Today feels like another day in the office. We had our usual conference call with Ed Hudon at 1130am about the weather outlook for Iqaluit and Pangnirtung for the next couple of days. It turns out that the "storm" that was originally forecasted to maybe hit Pang won't hit at all. It's actually sunny up there right now ... and here too. In fact, It's a very sunny day here in Iqaluit with light winds and moderately cool temperatures. This is actually the brightest day I've seen so far. In Montreal, you may get this 5 days out of 7, but up here it's more like 5 days out of 14.
Gabs and Robyn left about 30 minutes ago to fly up to Pangnirtung. There is a possibility of a small storm event this coming weekend for here and in Pangnirtung but we need to get the weather instruments up there set-up and functional before the aircraft from the NRC (National Research Council) arrives tomorrow and is flight operational by Tuesday. The ultimate plan is to have everything set up in both Iqaluit and Pangnirtung so that when there is an actual storm, we'll be able to collect data from our ground based instruments as well as from the aircraft since it will be flying through these storms collecting data. So much work left, so little time to do it all in. The plane is only here for three weeks, I should add.
So for the most part, me and Robert are the only ones left here. William and Scott (another scientist who just arrived earlier today) were outside working on the confused Radar, trying to get it to work properly. There is somewhat of a high hope. Another guy is expected to arrive later today but I forgot his name. He won't be here before 3, so I have been told. A whole bunch of people should be coming in during the next several days so it will get busy around here soon enough.
Gabs and Robyn left about 30 minutes ago to fly up to Pangnirtung. There is a possibility of a small storm event this coming weekend for here and in Pangnirtung but we need to get the weather instruments up there set-up and functional before the aircraft from the NRC (National Research Council) arrives tomorrow and is flight operational by Tuesday. The ultimate plan is to have everything set up in both Iqaluit and Pangnirtung so that when there is an actual storm, we'll be able to collect data from our ground based instruments as well as from the aircraft since it will be flying through these storms collecting data. So much work left, so little time to do it all in. The plane is only here for three weeks, I should add.
So for the most part, me and Robert are the only ones left here. William and Scott (another scientist who just arrived earlier today) were outside working on the confused Radar, trying to get it to work properly. There is somewhat of a high hope. Another guy is expected to arrive later today but I forgot his name. He won't be here before 3, so I have been told. A whole bunch of people should be coming in during the next several days so it will get busy around here soon enough.
Anyways, this post isn't about today, it is about yesterday. Since yesterday was a nice day for a walk, I decided to take a walk around the Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park. It was a nice, bright day with temps in the order of -3C with very light winds, perfect for a walk in the park ... I don't think I could have picked a better day for this ... well, maybe today would have been a nice day too but there was no way for me to know for sure. Some pictures are posted here directly but the main pictures are on my online album.
The "entrance" into the park was around the corner from the weather office. I had to walk up a fairly long road to get to the beginning of the trail but I didn't even notice it. I took many pictures along this walk through the park whereas you will find some posted below. The rest will be in my Iqaluit web album (link on the left). I have to say, I was not disappointed. It was a very beautiful park and the fresh layer of snow that fell the previous night, along with the sun getting through the clouds, made for a wonderful walk.
However, the fresh snow did pose a bit of a problem. About 5cm of snow fell Tuesday night into Wednesday early morning and with the wind blowing during that night, it caused half of the trail to disappear underneath the snow. At the beginning it was fine because the trail was lined with large stones but after about 5-10 minutes of walking along the trail, the stones disappear and I had nothing to lead me through the park (the trail essentially went around the mountain, as you will see in the pictures). There were also wooden post/markers but they were far in between and they were difficult to see from a distance since it blended so well with the terrain. The only thing that really guided me were the tracks of a single dog that seemed to know exactly where the trail was ... more or less. There were no other tracks except for this single, relatively fresh dog track. I don't know how fresh the track were so I didn't know if it was still around waiting for me to pass by. Of course, I didn't let that stop me ... nor did it really even crossed my mind until now :P
However, the fresh snow did pose a bit of a problem. About 5cm of snow fell Tuesday night into Wednesday early morning and with the wind blowing during that night, it caused half of the trail to disappear underneath the snow. At the beginning it was fine because the trail was lined with large stones but after about 5-10 minutes of walking along the trail, the stones disappear and I had nothing to lead me through the park (the trail essentially went around the mountain, as you will see in the pictures). There were also wooden post/markers but they were far in between and they were difficult to see from a distance since it blended so well with the terrain. The only thing that really guided me were the tracks of a single dog that seemed to know exactly where the trail was ... more or less. There were no other tracks except for this single, relatively fresh dog track. I don't know how fresh the track were so I didn't know if it was still around waiting for me to pass by. Of course, I didn't let that stop me ... nor did it really even crossed my mind until now :P
The snow was deep in some areas so I didn't venture off the trail as often as I would have otherwise ... assuming I was even on the trail in the first place. It took me 2 hours to do the one hour walk around the mountain. Anyways, I'll let the pictures below do the talking for me ;)
One of many views from along the trail ... or lack thereof.
An Inuksuk with the sun peaking through the clouds in the background
Me sitting on a rock in the middle of the sub-arctic ... without a trail in sight.
2 comments:
That photo of the inukshuk is gorgeous!
Hi Alex
this is another world ! looks absolutely beautiful
you certainly get around: last time we talked, you were off to Twister Land in the US...
I wouldn't want to be on the plane as it is flying through the "storm event" !
take care of yourself
Susan (Caitlin's mom: she put your link on her blog)
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