Today Team Squirrel left Fairbanks for the drive up the Dalton highway to Toolik Field Station. The group so far consist of the project's principal investigator (PI) Cory Williams, Kate Wilsterman, with a recent degree in biology from Bucknell, and myself. Later, we will be joined by additional team members.
PI Cory Williams taking a break from the long drive to Toolik
The drive along the famous "Ice Road" to the North Slope and Prudhoe Bay was beautiful. We passed through miles of boreal forest consisting of lots of black spruce and birch trees. This biome is also referred to as the "Spruce and moose" biome. We did see a large moose along the way, but surprisingly little other wildlife.
The Alaska pipeline parallels the route north all the way to Prudhoe bay
A couple of hours into the 7 hour drive we crossed the Yukon river and later, Arctic circle. At sixty six degrees north latitude, this is the farthest north I have ever been. Hello 24 hours of daylight! These are landmarks that have always intrigued me so it was neat to see them first hand.
Crossing the Yukon River
The Koyukuk is a classic braided Alaskan river, flowing through the taiga.
Further up the road we reach the Brooks range and Atigun pass. The peaks here are snow covered, but with a lower snowpack than at home. Along the way we pass one of our research sites and spot a lone caribou. Soon we arrive in Toolik and are welcomed to our new home away from home with a great dinner and an evening soccer match. After a lot of unknowns, I have a good feeling about my next few weeks in the arctic.
Crossing the Brooks range to the north slope of Alaska
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