Packing for a month and other challenges
I’ve been packing for my adventure off and on for a week. As I thought of an item I needed to take to Toolik with me, I put it on the guest room bed. Early this week, I started organizing and packing those items. I was delighted that so much fits inside the big orange bag that the PolarTREC folks sent me my Arctic goodies in… until I picked up the fully packed bag. I unpacked, removed items, and repacked several times until I decided I could not take anything else out of the bag. The end result was a giant duffel bag that weighs 45 pounds and a backpack. Heavy and awkward, but it works! I hope I didn’t take out anything that I really need….
Here’s the gear I eventually packed in one 45 pound duffel bag and one backpack!
My flights were uneventful (just the way I like them!) and I arrived in Fairbanks at about 11:30PM Alaska time (2:30 AM Oklahoma time), took a cab to my hotel, unpacked my duffel to find what I needed for a shower, repacked my duffel and collapsed into bed!
I’m an Ice Road Trucker (aka: Driving to Toolik on the Dalton Highway)
Cory (remember, he’s the researcher I am working with) picked me up at the hotel at 7:45AM and introduced me to Brian Barnes, one of the principle investigators on our research who will join us at Toolik later. We drove to the airport to pick up Kate, an undergraduate student who will be working with us, headed to the University of Alaska to load some supplies into the truck, made a stop to get food for lunch (the Dalton highway is a pretty remote road; no Arbys waiting on the corner for lunch!) , then hit the road for our eight hour journey!
Cory, Kate, and Alicia drove to Toolik Field Station in this diesel F-350 truck. It was covered in brown dust by the time we made it to camp!
The Dalton highway randomly switches from paved to dirt and back again at irregular intervals. Construction/road maintenance was fairly common on the highway.
Here I am at the Arctic Circle! Toolik Field Station was still about 150 miles away.
View from the Dalton highway
Another view from the Dalton Highway
Just one more pretty view from the Dalton Highway