. It feels so nice to walk around without the big parka on!!

Most of all, I miss my family. This is a long time to be away from them, but I am lucky and they can call me and talk. I love being here, but I still am counting down the days until I see them again. Of course, I miss my students, but we get to talk through email and this page. I have been doing teleconferences with them once a week as well. It is good to hear familiar voices! I am afraid in a few days I will be missing something else very, very much. I am a soda addict. I only have one left. I am afraid that I will be a much crabbier person in a few days Smile

There is no wildlife at Summit. Occasionally a lost bird will fly in, but unfortunately, their time here is usually short-lived, because they are not equipped to survive these cold temperatures. They tell me that when I get back to Kanger (the city we stay in before we come back to the U.S.), that I will almost be sure to see musk oxen! That will be neat to see (I won't tell them that I had one for dinner the other night)!

The snow at Summit is very, very deep. Summit Camp is actually at the highest point on the Greenland ice cap. It goes down about 2 miles!! A lot of that is ice, but the snow is very thick on top of the ice. The snow here is very hard, so when you walk on it, you don't really sink in too much. Sometimes when it is really cold, you can hear your footsteps echo through the snow!!!

Thanks for your questions- it is good to talk to Wisconsinites (some of the people up here are from Minnesota- you know how we feel about them Smile

)!!!!