A few days were spent in Fairbanks gathering last minute supplies and meeting with collaborators. I presented an overview of our work to our BLM colleagues as well and had very nice dinner evenings at some of my favorite local haunts… Time in town was short however and further north I needed to go. Eric Yeager (expedition partner) and I hopped on an extremely nice BLM Alaska Fire Service PC 12 plane for one of the best flights I have had in my years of working in this area. We flew from Fairbanks to the remote Umiat camp north of the Brooks Range. We have a depot of equipment and resources located there, established and managed by the infamous Richard Kemnitz (need I say more?). The flight was fantastic, the peaks of the Brooks were just jutting out above the clouds and our view at 24K feet was spectacular. A near perfectly smooth landing and Eric and I were on our own. We head out into the field for the next two weeks or so, camping on the frozen tundra and traveling via snowmachine. We will have very intermittent internet access but I will post when I can. We plan to complete a loop around Teshekpuk lake visiting 20-30 permafrost and climate monitoring stations enroute. We will download data, fix damage, complete detailed snow surveys at each site.
The Pilatus PC-12, what a spectacular aircraft.
Views of the Brooks Range peaking out from the clouds - ethereal…
Thanks to Pilot Bob for an extremely enjoyable flight, what a landing!
On the ground in Umiat (
www.umiat.com), a remote outpost along the Colville river north of the Brooks Range.
Unloading the PC-12
All geared up and just about ready to head north
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