We have arrived in the Dry Valleys! We just barely squeaked our way out of town; helicopters stopped flying shortly after we arrived - phew, we made it! It is wonderful to be back at Lake Hoare! Rae and Sandra, the camp managers, welcomed us with delicious cookies!The helicopter ride over was delightful; wonderful views in all directions - although we could really only see well to the sides as we were seated facing backwards in the helicopter! As soon as we landed, we started sorting out all our gear and trying to get organized for an afternoon of work. We set up our tents and "moved in"! Well, actually, I couldn't set mine up because it was missing poles! I'll be staying in the Jamesway this evening and another tent will be dropped off tomorrow (assuming flights can be resumed). All is good.
We had a quick lunch and went immediately to the field. We had two goals: 1) get the dive hole started, and 2) start melting out cables from one of the monitoring stations that are frozen into the ice. Well - all is good now, but let's just say it didn't go as "planned"! We got back to camp at 2 am. Everyone is a bit pooped!
In order to start the dive hole, or to melt out the frozen cables, we first need to drill a hole. Now that sounds easy enough - Ha! We accidentally drilled all the way through to the water. We are supposed to stop drilling just before we hit water (sort of a guessing game!). If that is done properly, then we pull the drill out and put a melting cable into the hole to start the melting process. Well.... We punched all the way through to the water while drilling. Water quickly filled the hole and turned the ice chips/snow that was in the hole from drilling into cement. Ugh! So, we had to drill a second hole beside the first in order to place a melting cable beside our frozen drill! That process took hours! I will have lots of drilling pictures to share with you, but today, I wanted to share the flight in to Lake Hoare. So sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight!
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Annika and Maciej in the helicopter.
Annika seems a bit overwhelmed by the beauty of the area!
Maciej chooses a tent site just in front of the Canada GlacierA mass of ice that persists for many years and notably deforms and flows under the influence of gravity.!
Annika ties down her tent; the winds can be fierce here!
Annika's tent - ready for a well deserved nights sleep!
OK - that's all for today - I need to go to bed (it's 3:20 am)! I'll share MUCH more with you after I've had a little rest!
You can also check out my journals and pictures from previous seasons at: http://www.ryejrhigh.org/ellwood
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