Family checking in on Mike! :)
July 20, 2009 - 3:55pm
Hi Uncle Mike! Dad tried to explain what you are doing exactly, I think I might get it! LOL! Studying icebergs?? Love the entry on polar bears, good grief, good luck with that! Right now we are in Dothan, Alabama visiting, then we will be heading back to Fort Walton Beach, Florida on Wednesday. I think by Saturday Dad will be running back to Pennsylvania having contended with my 2 year old, Tae, all week long, and our 7 week old baby, Kye. I think he's having fun so far! LOL! Ok...I'll be sure to keep up with your journal entries, this is really cool to check out!! Ok...Dad wants to read more of your journal entries before posting his thoughts..so I'm off! Have fun and be safe!
Nikki
July 21, 2009 - 2:19am
#2
Family checking in on Mike!
Hey Nik!!!
2 yr old and 7 mo old? And only 2 hands? Wow!
Great to hear from you, and "brother Boyd".
I've gone back and inserted some photos in some of the journals.
Also added a newer one about safety training that we did. It includes some pics and a short video.
We are finally getting out on the fjord today for a "show me" cruise. Sounds like our boats may not be ready for another couple days now. Hmmm.
Well, I need to go find a survival suit that fits for this afternoon and then go to lunch.
Hope to get some good pics to post out on the boat.
Keep in touch. Have fun.
July 21, 2009 - 6:13am
#3
Family checking in on Mike!
Hi Mike,
Love reading the journals - what an adventure!!!!! Pictures are great too. This is also fun following your adventure online. I've printed out the journals for the ones without computers. Yes, travel is the key, see as much as you can, new places, new people, new culture. Sounds like you have to be totally aware of your surroundings - bears and crevasses - be careful. Just wanted to check in with you, (I'm at work) so this is short for now. Will be watching for more news later. Kath
July 21, 2009 - 2:05pm
#4
Family checking in on Mike!
Hey!
Thanks for following. It's 5 minutes till midnight and the sun is still out. There is no dark here in the summer. It's kind of weird, but getting used to it. It's just hard to stop working and go to bed. You don't realize it's so late.
We are headed back out again tomorrow. Sounds like we're going out to the glaciers and going to hike some of the areas around them . . . not on them. So we don't have to worry about falling into a crevasse. But we will need to take the rifle, just in case.
I would love to see a polar bear, but the chances are slim this time of year here.
We did see a few seals in the fjord today. 2 of them, in different places, were taking advantage of the beautiful sunny, not windy, day we had. They were sunning themselves on ice bergs. We got fairly close to one to get some pics. Not too close though as to bother it.
There's no way to have time to get a journal entry up every day. We have been too busy. But every 2-3 days I should have something new. Always check the journal page, the photo gallery, and the Ask the Team.
I'm also going to put some pretty cool websites up to check out.
Well, it's midnight. Time to head back to my room and pull the shades.
Thanks for sharing with others without internet. I know they'll enjoy it too.
July 21, 2009 - 4:12pm
#5
Family checking in on Mike!
Hey Gum,
Just checked out all the posts and looking pretty awesome. I liked the DIRT main street with the mountains in the background. I didn't realized there were mountains in Norway but i guess where there are glaciers there are steep mountains.
Definitely need to get out of the country and do some traveling. We have our passports now (except LP but i'm sure we can smuggle him in, in a shoe box). Russia/Mediterranean are tops on the list.
Nice shooting there in the polar bear training - maybe that will make a good rug on your new wood floors - oh wait you need wood floors first - i mean uh was that out loud.
the constant daylight is weird isn't it - we got into alaska at midnight and it looked like dusk/dawn. Have you seen any northern lights?
well - get out in those boats and gets some footage of some wildlife/glacial activity.
btw- to throw a little jealousy your way & a little homesickness - i just picked a handful of blueberries and enjoying a small bowl with brown sugar and milk. :)
take care and have fun
B
July 21, 2009 - 4:13pm
#6
Family checking in on Mike!
Hey Gum,
Just checked out all the posts and looking pretty awesome. I liked the DIRT main street with the mountains in the background. I didn't realized there were mountains in Norway but i guess where there are glaciers there are steep mountains.
Definitely need to get out of the country and do some traveling. We have our passports now (except LP but i'm sure we can smuggle him in, in a shoe box). Russia/Mediterranean are tops on the list.
Nice shooting there in the polar bear training - maybe that will make a good rug on your new wood floors - oh wait you need wood floors first - i mean uh was that out loud.
the constant daylight is weird isn't it - we got into alaska at midnight and it looked like dusk/dawn. Have you seen any northern lights?
well - get out in those boats and gets some footage of some wildlife/glacial activity.
btw- to throw a little jealousy your way & a little homesickness - i just picked a handful of blueberries and enjoying a small bowl with brown sugar and milk. :)
take care and have fun
B
July 21, 2009 - 4:22pm
#7
Family checking in on Mike!
Hey Gum,
Just checked out all the posts and looking pretty awesome. I liked the DIRT main street with the mountains in the background. I didn't realized there were mountains in Norway but i guess where there are glaciers there are steep mountains.
Definitely need to get out of the country and do some traveling. We have our passports now (except LP but i'm sure we can smuggle him in, in a shoe box). Russia/Mediterranean are tops on the list.
Nice shooting there in the polar bear training - maybe that will make a good rug on your new wood floors - oh wait you need wood floors first - i mean uh was that out loud.
the constant daylight is weird isn't it - we got into alaska at midnight and it looked like dusk/dawn. Have you seen any northern lights?
well - get out in those boats and gets some footage of some wildlife/glacial activity.
btw- to throw a little jealousy your way & a little homesickness - i just picked a handful of blueberries and enjoying a small bowl with brown sugar and milk. :)
take care and have fun
B
July 22, 2009 - 5:03am
#8
Family checking in on Mike!
Good morning Mike,
At another site with high speed internet, so checking in. I can relate to the midnight and still working because it is light out. I found that true when in Boise and it stayed light until 10 vs. 9 in PA. I was looking at your pics again. The sunrise, airial views of mountains - would make great pics on the wall like B & K did from Alaska. It is good to catch the culture too like all the shoes. If I go there I'll be sure to wear slip ons. :) (Reading the other journals - they are going to have to smuggle LP soon or they will need a boot box instead of a shoe box as he's grown quite a bit since we were all in VT.) Oh I noticed your typing is much better. Getting used to the Norwegian keyboard? or your not using one?
Have a great day! Kath
July 23, 2009 - 5:26pm
#9
Family checking in on Mike!
Hey GUM, finally was able to access all your emails from the "Rhinard" fan club. My computer wasn't loading any of them except for Nikki's. Finally was able to see some pics too. Looks like an awesome place. Whonu?! When I printed your travel flight plan out if was weird to see the continents and the distance you had traveled but just below the screen cutoff was Peru so I did a little eye tracking and WOW you really have broadened your horizons from little old Bendertown, PA, huh? I would classify you as the "Uncle Lewis" of the family.
A little bedtime note from Noelle: Have a good time in Norway. Hope you don't have to shoot any polar bears. Is it frrreezzzing there?
And another from Kaz-man: What is Norway like? Are you having fun? When are you coming back?
We will keep checking out your notes and I am printing all of them out for the future. See ya!!!
July 23, 2009 - 5:51pm
#10
Family checking in on Mike!
P.S. K&N both want one of those "popsicles" that you're eating. Think you can arrange to stow some away in your backpack on the way home? Also, the shoes off thing...that's one good way to get rid of a pair of shoes that you really didn't like. You got a lot of others to choose from. Just hope whoever used to own them doesn't spot them while you're out on a mission...I'll let you come up with your own ending to that one.
July 25, 2009 - 8:25am
#11
Family checking in on Mike!
Kim,
Send me an email to mrhinard [at] polartrec [dot] com I had alot to say back, but lost it all somehow before sending. So now I'm frustrated with the system I'm required to use. Oh well. Some more cool pics coming.
July 27, 2009 - 10:32am
#13
Family checking in on Mike!
Hi Mike,
Thought I'd try this again even though I saw earlier comments to do email address
Ran through the pics again. Love the flowers on rocks especially the pink ones. I'm thinking a framed picture for Christmas. The rock circles were very interesting! They were pretty much circles not just splotches. What a way to spend your "lunch hour" sitting on a rock, glaciers in the background eating a balogna and cheese samwich. WOW - can't do that here. Am learning new glacial facts myself reading the journals - all the rock left behind and the cold water bubbling like hot springs in Yellowstone - different source of water though. The glacier colors - blue/green - are interesting. Will check back in later. Kath
August 1, 2009 - 12:53pm
#14
Family checking in on Mike!
Hi Kath!
Sorry I haven't replied to your post. We've been getting out on the fjord more lately, having worked out the bugs on things.
OH, today was an incredible day! We woke to the heavy fog we tried to find our way back in yesterday. But the sun burned it off by late morning and it was an incredible day. The air is so clean and clear here. We could see for miles - actually kilometers.
We were able to get alot done too. It was a good day on the fjord, for sure.
The blue/green ice you speak of . . . is usually from closer to the bottom of the glacier as the ice becomes more densely compacted there. So the bluish ice bergs you see in the pictures are pieces that are probably from near the bottom of the glacier before they broke, or calved, off. Sometimes you'll see those blue/green ice bergs with alot of sediment stuck to them. That is definitely from the bottom of the glacier where it was grinding & plucking out rock from the valley it was flowing downward in, toward the fjord. Pretty cool, huh?
That sediment is what we are looking for. By collecting sediment samples we can tell alot about what the glacier is doing, has been doing, and maybe what it will be doing in the future. It helps to see how fast things are changing. Think about it this way: You know the little stream in the woods below your house? If you were to measure the sediment where it flows into Fishing Creek, you could tell alot about what is happening upstream. If you had years of wet, rainy weather, there should be more sediment at the end of the stream. So, you can figure out what happened in the past. You could also look at what type of rock the sediment is. And you could tell where it came from. The rock by your house is a little different than the rock further up the hollow. So the sediment in Fishing Creek would tell where it came from. Does that kind of make sense? Now, expand that idea to the huge glaciers we are on. Getting the idea? Hope so. It's pretty fascinating.
Gotta go for now. I'm glad you are enjoying the photos and journals. Sorry I'm not able to update every day. There just isn't enough time. Hope to get some photos the the great day today up soon. Keep watching.
August 2, 2009 - 7:56am
#15
Family checking in on Mike!
Hey Boyd, Great pics! I know you're having a great time. Wouldn't it be awesome if you didn't have to sleep,and you could take advantage of the light. Oh well. That might be fun overload. Few questions: I've read alittle about it in your posts. What's the food like? Anything really interesting? What does a days worth of meals consist of? Next: The upwelling looks a little scarry,don't get to close. The pic with the boat by the glacier. What's that about 300-400meters high? I didn't check my conversion chart,so I might be a little off on my guess. Or a lot! Aren't you a little concerned being that close,if the glacier "calves"? Look at that,you taught me something about glaciers! Doesn't it make a pretty good wave? Some of those "bergs" are BIG! Falling from that high has to make a big splash. Maybe the real big ones just break off the bottom? I noticed how dirty the water is. Must be a tremendous amount of sediment going in the fijord every day. Did I spell that right? I don't have a Norwegian keyboard. The striations are interesting. In the the pic it looks like it turned at some point on it's journey. The rock looks very hard. I've fought with rocks like that with a D-8,rock always wins. Takes a lot of force to do that. Nature's a pretty tough gal. Well, I better let you go. Look forward to more. Suck it all in while you can. Catch you later,Boyd P.S. Again, don't fall out of the boat!
August 3, 2009 - 6:48am
#16
Family checking in on Mike!
Hey GUM. This morning as I was eating breakfast on the deck in the cool morning and the sun peeeking through I thought of you with every bite I ate of my BLUEBERRY BUCKLE. Yes that's right blueberry buckle. The one and only..Kendra Albertson recipe, made with FRESH blueberries and crumbly sugar topping. MMMM, MMMM, GOOD! O.k. enough rubbing it in.
I've been getting your emails on reg. email. Thanks!!!! Love the pics too. K figured out that the sea ice is 99-132 miles north of where you are. He got a little confused with double digit multiplication but other than that got the answer. N was glad to hear that the polar bears aren't too close. They both want a pic of the baby arctic fox if you can get one. K said they are hard to get a pic of because they are white...are the pups white like the adults and what color are they now in Norway?(at this time of year. Not that they are neon green or purple) I agree with U. C. about the glacier and the calving...my first thought was "what if some of it breaks off and that "little" boat is only yards away" HANG ON!!!!! WE ARE GOING FOR A RIDE!!!!! It may be a couple of days for me to check in with you, but just keep looking for a reply. Was able to see the last few replies but none from 2-10 so don't know where they are. Floating in Svalbard cyberspace maybe. Well, gotta go. My morning is ticking away. You are either eating supper or still sleeping. Don't know which. Haven't paid much attention to time zoning. See ya, Kimmie. P.S. Got some new pics of Lil'P and what a cutie and he is growing too. Did you get them? Didn't check to see who was on the mail list.
August 3, 2009 - 5:21pm
#17
Family checking in on Mike!
O.K. GUM. Had some time to think of some real scientific questions about some of your pics and journal entries and of the math problem you had Kaz solve this morning.
1 Calving. Where did the term come from? I have my own idea but would like to know the real definition.
2 Sea Ice. If the sea ice has moved 99-132 miles away from you then the pics of the seals that you took were of stragglers? Or do some of the seals stay in the local area. I am asking this because of Noelle's concern with you having to shoot polar bears. You said they move with the sea ice and the food source- that being seals.
3Longyearbyen. The name came from one of the miners who settled there and his last name was Longyear and the area became known as Longyear City. The Norwegians changed City from its English name and called it byen which is Norwegian for city hence the name Longyearbyen. Don't know if you actually wanted an answer on that one but I thought at least you know that someone is reading the articles on the links you have provided. May not have my info correct on the men being miners. Forget cuz I read a whole lot of entries and since mining was big there, I have mining on the brain. Can only retain so much info. these days. Gotta get back in the groove again. O.K. talk to ya soon.
August 5, 2009 - 11:38am
#18
Family checking in on Mike!
Hi Mike,
Checking in again after a few days. New pics - waterskiing in the midnight sun - AWESOME. Glad to see you're having a little fun :) Reading the journals is interesting, then seeing the pics clarifies what you explained in the journal, i.e., walking on the glacier bottom, see the pic, oh it flipped over when it broke off (calved). That must be something to see, this GIANT ice cube bobbing in the water when it flips. No doubt very interesting data regarding the sediment locked in that ice for years. Lots of "blue" glacier pictures again. Very pretty, yet very overpowering considering the size of the "red boat" next to the glacier. Again, what an experience - fun, educational, dangerous... Will be back, Kath
August 10, 2009 - 7:47am
#19
Family checking in on Mike!
Hello Everyone!
So, I thought we were of German heritage. I'm thinking mom was Norwegian.
Not sure if you read my journal about "What's for dinner?", but I have eaten so many boiled potatoes here. Mom was famous for that, wasn't she? We've had pork & sauerkraut with dumplings and yesterday we had leftover mashed potato patties for breakfast. I almost went back to the kitchen to she if mom was back there. No fruited jello yet. But we don't leave until Thursday. Could still happen.
It's been foggy the last few days. Still decent temps. It reminds me of hunting season at home.
We swam in the Artic Ocean last night. Well, we jumped in and ran back out. But that counts!!! So we were able to check that off our list of things to do in the Arctic.
Still haven't seen a polar bear, but . . . there's still hope. There was a Dutch team of biologists counting geese on one of the small islands in the fjord and they spotted a PB on one of the other islands. So maybe by Thursday????
Glad you are following along.
Mike
.
August 11, 2009 - 12:33pm
#20
Family checking in on Mike!
Hi Mike,
Sooo I guess you won't be buying any Idaho potatoes for awhile? Hey, you forgot one thing, if you didn't hear any pots and pans banging around in the kitchen, Mom wasn't back there.
Swimming in the Arctic Ocean - got in and back out - but that counts. Kind of like if you stop and take a leak in that state that qualifies you for being in one of the 50 states. (or whatever that rule is - I didn't make it up so I don't know exactly)
Your "vacation" is winding down. Hope you get everything in you wanted to do. I probably won't get back on here before you come home. Have a seminar to go to tomorrow and Thursday have no internet at that site and the next two nights are really busy.
Will definitely call you when you get back to Idaho.
Hey Boyd, Excellent Adventure! Have you poked any glaciers or iceburgs yet? I've enjoyed the journal,will continue. Expect I'll have some questions about the research later on. I'm visiting Nik,guess you knew that. Well have to go. Enjoy,and be safe. Thanks to you& the team for looking out for the rest of us. Check in later. Boyd