The Planetary Society Blog
By Emily Lakdawalla
Borup Fiord Pass Field Report: A Flawless Trip to Resolute
Jun. 22, 2006 | 19:03 PDT | Jun. 23 02:03 UTC
Update from Stephen Grasby
The day started with frantic running of errands around town picking up the last few things needed for the field. Then we fought rush-hour traffic to get to the airport on time. The four us going north for artic field work (Benoit Beauchamp, Damhnait Gleeson, Marie-Eve Caron, and myself) all managed to arrive on time. Once on the plane we were able to relax and settle in for the long trip ahead.
The first leg was a four-hour flight from Calgary to Ottawa, arriving at midnight. We had just a few short hours of sleep as we had to be back at the airport for a 9:00 flight. It was a promising start to the day when we didn't get the 'green sticker' on our tickets. If the weather looks bad at Resolute, they might not be able to land, and the green sticker politely informs you that you have to overnight in Iqaluit at your own expense. The absence of the dreaded sticker says the weather looks good!
We boarded our first flight and made it to Iqaluit. The bright yellow airport greeted us along with a bit of rain. Iqaluit must be one of the few towns where you can walk from the runway to main street in 5 minutes. Even though it was a short layover we took the opportunity for a quick walking tour of town. Then it was back on board a smaller plane and on to the next stop of Nanisivik. The weather and scenery were both spectacular. Unfortunately there was little time to look around; it was just a short fueling stop and then back on board for the last leg to Resolute. We arrived under rare sunny conditions and were warmly greeted by the people of the Polar Continental Shelf Project, who will look after us during our short stay.
We had one scare when we were informed that the food we shipped over a month ago hadn't arrived. We were frantically making plans on how to scavenge from old supplies we had left years before -- would it still be edible?? Our worries quickly faded when we discovered that the shipment had ended up on our flight, arriving at the same time as us. It was quite interesting reading the waybill and all the various places the shipment had been to during its month-long journey north.
There's a Twin Otter airplane ready and waiting for our next leg first thing in the morning to go to Ellesmere Island, and a helicopter on site to take us the rest of the way. After three days of traveling we will finally be at our site and able to start some fieldwork.
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