22 June 2008 Sunday – Halfway Point

In the middle of the night clouds and wind roll through Summit Camp on the Summer Solstice. At 3:00 am the SUN strains to pierce through the clouds.

June 22, 2008 – Sunday – Halfway Point

Today marks the midway point of my journey at Summit Camp. I left home on June 1st and will be home July 12th.

Today has been a quiet day around camp. The wind is blowing from the North which means that all of the pollution from the generators is blowing toward Sat Camp where are instruments are located. So, most of the data collected today would be unusable because of contamination.  So, most of us are huddled inside working on laptops, crunching data or reading books.

Windy conditions are perfect for flying our flags proudly outside "Captain Jack's Shack" at Satellite Camp. Georgia Tech decided they wanted a piece of the action too, so they hung up a shirt!

A quick note about the wind; it never stops blowing up here. There are no trees, hills, or structures to slow the wind down. Outside my window at sat camp is a row of flags (and one shirt on a pole!). I was noticing the other day that they are constantly flapping in the wind. Most of the time the wind stays between 5 and 10 miles per hour but sometimes it gets significantly stronger and cuts right through to the skin.

PREVIEW OF THE WEEK AHEAD:

This week is fixing up to be a lively one. Currently there is a group of people traversing the Greenland ice on their way toward us here at Summit. It is the first ever attempt to go from Thule, Greenland to the pinnacle of the ice sheet by land (technically by ice). The group radioed yesterday and said they are hoping to be here on Tuesday, weather and snow conditions permitting. Also scheduled for Tuesday is another LC-130 Hercules flight from Kangerlussuaq. The plane is bringing supplies and people who will be replacing several people on our team for the second half of the research project. Camp will be at capacity with 50 people, but only for a short time.

We are expecting extra special visitors on Wednesday. We were informed that a group of Norwegian dignitaries will be flying in to see the operation up here. We don’t know who, or for how long but I will keep you updated.

Thursday is leaving day for most of our crew. Another Hercules will arrive to pluck them off the ice and take them one step closer to home and a long hot shower!

Stay Warm!!

Modeling the latest fashions in extreme cold weather gear; I attempt to fight off the cold weather with layers and layers and layers.