Permafrost outreach 2009

What a surprise!
No wind and above zero temperature.
This is what we and everyone along the Yukon River was waiting for, Spring!!!

Since today is Sunday, we had a slow start. First we met Joy, and talked about the project and where we might be able to drill the hole. During that talk we were told that some cold or flu is going around town and most of her students were out last week.
On a trip like this, it's important to stay healthy so we took some extra vitamins and a lot of water. The water here has a lot of mineral in it and it smells a bit funny, also a yellowish color to it.


Our breakfast was the usual microwaveable "hotpocket" type things. Soon after eating, Kenji was anxious to start drilling and he carries the generator out to start it. Broken!!! One of our lifeline for the field work doesn't work. So, Kenji works on it and finds a bunch of snow packed in the inside of the generator. While the generator was being dried in the building, we used electricity from the building to power the drill. The electrical cord ran about 50 feet into the woods.





Although he hit tree roots and stuff, the bore holw was dug out in a couple of hours, and the PVC successfully installed in the hole. Justin was there to take pictures to show the other kids what we were doing.

Everything seemed to work a little easier with milder temperature and less wind.



While we were doing this, more mushers were coming and going. Actually, one left and two came in. The mushers arriving usually seems tired, and the dogs also. But when they comes time to hit the trail again, the dogs are excited to go, and just to be sure, the vets are there to check up on the dogs at each check station.


We also installed the thermister and data logger inside the plastic casing to take some readings, so Kenji can show it to the students tomorrow.




After that it was reorganizing the sleds and taking a look around Shageluk. The sleds needed to be packed very good for tomorrow's trail condition. It will be bumpy and a lot of tight ups and downs through the trees before we get back on the Yukon River. Shageluk is located on the bank of the Innoko River. As a matter of fact the school is called the Innoko River School. The current village moved here in 1965 from the old site where it would always flood in the Spring time. The airport is still located there.


After a brief break, Kenji went to the river to get some water sample and a core sample. Core sampling Kenji style, which means using simple an light weight equipment. This method is not recomended for the light weight. Satisfied with todays work, we cooked dinner in the kitchen, and packed the gear as much as we can for tomorrow.