From Here To There... Archive

Something Different Every Time

Arrived at CFB Trenton at 0400 hours for my 0600 hour scheduled departure from Trenton to Thule, Greenland. After loading us on the CF-130 Hercules, they informed us a small part thingy needed for the navigational system had to be replaced. It had already been replaced the previous night, but it still didn't work. It only took about 5 minutes to replace, then they had to test it, so they unloaded us from the herc and sent us to the OPS building to wait. There were only 6 passengers heading up to Alert, so there would be lots of room. Due to the delay, going to Thule would no longer be an option, the next choice was going to Iqaluit, overnighting and then on to Alert Wednesday. As hard as it is to believe, they were having a hard time getting enough rooms in Iqaluit, as it was we were split among three hotels. It was only about 5 hours to Iqaluit, we landed around 1400 hours. Some shots from the air, not sure where we were, but no snow yet.

When we landed in Iqaluit it was about -10°C and blowing snow. For dinner I had a hamburger, fries and a coke and the total with tax (GST only) was $19.61, the hotel room was $175/night. Not the kind of place you'd want to get stuck in.

Only two capital cities left in Canada for me now, one day I'll get to Yellowknife with this job and that will only leave Whitehorse.

Iqaluit to Alert

Woke up this morning to a howling wind and an Environment Canada Wind Warning for Iqaluit. Just what we needed, to be stuck in Iqaluit due to the weather, luckily the wind was going the right way. The day started at 6:00 am in the Iqaluit Airport.

We did some more hurry up and wait. Other flights with First Air were taking off so it was only a matter of when, not if we would take off. Some photos of the Iqaluit terminal inside.

The check-in desks for the commercial flights.

A sign about polar bears.

A Nunavut tourism display booth.

We finally departed Iqaluit at 08:50 am and headed to Thule, Greenland for fuel. A shot as we were getting close to Thule.

We landed there around 11:45 am and were on the ground until 01:00 pm. The waiting area in Thule.

The last of the sun for at least a week.

We finally touched down in Alert around 2:45 pm, much to the relief of the nine people heading south. The following are random shots taken from the herc.

Some of the cargo inside the herc.

Brrrrr!

Today was -12°C and -21°C with the windchill. The sky is kind of like twilight for most of the day, but it starts getting dark around 3:30pm. Another two weeks and it will be 24 hours of moonlight. This picture was taken around 10:30 am.

Due to problems with parts on the vehicles, we had to ride out to the lab on snowmobiles. The last 700m is by foot.

The Global Atmosphere Watch Laboratory. Our lab in the middle of nowhere.

The wind was howling when we left around 3:30pm. You can see the snow blowing up over the pile of snow.

Sorry, but not much to take photos of...

Before heading out to the lab today, one of the snowmobiles had to be fueled up.Every vehicle up in alert runs on JP8 jet fuel, doesn't matter what it is, it runs on it.

Waiting to go!

Venture out around the lab today.

Hard to see where the snow and the sky meet.

Self portrait, the wind had died down when I was out so it wasn't that cold, only about -15°C.

There are power issues at the lab, they lost a phase in one of the transformers that brings power from the base, as a result the lab is running on the auxilary power unit (APU), the generator holds enough fuel for about a day. There is another tank that holds about a weeks worth of fuel and then the fuel tank on the track vehicle holds a couple of weeks worth of fuel. As long as the wind is blowing the right way, it doesn't affect our measurements.

Clear skies, finally

The clouds finally cleared out this morning and we were able to see the horizon.

It was a very crisp morning, it was around -22°C this morning.

This photo was taken at 12:30 pm. The only sound was the crunching of the snow from my boots.

Somewhere over the hills is the sun.

When i got to the lab, there were some wolf tracks leading up to the entrance. that line in the snow was him marking his territory I guess.

Looking towards the east.

This is our datalogger, showing room temperature and the ambient air temperature.

This was taken at 3:00 pm.

Lets hope the sky stays clear, it makes the trips out to the lab a little more bearable.

The current temperature at 4:00 pm.

Dark, cold and snowy

Today was a cold windy day. Waited to go out to the lab this morning as the windchill was about -25°C. Eventually got out there, but coming back the visibility was extremely poor at spots and a couple of times we ended off the road and had to circle back to find the flags which mark the road and lead us to the station. I had a pretty good idea of where we were and which way the raod was, but the operator and student are still getting the hang of things. At 8:30 this morning, it was as dark as it is at 8:30 at night. My work out at the lab is done and I probably won't go out again unless it is clear weather. I'll take some pictures around station tomorrow.

No Plane this Week...

The title says it all. By Monday afternoon, the word had gone out that there would be no plane coming in this week. Which means I'm stuck in Alert for at least another week.

A picture of the artifacts case in the front lobby of the station.

The main linkway which connects all the houses on the station. The blue floor is new.

This photo was taken at 11:00 yesterday morning.

I saw the two young wolves yesterday morning after breakfast. I was watching them from the cafeteria windows, I haven't seen them outside yet. Last night was darts night, I managed to come in first and won the $70 top prize.

Fire Alarms in Alert

We had a fire alarm last night at 11:30pm, I had turned in early, so was woken up from a good sleep. We had to meet in one of the bars with our arctic gear and wait. We were there for about an hour before we got the all clear. The alarm was from one of the buildings down by the airfield.

This morning I went for a walk outside. I didn't get out yesterday, so I walked around the main complex. The weather was cold, with blowing snow.

The main entrance to the main building. It was around 10:00 am when I went for my walk.

The sign outside.

One of the snowplows trying to catch up on all the snow that has fallen.

A couple of the guys delayed with me keeping busy on one of the fresh air ducts outside.

The Welcome to Alert sign.

Looking back up towards the main station.

Picture of me for the girls.

There are two planes scheduled for next week, but it is early, at least it increases the odds. I'm only delayed a week, there are people who have served 6 months up here and were suppose to leave this week.

Stuck in the Snow

We headed out to the lab today, it was a regular day for the operator and student, so I decided to go along for a change of scenery. On the way back one of the snowmobiles got stuck in the snow. Here is the student sizing things up.

Digging the smowmobile out.

One of the mounds of snow left behind by the plow.

Better than the snowmobile

Today I went back to the lab for a couple of hours. The Acting CO (Commanding Officer, who is also the station Maxi, the doctor) and the SLogO (Station Logistics Officer) went for a tour of the GAW Lab.

The operator and the student went up by snowmobile, but I got a ride up to the lab in one of the BV-206 all terrain vehicles. It is a lot warmer and comfortable than by snowmobile.

I have sat in the trailer part before, but this time I sat up in the front part with the driver, there is enough room for 6 people in the front.

Today was the coldest day since I have been here, it was about -31°C with the wind chill.

Souper Des Nobles

Last night was the "Souper Des Nobles", once a month they have a fancy dinner for all the outgoing personnel that will be leaving the next month. Previously it was only for the people who were leaving, but they have now opened it to all people on station. Currently that is around 87 people. Dinner was stuffed pork, with brocolli and rice pilaf. Just another thing I can say I did in Alert.

Afterwards it was the Halloween Party, there was a pumpkin contest and a costume contest. Two DND civvies and I were the judges of the contest, I guess they figured we would be impartial. The winning pumpkin was done by the kitchen staff, they cut a pumpkin in half and cooked up a huge hamburger patty, topped it with tomatoes and lettuce and then put the other half back on to make a hamburger. They stuck pumpkin seed on the top to make it look like sesame seeds. For our judging efforts we got a $10 gift certificate in the Trading Post. The pumpkin was still upstairs, so I got a couple of pictures of it.

The moon was out tonight, actually it could have been out all day, but I didn't notice until tonight. I went out after dinner to try and take a picture.

It was a cold, brisk night.

Tonight was Bingo, but I didn't walk away with any of the pot.

Wolves

I checked the Environment Canada weather this morning for Alert and it said it was going to be sunny. Waited all day but there was no sun, it was clear, that was the closest it came.

I went out for a walk after lunch and it was cold. There was no wind so the -28°C was really -28°C, the coldest yet with no windchill. I saw a couple of the wolves, they hang near the back of the kitchen, even though it is next to impossible for them to get in the dumpsters, they still hang out there. It was hard to take a picture with low light, the one actually came up to me and was about 3 ft away. This is one of the young ones, so it has been around humans from birth. I think he moved his head at the last second.

This one is a little better. I think there are 8 of them in total.

Some of the sunny skies today.

Just as I was uploading this entry the power went out and the fire alarm sounded, again, this time it was in the power plant, that wouldn't be a good thing. The all clear was given in about 20 minutes. It seemed a little more serious as you walked through the halls in pitch black, with only emergency lighting every so often to give us light.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Alert. This is the first Halloween I have missed, and hopefully it will be the last. Looking forward to heading home. They aren't making it easy for me, this morning they informed us that there would be a 24 hr delay due to mechanical problems with the Herc in Trenton. If it doesn't get off tomorrow, it could mean another week up here. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed.