31 May 2011 North Traverse - Day 1

Today began like the day before. We met for breakfast at 8:00am then back to our rooms to pack, only today we had to pack for the rest of the expedition. Since we will be on the ice sheet for the next ten days, non-essential items were to be stored in a container box in Kangerlussuaq. We dropped our stuff off at the container and picked up more equipment and supplies. There will be at least one station that needs to be raised and possibly a second. We won’t know until we see the station. That required us to bring more aluminum extension poles, two extra batteries (very heavy), more spare parts, and a special drill to dig into the ice.

At 11:00am we were off! The flight was approximately two and a half hours to Uummannaq for refueling and then we would fly to NASA-U AWS . The views from the Uummannaq airport were incredible. You could see for miles over the fiord to the distant mountains, thrusting out of the water.

The airport manager Ib Larson was very accommodating. He welcomed us into the contemporary style airport and offered us some coffee. He then took the time to show us around and explain where we were on the map relative to the local Inuit settlements. The native Inuit fish and hunt for a living and live a very traditional Greenlandic lifestyle. Uummannaq also has a museum that houses a display of the ill-fated 1930-31 inland ice expedition of German scientist Alfred Wegener. Quiz question - What is Alfred Wegener most famous for?

Once we got our fill of the magnificent mountains and fiord, we took off at 2:00pm with a full tank of fuel. The flight out of Uummannaq was another jaw dropper! As we flew through the fiord, we could see many textbook examples of glaciers and glacier features.

Within 15 minutes we were flying over the ice sheet, on our way to NASA-U AWS. Koni said this station would need to be completely rewired since he is installing a new data logger. After the two-hour flight, we spotted NASA-U. The pilots circled the station and landed within 10 meters of the AWS at approximately 4:00pm. We unloaded the usual tools and equipment plus a box containing a new satellite antenna. Koni was going to install a new data logger and it used a different cable and antenna.

As Koni and Simon worked on the rewiring task, I built the new antenna, and Nikko started to get measurements from the snow pit Simon and I dug earlier

After four hours of rewiring, securing, aligning and zip tying, we were back in the plane. It was now 8:00pm. We were all very cold after working in the -18 C temperatures with no break or heat. The wind added to the feeling of the arctic. I estimate the winds were blowing 5 to 10 mph.

The next stop was at the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling site or NEEM for short, where we would be staying for the next few days to complete the northern traverse. Flight time = about two hours. We arrived at NEEM at 10:00pm.

The staff at NEEM greeted us at the ski-way with great excitement. The camp manager, JP Steffensen, was the most gracious host as he welcomed us to his highly efficient and functional camp.The cook, Sarah, provided us with an excellent dinner of Pad Thai. We quickly consumed our food and slowly made our way to the big red dome sleeping tents.

Tomorrow, more on NEEM and North Traverse Day 2.