19 June 2019 In Transit

In Transit

Flight 1: Laramie to Denver

"All the planes in Denver are currently grounded," a husky voice announced over the intercom.

We may be here for a while... the thought running through everyone’s head simultaneously, made it almost audible.

After an hour of sitting on the runway, we finally took off. What was intended to be a quick and painless flight, was a little more like a ride at Six Flags. You know the up and down, rickety roller coasters that should have been left back at the World’s Fair? The kind that mostly leaves your stomach up by your ears. Amusement parks and flights are similar in that way, you’re paying to be tortured, and yet you hastily get in line for the next “ride.”

On the bright side, I did not spew my Larabar and as far as I could tell, everyone kept their in-flight, 3 ounce bag of pretzels successfully down. One flight down. Three more to go.

Flight 2: Denver to JFK

All in all an easy flight, however JFK airport is very much under construction. Signs? What are those? Every which way we turned somebody greeted us with a very friendly "You can NOT go this way." Ahhh welcome to New York. After going clear outside, down a very gum ridden and gasoline covered, sliver of a sidewalk, complete with New York taxi drivers zipping by unapologetically, we were able to reenter the building and check in at the Aeroflot counter. Cranky TSA members pushed the masses through a security area, also under construction, and finally we made it to our gate.

Flight 3: JFK to Moscow

Enter the Aeroflot crew, flight attendants dressed to the nines in beautifully tailored orange uniforms, with handkerchiefs tied neatly around their necks and tight no nonsense buns. The economy seats: huge, fully padded, recliners with footrests. The food: abundant (two dinners and several snacks were served during this red eye for any passenger that could stay awake). The extras: every passenger was given slippers, ear plugs, sleep mask, headphones, and lotion. The flight, while over 9 hours, went quite smoothly. Although, it is worth noting that if you ask for "decaf" coffee, you are going to get stares of confusion.

Flight 4: Moscow to Yakutsk, Siberia

We arrived in Moscow 8 hours prior to our next flight. Plenty of time to get into trouble. The Moscow airport is well marked in Russian, as well as English. We printed our tickets at a kiosk in Terminal D easily enough. Now, to get on the quickly growing line to check our bags. The line stretched as far as the eye could see. After waiting on line for over an hour, we made it to the check-in counter, only to discover the microprint "TRMNB" on the bottom of the ticket indicates that we must go to Terminal B to check our bags. No problem, we have time.

After checking our bags at Terminal B (a much shorter line), we made our way to security. About to go though security, I am pulled out of line because my checked bag was "flagged." At least this is the story I interpreted, mostly through gestures. So, I was taken into a tiny room to identify the contraband. When a large, stern looking Russian woman scanned my ticket to determine why it was flagged, not one but three giant, green question makes appeared on the screen. Rather than waiting for my checked item to join us in the little room and identify what the mystery marks meant, the bag check assistant brought me back to security and put me through the line quickly and with ease. Hmm, that was confusing...all part of the experience I suppose? Large recliners by the windows offered a peaceful retreat for the next several hours. At 7:45pm local time, flight SU 1750 arrived. A direct flight to Yakutsk. We fly just over 6 hours; however, upon arrival local time was 9:10am. Needless to say we crossed a few time zones.

Flight 5: Yakutsk to Cherskii

2am. Walk across the street to the airport. No need to remove shoes, laptop or liquids. Security...a metal detector. Check bags. Security again, 2nd metal detector.

It’s a small airport, one room. A bit like Laramie, Wyoming. Home, away from home? We travel by bus to the plane. It’s 4am.

Greeted by a Soviet Era, Ukrainian jet, circa nineteen sixty something. The metal appears hand pounded. The interior...dilapidated, approximately the size of a school bus. Paint peeling, broken seats, questionable buckles. The flight proclaimed “full” transports thirteen passengers. Several seats hold mysterious cargo, under canvas tarps. A lone mosquito buzzes about the cabin.

Here we go. The flight itself is remarkably smooth. The seats surprising comfortable. All seats were fixed in one position, fortunately it is the position of permanently reclined. Out the window, flat and vast. Hundreds of bodies of water surrounded by foliage, like Florida in an odd sort of way.

As we fly, mountains begin to jut out of the earth and rivers branch across the land like veins. The piercing white of an occasional glacier, breaks up the monotony of browns. A column of smoke billows upward from the eerily vacant landscape. A new wildfire?

Four hours later we landed. Welcome to Cherskiy. Next stop, the Northeast Science Station, home of the Zimovs and Pleistocene Park. Due to climate change, wildfires are becoming more intense and widespread. Here in the Arctic Circle we will study the impacts severe wildfires are having on the health of larch tree forests. Ready. Set. Science!