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Tuesday, October 16, 2007
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.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
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.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Home Sweet Home
We ended up leaving Alert on Friday at 10:45am, it was nice to be
getting on the aircraft. We had to stop in Thule for refueling and to
pick up a guy there. Here we are getting off the airplane and heading
into the OPS building.
We got some good news while we waited, we were not going to Iqaluit for
the night, instead we were going directly back to Trenton. We would be
home a day early. It was avery long flight, just over 7 hours from Thule
to Trenton, not to mention the 1.5 hours from Alert to Thule. In the end
it was worth it, there was no sun in Thule, but there was daylight. We
flew through sun and then back into darkness. I still had another 2 hour
drive home after we landed. And finally on Saturday morning I saw the
sun again, you don't realize how much you miss it until you haven't seen
it for 3 weeks. Here is one of the air crew checking the aircraft before
we took off from Thule.
Today Claudia, Angela and I were playing road hockey and there was an
older gentleman walking down the street. I was wearing my Alert fleece
and as he passed he was looking at us. Then I heard him holler "When
were you in Alert?", after telling him I was there for the last three
weeks, he told me he was there 25 years ago, he was in construction and
he built alot of the buildings. He was curious if things have changed,
he remembers making alot of money because there was nothing to spend it
on, I told things were still the same.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
More eagles before heading home...
We finished most of what we had to get done before heading home.
On the way out we saw more eagles, we stopped to watch this one.
We had one of the students throw a snowball in the direction of the
eagle so it would take off.
Some of the scenery.
Heading into Winnipeg.
The Winnipeg Airport.
Some of the fire fighting water bombers.
A British Airways aircraft on the tarmac.
We ended up catching an earlier flight out of Winnipeg. I should be
sticking around Toronto for awhile.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Regina Bound
Heading out to our Bratt's Lake site, south of Regina for a few days.
While waiting at the gate, noticed a lot of commotion down on the ground.
One of the ground crew guys was taken away in an ambulance. Closeup of
the fire truck.
The weather in Regina was good when we landed and stayed that way
through most of the day.
It was only about -25°C with the wind chill, so it wasn't much colder
than what we left in Toronto.
As you can see there isn't much accummulation where it is flat, but once
you stick an object on the ground, the drifts start to form.
As it turned out this was the only day with the sun.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Anchorage to Fairbanks
It was an early start to the morning with a flight from Anchorage to
Fairbanks at 6:00am.
It's even earlier when the body hasn't adjusted and it's still waking up
at 3:30am. The flight was on Alaska Airlines.
The plane was a 737-400 combo plane. The front half is for cargo and the
seats start at the middle and towards the rear.
As we flew from Anchorage to Fairbanks, Denali (Mount McKinley) rises
from the clouds. Denali is the highest mountain peak on North America at
20,320 feet.
I'm currently reading "Forever on the Mountain", it is a detailed
account of the doomed 1967 Wilcox-McKinley Expedition. In the end only
five of the twelve expedition members survived.
A closeup of Mount McKinley.
Mount McKinley is located in the Alaska range.
Another view of Mount McKinley as we passed by.
Eventually we hit the Interior area which is fairly flat and green.
Making the approach into Fairbanks.
Fairbanks to Bettles
After landing in Fairbanks we had an hour before our flight to Bettles.
Little did we know that we had to take a taxi to the other side of the
airport to catch the air taxi. This was the airplane that took nine
people to Bettles.
It was a cloudy, overcast day as we flew to Bettles.It took just over an
hour to fly there.
We flew over parts of the Alaska pipeline. That building in the middle
of nowhere looked like some sort of sub-station for the pipeline.
There were lots of meandering rivers and oxbow lakes from when the path
of the river changed.
It might be hard to see but there was an area that appeared purple, it
was probably from wildflowers, but it only seemed to be the one area.
The float pond at Bettles. Bettles is a starting point for many people
who go hiking/exploring in the Gates of the Arctic National Park. The
only way in is by small float planes. We actually landed on the gravel
airstrip.
The city of Bettles,
Alaska. The Koyukuk River runs nearby. The original Bettles started in
1899 as a gold rush trading post.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Heading Home...
It was another full day of travel, I was flying from Anchorage to
Minneapolis and then to Toronto. My flight left at 9:30am Alaska time
and arrived at 10:08pm Toronto time.
Anchorage off in the distance.
Inside the airport.
The airport is quite busy, there is alot of Cargo planes that are coming
from Asia and then heading south.
This cargo plane from Korean Air landed and took off shortly after we
did. It must have just been refueling.
Flying over the mountains.
It was weird looking out the window and seeing another plane flying next
to us. It was the Korean Air cargo plane that was flying faster at a
lower altitude.
Closer to Minneapolis we went by a nice set of clouds.
While we were waiting to take-off I watched as my luggage (the duffle
bag) was brought over from the other plane, it was nice to see it being
loaded. But a few minutes later I watched as they took it back off along
with other bags, I was thinking they may be redistributing the weight,
but it turned out there was a no show, so they had to remove the bags.
Here is my bag being loaded for a second time.
One last map to show how big Alaska is. If superimposed on a map of the
Lower 48, it would take up one-sixth the area, it is over twice the size
of Texas.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Back to Toronto
It was time to head back to Winnipeg to catch a late day flight back to
Toronto.
Passing some construction along the Trans Canada.
Passing back into Manitoba.
Waiting for my luggage at Pearson.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Saskatchewan Day Trip
I did a day trip out to our site just south of Regina. I was able to
catch an early flight out of Toronto and land by 11:00 local time. I was
there to replace an instrument. I lucked out with the weather, the
forecast all week was for -30°C windchill. It turned out to be sunny,
-15°C and very little wind.
There was still a lot of drifting snow from the winds earlier in the
week.
My rental vehicle for the day was a Jeep Liberty.
I finished what I had to do and then it was back to the airport for the
last flight back to Toronto. I saw a snow owl on the way back, actually
saw it when I was going to the site and it was still on the same power
pole when I went by 5 hours later. It was quiet at the airport when I
checked in as I still had a couple of hours until my flight. I was back
home before midnight, it made for a long day.
Monday, February 23, 2009
A New Site
This week I'm out in Alberta to install a new precipitation monitoring
site, actually I'm re-installing the site. It was shut down in 2003.
Waiting for my flight in Toronto.
Esther is about a 4.5 hour drive from Edmonton (where I flew into) or
about 3.5 from Calgary. It is close to the Saskatchewan border.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Back to YYZ
My flight back to Toronto was suppose to leave at 6:30 am but due to
some mechanical problem, they couldn't load enough water on the plane.
They had to wait for some bottled water and in the end we sat for almost
45 minutes in the plane. Once we were up in the air, they offered a
complimentary beer, liquor or wine for the inconvienience. Keep in mind
it was still not even 7:30 am, so I'm sure it was an easy thing to offer
up, as there were not going to be that many takers.
Waiting for my luggage in Toronto.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
One More Day in Goose Bay
In the building there was an old typewriter, haven't seen one of these
in awhile.
The weather wasn't as nice today, they were calling for 5 cm of snow and
increased winds.
There was this place called Fur Harvesters. A closer look at the sign
above the garage. Not sure what they do with the Scrap Meat.
Gas prices in Goose Bay were $101.40.
Some of the snowbanks on the main road. Notice the pedestrian crossing
sign, with that much snow, there are no sidewalks. People have to walk
on the main road.
The waiting lounge at the Goose Bay airport.
My flights back to Toronto were on time, was able to walk of the Goose
Bay to Halifax flight and then walk onto the Halifax to Toronto plane.
Because of the connection, my luggage was at the top and it was one of
the first bags out in Toronto.
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