Permafrost outreach 2009

Another permafrost station and frost tube station was added to the Permafrost Outreach network.
But it wasn't an easy one.


The morning at Shaktoolik was quiet since it was a Saturday and the kids didn't come in at eight like they do on weekdays.
The clear blue sky was deceiving and almost made it look warm outside.
I guess temperature-wise it wasn't too bad, but the wind would blow away any heat that you had around you.















So, obviously the trail from Shaktoolik to Koyuk, that runs mostly on sea ice or flat tundra was completely wind-blown with hard-packed sastrugi everywhere.
Sometimes Kenji's tracks would be erased by the drift before the second person passed it.
Again, the Iditarod trail markers helped us with our bearings.



The only noticeable structure along this 50 miles was a shelter cabin about 15 miles from Shaktoolik.



Other than that, it was a very white and cold ride until the very end.
Even in Koyuk there was still some wind, but much more tolerable.






At the school, the science teacher Joe was awaiting our arrival.
After a short break, we went to work right away.










The frost tube went in quickly with the new drill setup Kenji is using this year.
Since it looked like the same area had good features for a Permafrost Monitoring Station, we decided to drill next to the frost tube hole.

The first 80 cm or so was easy. Just like we hoped.












But from there on the drill would get stuck, time after time. When the drill gets stuck, it's important to keep it moving, even just a little bit, to keep it from freezing solid to the ground. If it freezes to the ground, as it wants to do when a cold wind is blowing, it is almost impossible to get it out.


Halfway into the expedition, some of our equipment is showing signs of fatigue and with more than half of our original gear missing somewhere in Alaska. We can't afford to break or lose anything.

After two hours of hard work and lot of struggle, we finished the installation.
We were disappointed we couldn't drill deeper, but with the conditions we had, it was wise to stop before something broke.

Back in the classroom, Kenji is strategizing plans for the next couple of days. In Nome, we will have a chance to resupply some of the equipment. Nome is still a few days off. Until then, we have to continue improvising and be very careful with how we do things.



After a long day, we saw another gorgeous sunset from the top of the hill. From there, you can see where the shelter cabin was in the distance, about 30 miles off, and the frozen Koyuk River below us.