Greenlandic Times
Greenlandic Times
Issue 01
Ingertarpok (Walks To and Fro)
First Edition 25 Jan 2004
Outta green land and into Greenland
Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve written down anything, so here goes a bit o’ story tellin’.
I left outta Italy the beginning of December and took another “whirlwind” tour before getting to my next station. Here’r some of the highlights:
After a short farewell party at Ghedi, I began my drive to England via Switzerland and France. The day quickly closed and left me to driving at night. The sky was the clearest I can remember, and the moon was full. I could see all the stars behind the backdrop of the Swiss Alps. The moonlight glistened on the snow caps, giving a view of such wonder and delight that I had to pull over a couple times just to take in the silence and tranquility of the moment.
Ok, enough artsy fartsy writing, here’s the rest of the tale. I made it into France around 10PM and was starting to get tired. There was a youth hostel in Lyon, so I took a short detour to find it. Trouble was, when I got there, it turned out to be a pretty big city, and there were no directions on the sheet of paper I had. So after futily driving around town for an hour, I left Lyon and went north on the highway until I reached a rest area. At almost midnight, I finally crashed out and slept hard til around 5AM when I woke up. Fog had set in making the whole day’s trip uneventful and slow. I didn’t get to see any of the sights, needless to say.
Upon arriving at Calais in northern France, I drove to the Chunnel-way, which is an underground/underwater train that commutes from France to England. The train ride was only 35 minutes (versus the 3 hours it takes by ferry), giving me just enough time to clean up the car while we sped along under the bay. Getting back into England gave me that “don’t you feel like your at home?” uh, feeling. It was pretty kewl, and driving again on the OTHER side of the road was a thrill. I headed up to my friend’s place near Birmingham, though they weren’t expecting me until the next day or 2 (I planned to enjoy France a bit, but forewent that based on the fog), so surprisingly they were a bit, well, surprised to see me already! But we had a great time BSin’ and drinkin’. We ordered Chinese, but for some reason, they wouldn’t give my “crunchy quack quack”! So when we went to pick up the food, I had to threaten the staff with throwing stars (granted, it was just road tax discs, but I tried to be as intimidating as is possible when you fling paper projectiles at someone).
After a couple days, I headed out toward my old base to see my friends in the ‘hood, and start getting my Jeep ready for shipment and storage. It didn’t even seem as if I’d left. If only my old place was still available! It was a lot of work to coordinate the Jeep and my travel plans, but everything worked out. We also went out for some brews, saw a movie and went for a late-evening cruise. Fun stuff!
The evening before the morning I was set to leave, Colin and I had some shots of whiskey as he tried to teach me how to play the bass guitar, and we all didn’t finally crash out until after midnight. 3AM seemed so much earlier than usual, but the gang was up and we drove to the base so I could catch my bus to London. The flight out was good, since I just slept almost the whole way.
Next stop was Boston, where I got to hang out with my friend Matt (who you might remember had the wedding the year before) and his wife Anita. While there, they had a great Christmas party, and a huge snow storm; we saw “Last Samurai” and “Blazing Saddles”; checked out some of the infamous lighthouses; saw a Christmas concert; and went to Salem (witch museums and such). Plus, the day I left was the first day of “Lord of the Rings – Return of the King”, so we saw that just hours before my flight left.
Detroit had some sub-adventures within the adventure. Along with visiting ole George and family, I went over to congratulate Matthew on his enlistment in the Army (he’s the son of one my “other” mom’s, Pam, from back home), so I got to see Pam and Joe, and checked in with a couple other folks. Matthew took me out to lunch to tell me about Basic Training and what not, and to say that he is going to Vicenza, Italy! It’s less than an hour from Ghedi, so we had a lot to talk about there… George, Nicole and I went down to Greektown in Detroit for dinner and some gaming. Oh, and I retook my driver’s test so I can have a legal license. I had to do the written AND the driving test! Did THAT feel weird!
In addition to the Detroit area, I took a detour up north to Tawas City to see old family friends Dave and Jane and the kids. Dave had just won a third of a Fantasy Football game, so he was in high spirits. He made up an awesome dinner, and we all talked til late in the evening. The next morning, Jane and kids played around a bit and we all talked until I headed out about noon.
Now the next place I went to was a bit different for a couple reasons. One, it was to Toronto Canada, where I hadn’t been before, but more so because I’d be meeting cousins I’d never met before. These are relatives of folks from the old country. In Italy, I met my great grandfather’s Aunt, who’s now 101 years old! Well, her sons moved to Toronto in the 50s, and that’s whom I went to see. Giovanni’s son, Tony, had been emailing me in Italy, and we worked it out so I could come out during this trip. I arrived at his house around 4, and once the door opened, all inhibitions dropped. He literally had open arms to greet me, and his wife Katherine and the kids were immediately welcoming. We had such a great time getting acquainted and figuring out where we all were on the tree of the Rea’s. They took me out downtown to the CN Tower (the tallest tower in the world), we went to dinner and enjoyed just walkin’ around town (though it was quite cold at the time). I had only planned to stay one night, but (after much arm twisting) it didn’t seem to be long enough to visit, so we went another day, and I got to meet his father (Giovanni) and his brother, Gabriele. Giovanni told me a lot of old stories (in Italian), some from the old country, and others from his starts in North America. Overall, it was just amazing talking with family.
(Aren’t you glad I’m keeping this short?!)
After all that, it was time to head home for the holidays. I flew up to Marquette (after almost being bumped from the flight), and mom was there to meet me. We went over for a Christmas Eve party at the Barabes; Andy took me to the malls to show me all the kewl stuff out nowadays; we went sledding in the back and I pulled Herbie around in the sled; we saw Andy’s cousins and Aunt; and of course went to visit with Mike and Karen.
The next adventure was trying to leave the U.P. My one o’clock flight cancelled due to fog, and the next available flight wasn’t for another week. But the alternative was a 6PM flight out of Green Bay, which was about 3 hours from Marquette. So I had to rent a car and hurry to get there, arrived about 30 minutes before the flight time, ran to the terminal, got on the plane, and fell asleep… I arrived in Destination DC around midnight.
My cousin Matt was waiting up (or rather sleeping on the couch waiting for the doorbell) for me, and I got in around 1AM. Needless to say, there wasn’t much conversation til the next morning. Since it was Winter Break for the kids, Matt and Laurie both had some time off too. So we went to the new Air and Space Museum, which just opened in mid-December. We saw an IMAX of Adrenaline Rush while we were there. I took the boys out to see “The Haunted Mansion”, and we played some B-Ball in the front afterwards. Matt and I talked for a while and we called Mark and their dad in Nevada, too.
For New Years, I flew down to visit with my brother Mike in New Orleans. We had a blast down there. Mike introduced me to drive-thru daiquiri shops and we bought some fireworks for the evening festivities. That night we went down to Bourbon street and tipped back a few brewskis waiting for midnight to come around. We made our way to the main stage, where there was a band playing and the city mayor was indahouse. I bought a bottle of bubbly, and when 12 o’clock hit, we started to tip it back, and even clinked glasses with the mayor! We finished the night in a pub drinkin’ Guinness and some shots of Irish Crème.
The next night, Mike threw a party at his place, made a big dinner, had some music and games, and lit off some fireworks. He also pulled out some typical Mike-style movies that were just really oddballs, but a must see anyway. The next day, we went down to the French Market Place, then to one of the mausoleum cemeteries to take some pictures. Mike showed me some good techniques and his creative, artistic work in action. I’ll post some on my website soon… then we went to dinner in traditional Creole restaurant. Good stuff!
On the 4th, Mike dropped me off at the airport, right into adventure number 2. Yes, that’s right, yet another flight to DC cancelled. This time because some idiot driving the cargo bins ran into the fuselage tank. So, New Orleans is hosting the LSU game, resulting in NO hotels in the area, so they opted to fly us to Atlanta, where we stayed in a Hilton and drank beer while watching the LSU game. The next day, the flight left around 9, and I got to DC about noon. I picked up my excess luggage that Matt was holding for me, and drove down to North Carolina.
One of my friends from Italy (Brad) moved to Asheville, so that was destination 400. He got himself a nice place in the middle of the country outside the main town. We drank beer in mass quantities, so life was good. But other than intoxication, we also checked out the area a bit. My friend James came out from Charlotte, so the 3 of us headed up to the mountains and saw Chimney Rock, then went to check out a movie “???”. We also saw the Biltmore Estates, and went out to the Blue Ridge parkway; and we saw a Bluegrass concert in one of the bars in town.
After that, I drove over to Lake Gaston, right in front of a huge storm and made it just an hour before it hit. Mama Pat and Paul weren’t expecting me for a couple more hours, but I guess the “defensive driving” in Italy paid off. We had a nice, relaxing visit, and didn’t do too much of anything, aside from watch the games (saw all 4 semi-final games). We played some pool, and looked at pictures, but mostly just chilled out… ahhhhh….
Then it was back to my Air Force roots, up to Langley and Hampton VA. I met up with John and Jeremy, and hung out with them for a couple days. Went and played some pool, headed out for a couple drinks at the bar, and saw a couple movies. I also got to see Master Ko again; it was really kewl say hey. My time was cut a bit short when I realized my plane departure from Baltimore was for Thursday instead of Friday, so I started to head out that morning, but learned that the flight was cancelled (yet another DC area change?!), and the next flight was Friday, so I stopped up to see Matt again for the night. And since the flight didn’t leave until after midnight, I got to sleep in, and visit some more in the afternoon. The day before I was a bit apprehensive about leaving for Thule, but after the extra day’s rest, I was calm and ready.
The moment of truth, I made it to the airport now, geared up to get to Greenland. I checked in around 10PM, and went to buy a razor to shave off the month and a half of goatee I had grown; then I grabbed some BK and went back to the waiting area where there were some comfy chairs. Well, they were a bit too comfy, because I fell asleep, and when I awoke, everyone in the area was gone. I looked at the clock and it was 1:30AM. The boarding time was 1AM, so I naturally went into a bit of a panic. I went up to the security gate, but they told me everyone was already in, and that everyone was accounted for. “How can that be, if I have a guaranteed seat assignment?” So they questioned the Air Force guys, and managed to get me in. Well, the 1AM time was just to meet on the inside of the secure zone, because everyone was just sitting around near the gate. 10 minutes later though, we started boarding.
Well, now I’m here. Thule, Greenland. Just 800 miles from the North Pole. Temps are roughly -28 to -60, and the sun won’t shine until the end February. What made me come here? Well, the people here are awesome (it’s one of those places where you have no where to go, so the people are all you can rely on). We get free food, a dorm room, and lots of on-base activities. Granted, the only one I’ve found so far is the club, but that’ll change soon enough.
I already got a nickname: “Doc”. But it’s not from being like Dr Evil… little story: The guy who works in the Post Office (Jason) was in Italy, and married an Italian. Well that was instant talking fodder, and we headed up to the club for some beers. Well, he starts introducin’ me to other folks in the club and I meet this Cannuk named John. Well John meets me as “Dan, the new guy over at finance”, but he doesn’t like the way that goes, so he starts introducing me to everyone as Dr Bill, the new head of operations at the hospital. During the evening, my name kept changing from Dr Bill to Dr Phil and back, but by the next day, everyone was calling me “Doc”.
Most folks pick something up from my name, being “Ray” versus Rea, or “Ria” sometimes too (Danniria sounds like something contagious – and my poor mom with a name of Donna). hehe In England I was given the nickname Sting for Sting Ray. This is the first time a nickname wasn’t derived from either my name or my work. It’s kinda funny.
Anyway, that’s the journey and the update… the next stories won’t be so long, but I hope they’ll be enjoyable. Stories about the tundra can’t be too dry, can they?
Until next time…
Dan
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Greenlandic Times
Issue 02
Adgorpok (travels against the wind)
Second Edition – 21 February 2004
First Light
So I’m on the plane coming out here, and 30 minutes out, the captain of plane comes over the P.A. “Folks, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is, we’re just about to Thule Air Base, the temperature is 48 below and the wind is 36 knots. The good news is, I’ve just saved money on my insurance!”
That was the start to the Greenlandic tour. It’s been a month now. A month of darkness and cold, wind and snow. Well, today marks a day of change; a day when things will seem ‘brighter’. That’s right, it’s “First Light” today, celebration of the first sight of the sun, for most here, since last October. We’ll get about 15 minutes of sunlight today, and a steady increase through summer when the sun will be out all day and night. Today is also special because it’s the first day where I can get out for an Arctic hike! But more on that later.
The time here so far has been encapsulated with work. Twelve-hour days have not been uncommon, but that’s mainly due to getting into the groove and clearing up a lot of backlog stuff. But I’m just about done with that, so normal days are on the horizon with the First Light. During off-time, I’ve either been playing on the computer, learning more about photography and some of the things computers can do for pictures, or out at the club where everyone congregates for a few hours now-and-again. Last night, we got to hear a sneak preview of one of the bands that will play tonight at the First Light festival. They’re a blues/rock band called “The Carsen Downey band” from Canada, and let me tell ya, they are rockin’! Listening to them gave me the feeling of being in a blues bar in New Orleans. After a few beers, and realizing it was getting late, I made my way back to the dorms, hopefully to get enough sleep for the next day’s hike…
So, the hike: a couple friends and I got the notion to take the first Thule Trek of the year, and today was the day. Following a satisfying lunch of curry turkey, we went back to the dorms to suit up. I decided to try out the Matterhorns boots I was issued to see if the cold-weather protection really works. Threw on a few layers of polypros and a nice thick sweater, grabbed the camera and was ready to roll. First stop was to check in with the base to tell them where we’d be, and then it was off to the hike starting point. We drove out to an old, abandoned missile silo site to get a view of where we were heading. The cover holes were open, so we went down to check out the insides of the broken down building. Inside was cold and dark, and very icy. So icy, in fact, that the frozen water had built up to mid-way fill the rooms. In the bathroom, the toilet was under ice!! We also saw the bay doors from which missiles would be launched. All this had been out of commission for many years.
After that bit of excursion, we drove out to the hiking start point. There were no real trails, so we just started down the side of one of the mountains towards the arctic bay. The sun was out just enough to give us light along the way, but also gave a beautiful backdrop to the cold mountains. At the bottom, we walked along the frozen water’s edge. Standing still, we could hear the slow movement of the ice, with low, deep cracking noises. The sounds would have been extremely eerie had I been alone. After spending a couple hours in the cold tundra air, we decided it was time to get back to the warm truck. On the way back, we encountered some arctic hares, scavenging for some small morsels of food hidden in the snow covered, rocky landscape. I snuck in close enough to take some pictures before they darted away. Making our way back to the truck I noticed it was getting difficult to see. It turned out that the cold air had caused small icicles to form on my eyelashes! That’s a first!
Back at the base, after checking in, everyone got changed and relaxed while we waited for the festival to begin.
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Greenlandic Times
Issue 03
Sinaliarpok (Goes to the edge of ice)
Saturday, 7 March 2004
Cheerleaders and Sunbows
A month and a half, and four “Storm 2’s” later, I’m really beginning to appreciate what “cold” is. The past weekend’s excursion was canceled due to weather alerts, and aside from lunch, I don’t think I was able to get out of the dorm for more than a few minutes.
This weekend on the other hand was quite the opposite. Last night (Friday), we had the Jacksonville Cougars cheerleader team out here, performing on stage at the club. Midway through the show I got dragged up to the stage with 4 other folks, taken to the back and “transformed” into the Indian of the Village People! We had to dance out front with the girls and the mascot karaokeing to YMCA… mama mia!
Anyway, the this morning (Saturday), we went out on Trek 2, this time to “the Secret Place” and the old abandoned BMEWS (Ballistic Missile Early Warning System) site. First, the secret place is only so-called because it’s one of the most known go-to places around Thule. It looks over the bay and over to the glaciers and mountains on the other side.
At BMEWS, which is said to be haunted, we only made it in to 2 rooms before we had to turn around. Not because of blocked doors, but because it was so cold inside that our hands were actually beyond numb. But what we saw of the insides was cool enough anyway, and we’re already planning a return trip in the summer. However, outside was unbelievably warmer than inside. Not but 2-3 minutes outside and the hands were warmed up again… very odd. Leaving earlier though yielded a first view of a “sunbow”. It’s similar to a rainbow, but the colorful bow circled the sun, barely touching the ground.
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves… thanks for reading, and write when ya can!
Dan
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Greenlandic Times
Issue 04
Piugarpok (Looking for Trouble)
Sunday, 3 April 2004
Almost to Demise, Twice
Yesterday was unforgettable and unbelievable. The decision was made earlier in the week to try out cross-country skiing, and all the way up to Thursday the plans were good. Then, midday that day, we heard there would be a possible storm-front on Saturday, and quickly our plans deteriorated. But come Friday, the weather forecast improved and things were back on. After work and fitness training, the three of us (remaining from a group of 6 originally) went to the outdoor rec shop to pick up our gear. After an evening at game night, I got to sleep around 11 to get ready for the long day. But around 2AM, the late evening crew from the club came stumbling in pounding on doors, and needless to say I was up for a couple extra hours trying to get back to sleep. Around 4 the sun started coming up (speaking of which, we’ve had daylight now from 4AM to 11PM!). So when the alarm went off at half past 6, I was beat! But the trip ahead got me pumped up, and after a shower I was ready to go
We had breakfast at the chow hall, and around 8 we were on our way to the docks of Dundas Mountain. Strapping on the skis for the first time was awkward, and getting started was just as uncoordinated, but after catching the rhythm, we were making good time. Our goal was visit one of the three portions of the Polar Ice Caps to the north of the base. Our journey led us across the vast expanses of the bay, which this time of year is frozen over, and the ice is about 5 feet thick. Along the way, we encountered several icebergs, standing tall and majestic, one of which was ten times as tall as me. (And icebergs are 5 times larger beneath the water’s surface!) That’s where we took our first break, about 2 hours into the expedition. After a short rest, we investigated the circumference of the berg, finding unreal discoveries. At what we determined to be the “front” side, we could see where the huge block of ice was slowly pushing forward, large chunks of bay ice pushed to the side. A thin stretch of actual water rounded the berg, and you could see down several feet before the disappeared to darkness. Then it caught our eye; something small darting from beneath the surface of the water. After a brief moment, we saw it again … a fish! An “Arctic minnow”! It was tiny and appeared to be just a couple of large eyes and a tail fin, no longer than my thumb. Then there were two, then three. They kept coming out and dodging back, curious about seeing us, but scared none-the-less. They eventually got used to the idea we were there and were more comfortable being out for us to see. After taking a couple of photos, and the urge to press on, we continued across the whiteness toward our ultimate destination.
However, not even a third of the distance returning, we encountered a sudden snow storm. It started with some howling winds from the south (in the direction of the mainland and base), and soon were heard all around us. Visibility slowly diminished, too, and we were soon trekking in white out conditions, trying as best we might to stay the right course towards Dundas Mountain. Chris, being the most adapt at cross country skiing, had quite a distance on us, but we could still see him as a small icon in the distance. With no compass or GPS to guide our way, we had to use the little bit of sunlight that occasionally came through to guide our way. At one point we saw the side of the southern cliffs, vaguely, through the snow. During a brief rest break, I made my way forward to see if it wasn’t only an illusion. I called back that it really was the mountains, and soon we found that, though we had backtracked a little, we were on the right track to get back to Dundas. Our spirits raised by our good fortune, but energy draining fast, we unceasingly advanced towards our starting point. Soon, after what seemed like hours, the weather broke, and we could see the outline of the icebergs in the bay. The rounding tip of the cliffs, which marked the final turn of our excursion, was looming in the distance. Legs exhausted from the continuation of finding new muscles, I unstrapped my skis, realizing I wasn’t going much fast with them on than off. Thankfully, the skis were extremely light, and I hiked with them under my arm or over my shoulder.
Chris was the first to arrive at the tip, and we could see that he was taking advantage of his early arrival and sat down to rest. When we finally caught up, we followed suit, and sat down behind an icy barrier, which blocked the winds. Following a short breather, with which we recapped our “fun” up to this point, we gathered up our bags and broke out for the final stretch. At this point we all hiked, carrying our skis. It was still an hour to the truck, but the site of Mount Dundas kept our spirits alive. Climbing a small ridge, and walking a short rocky road, we reached the truck. Taking off the excess baggage and layers of clothes, changing out to dry shoes and squeezing in the cab, we called in to the base to let them know we were coming back (we’re required to call in before and after leaving the base). The Dane on the other end reminded us that we were supposed to have called in at 1800, and it was now half past. We drove back toward the base, over a road of fresh snow, and layers of ice underneath. That snow was almost our undoing. Rounding the final corner before reaching the base, the truck slid toward the edge of a cliff, and we barely clung to the road after almost knocking over a reflector-guide, before the back tires spun us back to the road. What a day.
Getting back to the dorms, I slowly made my way up a flight of stairs, into my room, and tried to remove the layers of sweaty, frozen clothing. After a refreshing shower, I was quickly comatose in the room’s recliner (nicknamed “old blue”). Ten hours of skiing/hiking will do that to ya. I think I earned the 13 hours of sleep that night?
Read the story in the Air Force Link: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123007772
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Greenlandic Times
Issue 05
Okrittok Assiangorpok (Light becomes totally different)
Saturday, 17 April 2004
Things are getting brighter
The change in the levels of light have been dramatic over the past couple months. When I arrived, we were still in 24 hours of sunset. Now we are close to 24 hours of sunlight. Last night near midnight, I was out by the bay, photographing close-to-the-last sunset for the next few months. It was absolutely exhilarating! From the vantage point of the Pavilion, I could overlook the cliff-side down to the icy bay, where, resting on the snow were teams of sled dogs. Along with my friend Sudha, we also went to check out the Thule Tug (the Air Force’s only tugboat), which is currently dry docked on the land near the bay.
Today, a few of us were supposed to go for a trek to Dundas village, where there are some very old “sod houses” where the Inuits (Eskimos) lived for many years. But a storm came in suddenly this morning, so those plans are postponed until tomorrow (assuming the weather clears).
Last weekend, for Easter, Thule had an Open House, which invited Inuits from the local towns (the closest of which is 2 days away via dogsled) to join in our Easter festivities. During the Open House, Air Greenland offered helicopter rides to Mount Dundas and around the base; there was an ice-golfing competition; the Inuits had a dogsled race; and of course, an egg-hunt. Prior to the dogsled races, the teams were scattered about on the ice, showcasing their dogs and sleds. I met quite a few of the people, talking with the elders, playing with the kids and offering dog snacks to the hounds. One of the Inuits taught me how to use a dogsled whip to smack around an aluminum can on the ice. These folks are very kind and giving. One was giving enough to offer me a piece of fish he had just hacked from the frozen carcass with his mini-ax. Uhhh Yummy?! The helicopter ride was nothing less than awesome. After flying to the top of Mount Dundas, we went down the back side like falling from the top of a roller coaster. The egg-hunt was held indoors following a large BBQ-style dinner, at which I helped out as a food server. The hunt involved creating teams of one American, one Dane, and one Inuit. You had to answer questions, which led you around the building finding clues to answer a riddle. And fun times were had by all.
A couple weeks ago, we also had an opportunity to build igloos! The day was perfect for it; temps were decent and the sun was shinin’. The project began with us cutting out huge blocks of hardened snow from the ground using a saw and shovel. It’s just unfathomable how deep the snow really is! After cutting from tip to handle on the saws to create the blocks, it didn’t even seem we scratched the surface. The actual building of the igloos though was more difficult than it seemed, and after a couple hours we hadn’t made much headway on the larger one. But the smaller of the two came out pretty good. It’s still standing strong today, with a snowy Snoopy on top. The other, however, has warped and is almost completely caved in. Glad our dorms aren’t igloos (at least not igloos made by us!)
Earlier the same week, a group of us went on a hike to the local waterfalls. One of our team was new to hiking in the snow, and she didn’t like the noises the rest of us had become used to hearing; like the sound the snow make when you walk over hallow spots where it sounds like you’ll fall through. Anyway, the falls were, as they should be, frozen over, but they were frozen in the perfect shape of what the falls would look like un-iced. Getting there took a couple hours, and we past by a cabin house, which, during the summer can be used for BBQs, etc. But now it was engulfed in snow, from the inside. After spending a little time at the waterfalls, we went out to the inner bay and checked out some icebergs before we headed back to the truck.
Well, that’s about it for now … time for sleep. Until next “times”…
Dan
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Greenlandic Times
Issue 06
Arctic Hunting Expedition
Thursday, 6 May 2004
Unreal
I returned Tuesday (4 May) with a nice suntan, but I didn’t return from Bermuda.
A call came 3 or 4 weeks before, asking if I’d be interested in accompanying a dogsled trip which would last a few days. I answered ‘yes’ before saying that I’d hafta get permission from my boss first. I mean, what an opportunity! Of course I wanna go. Although the details of the trip were sketchy at best, the anticipation for such an excursion set off a light that had been dimmed since I got here. Over the following couple of weeks, I heard nothing more and had no idea as to what I could expect. The only thing I knew was that the trip would include 2 other G.I.s and guy from Denmark, and we would be riding with an Inuit (Eskimo) team for 5 days. A few days before is when I finally met the other travelers (Chris and Lance) and got the full scoop. The Dane, Mogens Morgen, organized the trip as a thank you to Thule for hosting a team from Denmark that researched muscle. He outfitted our team with over a few thousand dollars worth of Arctic Weather gear (Canadian Goose parka and pants, sunglasses, sleeping bag, and tons of other camping items), and filled us in on where we were going. First to Qaanaaq (a town 60 miles north of the base), then to Siorapaluk (the northern most civilian community in the world), and possibly even go hunting for polar bears and seals.
Day 1
We all got up early that day; the expected departure time was 0730, but when we got to the terminal, the folks there told us that the chopper was overbooked, and they’d need to make 2 trips. So we had to wait til 2PM. We had left our bags there, got some chow and took care of other stuff before meeting again around 12:30. By two, we were airborne, flying over the fjord and icecap, further north than most at the base had ever been. We arrived at Qaanaaq about a half hour later, still unsure as what to expect. The owner of the hotel in town met us at the terminal and helped us get our equipment to the lodging rooms. In the short time we spent at the small, 5-room hotel, we met a man from Japan, who was there on the 6th portion of his dogsled expedition from Siberia (Russia) to Greenland. Also we met a woman from Germany who was waiting for a team to come that she was going to lead. Plus, Chris noted a picture in the hallway of Kevin Spacey, who had stayed in this very hotel just a couple years ago! Anyway, we started on the journey fairly quickly, and went down to the ice to meet our team leaders. They were all disbursed throughout the town, and we were all split up, not really able to communicate, so it was kind’v ackward at first. After my team leader, Thomas (chamus) kissed his wife and daughter, we set out over the rugged inner ice. The lead dog was a mama, and her pup, “Nyoknyo”, tagged along, though not leashed. Well, going over the first big crack in the ice, Nyoknyo hesitated, fell in, and was run over by the sled! He was surprisingly OK though, and just went running out again afterwards. I was worried though. I guess it happens alot. Anyway, we drove on for about 20-30 minutes before meeting up with the rest of the gang. From there, we rode across the flat ice, following a “road” made from other sled tracks, crossing a fjord and, around midnight, stopped for the first night. As late as it was, the sun was still shining strongly, so we were able to easily set up the tents on the ice. The Inuits staked down some pegs where they tied up their dogs. We didn’t know quite what to expect that first night, and as we got our tent together (a small 4-man tent), we wondered how we’d all fit in. Well, as soon as we got ours up, the Inuits began building their tent. They pushed two sleds together and removed the equipment. They laid out several thick skins over top and set up an old tent over the sleds. We scoffed at their ancient-looking get up. Hey, we were sleepin’ in state-of-the-art technology created housing. We had the best equipment and a sleeping bag that could warm you even in temps of 40 below. We had a heater and matting. And we froze our asses off!
Day 2
Even though not totally comfortable, we managed to sleep until just after seven or eight. Mogens had some Muselix-type cereal that we ate with hot water we made from melted iceberg pieces. Let me tell ya about iceberg water. We never had such good water in our lives; and never drank so much hot water before either. Straight hot water… Mmmmm… Anyway, the Inuits (aside from Thomas, there was Otto, Peter and Christian were already up and started taking down their tent. We were a bit uncoordinated, and it took us some time to get into the swing and have our stuff packed up. But by ten, we were all set and riding again. The choice of what to do was still fluid, and even while we mushed on, what to do next was still being discussed. One idea was to go straight out to hunt, but we had asked if we could go to the village of Siorapaluk to check it out. They caved in (plus they needed to pick up some fuel for the boat), so we headed further north following the bottom ridge of the mountain. In the distance we saw the village, and got excited knowing that we were about to visit the northern most civilian settlement in the world!
The sleds were parked on the ice a few hundred feet from the village’s shoreline, and we walked up into the 40-house town, marveling at their existence. We found the local shop/post office and went in to see what goodies they had. It was a very small mom-and-pop shop, and had miscellaneous items of all sorts for sale. No souvenirs though. So I picked up some Pepsis and a couple of snacks and went outside. Soon we were accosted by several youngsters, but soon it seemed the whole village’s kids were out to get piggyback rides and pretend fights. I guess the school was supposed to be in session, but they just came outside to check us out. The school, realizing it was futile to round up the kids now, instead offered to show us their school. It consisted of only 2 classrooms (very small, and I can assume that the older kids were in one, and the younger ones in another). Anyway, they also offered us some postcards the kids had created, saying the proceeds would go to a trip the kids were planning to a city in the south of Greenland. The cost was 40 kroners (about $7) for 5 cards, but it was for a good cause, so we all bought some packages. Outside again, the kids went with us to our sleds to see us off, but we were told the kids couldn’t be down on the ice because of the dogs, so we walked them back up. We showed them some new handshakes and said goodbye to the townfolk and returned to the sleds. It didn’t seem like it, but we had been there for over 3 hours! We started up again following the shoreline away from town, and even further north. After a couple hours riding, we came across a couple boats dry-docked on the ice, the second of which we camped by for the night. This time, we asked if we could make a tent the way they had, using the other 2 sleds. They agreed and helped us put it up. We also all decided to alternate groups and have 2 Inuits and 2 “tag-alongs” in each tent. It was a good evening. We had some supper (the first real meal since the journey began the day before), and melted some more ice for hot chocolate and tea. The Inuits walked off together to discuss some options, and we just looked around, taking in the silence and scenery. Off to our right, about 300 yards off, was an enormous iceberg protruding from the ice “land”, and off in the distance we saw another, even bigger iceberg that resembled a sled. When the hunters returned, they said we’d leave in the morning for the hunting site, but in the meantime, we’d go off to the mountains and hunt some rabbit! While we waited, we organized our inuit-style home, realizing instantly how much warmer it was inside than our previous “abode” from the night before. The sleds acted as rise-up from the ice, creating an airflow underneath that kept the sleeping area warmer. Add some animal skins, sleeping bags and a kerosene heater, and we had a mini-castle! Gotta give ’em credit where credit’s due. Hell, they’ve been doing this for centuries; of course they know how to keep warm. We’re beginning to appreciate how they’ve survived in such a climate. Otto had asked me to go with him to see something, and we walked toward where they were discussing things earlier. He pointed out a huge crack in the ice where water was within reach. The crack was a good mile long, and about 2 feet wide. He tried to explain something to me, but I didn’t understand at first, then picked up on what he was really showing me. The ice “land” on the other side of the water was moving slowly up and down, about 1 to 2 inches, creating a small ripple of the water. It was just amazing to see the movement of what we’d been riding on all day, and it was just fluid and normal to Otto. Amazing. We then went back, and Mogens said we’d be going now to hunt some wabbit. Otto was going alone, and us tag-alongs followed behind him as we trekked through the thick upper layer of snow that covered the ice, toward the mountains that were about half a mile from the sleds. Near the shoreline, the ice erupted in large, broken pieces, jetting up and creating a maze which separated us from the shore. But we followed Otto over the obstacle, walking where he walked, and noting where he stuck his spear in certain parts of the ice that too easily broke away. We arrived on the other side and looked up into the mountains while we rested a minute and looked back to see from where we came.
It was nearing 10PM, the sun was off to our left, and Mogens and Otto were discussing something while I went off for some pictures. It seemed that some conditions were bad for hunting, so we’d forego the mountain trek, but instead Otto offered to let us test out his rifle. It was an ancient-looking gun, maybe 30 or more years old, but it had dead accuracy as we shot at some ice chunks sitting off in the distance. After a while, we hiked back to the camp, stayed up and talked for a while and around 2AM finally went to bed. It was indeed a good night’s sleep.
Day 3
We awoke late, but were not tied to any schedule. This was the first day we realized that time had no real purpose out here. Chris and Lance had gotten up a couple hours earlier, and razzed us about sleeping so late. But we had no real need to hurry on anything. What was going to happen? We’d loose daylight? Right… So we eventually took down the tents (following breakfast cereal and some tea), and hooked up the boat, which was on a sled of it’s own, to 2 of the dogsleds and began our way in the direction of the second, sled-shaped iceberg, which was away from the mountains, and out toward the sea. After only about a half hour, we arrived at the ice’s edge. This was our first sight of actual open water and were just in awe. Then we saw it. A head popped up from the water’s surface about 50 yards from the edge. Then it disappeared. The hunters said it was a seal. We were in luck! While the hunters worked at taking equipment off the sleds, the rest of us went to the edge to marvel at the site of real-live seals. There was another, and another. Soon we saw about 8 of them. Slowly getting closer to the edge, curiously checking us out. But I think they grew weary, perhaps sensing the hunters’ intentions, and slowly disappeared. But what an experience!! We helped unload the rest of the equipment, but I had that huge iceberg in my sites the whole time, and eventually broke free to go explore. Mogens joined me and we went around the behemoth, breathless at its height and width, and found ourselves on the opposite side looking up at it, noticing that a large portion of the upper section seemed ready to break off. As we stepped further back to try to get some better shots of it, we were greeted by several more seals bobbing off in the near distance. They came in just close enough to afford us some great pictures before they, too, disappeared. Then we heard the boat start up and watch from a distance as it bore away in the opposite direction from us, going towards the far-off mountains. In such a tranquil area, the sound of the engine roared across the waters. Soon they were out of site, and not long after the engine noise died down. We continued taking pictures and found that the water reflected perfectly which added tremendously to our “photo session”. After only about 30 minutes, we heard the sound of the boat roaring around again. It went back to the campsite, then quickly came in our direction. Thomas and Peter were on board, and pulled up to the ice so we could hop in, and soon we were racing off eastward, ripping through the thin, 2-inch thick ice water. The spray from which was interesting to watch. Instead of splashing up water, the boat just threw back chunks of ice, which slid across the frozen water top, stopped only by other breaks in the ice layer. We worked our way to a couple of iceberg islands that Peter used to get up higher and scout out further in the bay using his binoculars. Suddenly he called back to the boat – he had spotted something! He jumped into the boat and we were heading further into the bay at as high a speed as we could. We soon came upon several icy floating landmasses, and across a couple of them, we could make out the shape of something laying on the ice. Thomas handed me his binoculars, and I saw what looked like a giant walrus (which turned out to be a huge sea lion) sitting out on the ice taking in the sun. Wow! The only problem was that the ice “lands” created a labyrinth between us and the walrus. We had to find a way around. So keeping the beast in sight, we circled around, following the edges until we found another opening. It was sort of like following a stream that narrowed and widened as we went. At one point the narrowing was a bit too much, and the couldn’t pass. But did that stop our hunter friends? Hell no! Peter got out of the boat and pushed from the ice so that using his weight he actually pushed hard enough to move the land mass over enough to give us room to pass (and I’m talking a huge piece of land-ice)!
We finally parked the boat so that we were about 100 yards away. The hunters told us to stay put, and we watched as the slowly stalked their prey. They laid down on the ice, making themselves smaller so the walrus wouldn’t see them, and crawled closer. BAM! Shot taken, but as they told us later, the bullet just bounced right off it’s thick skin, and spooked him into slipping into the water and disappearing. Dang it! The next time we sited a walrus, we weren’t so lucky with the waterways. This time we were stopped by a thin stream way, with no way across… so I thought. The hunters told us to get out, and we all grabbed the boat, pulled it up on the ice and dragged it to the next body of water just about 50 feet away. Man, these guys just keep surprising me! We went after another sea lion, but again came away empty-handed. So we decided to take a break and head back to “shore” for a tea break and something to eat. I had thought we would have only been in the water for half an hour, but we had already been out for over 3 hours! Five minutes into the break, Peter spotted another giant mass, and we were on the go again. This time, they were able to get off 6-7 shots, but all seemed futile, as the beast jumped startled into the water and was gone. Then the sharp hunter eyes spotted seals jumping out of the water, away from the icy islands, so we were heading back to the main body of water to hunt on the fly. But, alas, after 4 more attempts, and hunter heads low, we headed back to the campsite. Mogens and I had a great time, though, with or without a catch. Back at camp there was a different story. They had shot a seal just off the ice. It was already skinned and bled by the time we got back. They also pointed out that while we were gone (over 5 hours!) a small iceberg floated over to our camp and parked in front of our shore baseline. It was now the other “teams” shot at going out. While they were gone, Mogens and I grabbed a bite to eat and the hunters did some test firing (and proved that it wasn’t their aim, but the rifle’s accuracy that was to blame). We relaxed in the late afternoon sun, which was actually quite warm, allowing for some sunbathing time. We listened to the Inuit radio, which was bringing in signals from Canada and checked out the dead seal. I also took some more time to get some shots of the big iceberg. While the others were gone, the small iceberg that parked by our camp had slowly made it’s way back to sea. When Team 2 came back, they had caught another seal and a little bird. Chris said that after he pointed out the bird, he thought they were getting the boat closer so he could take a picture, but not a second after his shutter clicked, there was a spear in the water, snaring the bird! That evening, we learned some things about the dogs; such as when pinned down for the evening stops, the hunters will separate the males from females; the dogs are fed by having a large sack of dry food dropped in the snow (it’s every dog for himself, and it’s a real battle!); during the summers, when the dogs aren’t used much, they don’t eat a lot… most are really scrawny; the dogs typically have a lifespan of 15 years, but sled dogs only live for about 8. That’s because after 8 years they loose their usefulness and are shot. But I’ll tell ya what, they LIVE for pulling the sled. As soon as they know they’re gonna be active, they start barking and running around, eager to get hooked up. Day 3 ended as usual, around 2AM, ready to sleep by the early morning sun.
Day 4
During the night, I was awakened by Otto, who was getting out of the tent and wiping off the sides. From nowhere, a snow storm had crept in, not really blowing, but just heavy amounts of snow. Although we slept well enough, it was around 10 or 11 when we were up, fed and packed up. Today we’d start our way back to Siorapaluk, where we might need to stay if the weather didn’t clear up. After we had the boat back on a sled and tied down, Peter saw a seal pop up out of the water, and he was on it. BAM! Sure enough, this one he got! He wasn’t leaving without a catch! Now, to us Americans who are so time conscious, we figured he would have left the seal, even though we thought it was wrong to do so. But to our surprise, they unstrapped the boat, put it back in the water and sped off to pick it up. And they didn’t come back right away either; they sped off in some direction we couldn’t see because of the snow. So Mogens and I went over to another campsite who had caught a sealion the day before. When Otto finally came back, we restrapped the boat, they skinned the seal and packed it on one of the sleds, and we were ready to go. After a short jaunt to the spot where we dropped off the boat, we were off again to Siorapaluk, where there was a large gathering on the ice of other sleds. Turned out some Americans from Minnesota and Illinois were up for their own expedition and were camping for the night near town. The kids from town were out in full force, and mobbed us as soon as they realized we’d come back. Chris said one of the kids that he taught a handshake ran up to him to show him he remembered how to do it. Cute. We spent about 3 hours there waiting to see how the weather would hold, and talked to the Americans to swap stories. “Those were some white teeth!” was a comment made when we left regarding a woman who was with their expedition. Thomas wanted to kick me off in exchange for her. “What?! I’m not sexy enough?!” We opted to make a stretch to the hunters cabins on the other side of the fjord than stay in the new community outside Siorpaluk. It was a long stretch, but the Inuits were determined to make it at least to the other coast point, to ensure we had a land reference if the weather worsened. We only made a couple of 20-30 minute stops along the way to take in some tea and snacks, and let the dogs rest, during the 6-hour trek across the fjord. We arrived at the cabins around 9:30PM Nyoknyo was there, jumping excitedly at our return, and he was quickly released to go play with the other dogs (who really wanted nothing to with him because they were so tired). Only one of the cabins was habitable, and because our team arrived first, we had dibs. There was room enough for 4, but with a lot more move around space. So this time it was me, Lance, Thomas and Otto shacked up, and the others set up the sled tent outside. But for most of the evening we all hung out in the cabin, talking, playing cards, and just relaxing. We made it an early night (around midnight), because we wanted an early start to see more of Qaanaaq in the morning. But an early rise wasn’t going to come-to-pass…
Day 5
We all slept in til after 9, but not a grumble from anyone was heard. We all knew this was the last real day, and wanted to milk it as long as we could. We finally ate and packed up by about 10:30 and were on our way back to town. On the trip back, our puppy ran with the pack, but again hesitated when we came to another crack in the ice, and again fell in and was run over. Again he ran out and was fine. But Thomas decided it was time he was leased in, to give him a feel of really pulling with the pack. He was very eager to join up, too. About an hour later, we saw some headlights in the distance, so we pulled off the trail and waited for it’s arrival. Turned out to be a 4-wheeler and a snowmobile, each pulling sled of south-Greenlandic tourists. The 4-wheeler driver was a big Inuit, who had an air of mafia about him. He had a cigarette hanging from his lip, very expensive fur clothing, nice seal boots and gloves, and knew English and Danish! Setting out again for the final stretch, the pup did pretty good for about an hour. But he soon got tired, and thought that, like he used to, he could just stop and move off the road. But his leash caught up to him and he was soon being pulled along side us, dragging snow and moving closer to the sled. Thomas slowly stopped the dogs “Ayyye”, and the sad looking puppy, who couldn’t move from his awkward position, was looking up at me pathetically until Thomas came over, picked him up by the harness and threw him back into the pack. He didn’t lag behind again… Finally, around 1, Qaanaaq was in sight, and by half past we were up on real land, with our hotel owner waiting on us with his SUV. The Inuits’ families were waiting on them, and we quickly unpacked the sleds so they could get home. But before they left, we offered them some gifts: Air Force pins and coins, patches, some cartons of cigarettes and a couple bottles of Jack Daniels! After the great time we had, that was the least we could offer, along with many, many thanks! Saying goodbye, we headed up to the hotel where we’d stay the night.
After much needed showers and a real good shit (neither was really accomplished during the traveling days), we had some dinner in the hotel restaurant. Chris and Lance noticed that down on the ice there was a game of soccer going on. Yes, soccer! They even had full size nets up. We rushed down to see them, but by the time we arrived, they were finished and started to disband. Doah! We also went to visit the local store, which was only slightly smaller than a typical K-Mart, and had just about anything you’d need. We picked up some snacks, souvenirs and wine for the evening. The real souvenir shop was closed until the next day, so we made a pit-stop at the local Post Office where Chris found a small butt-sled and stole it for a quick test ride. We found a nearby slope and he was down in a jiff. Yes, we returned it to it’s home, but had some funny video clips to laugh at later. Still at the hotel was the woman from Germany and the trekker from Japan. Enjoying some wine and watching the videos from the trip, we had all gathered in the sitting room of the hotel. It’s amazing that at such a remote town, in a small 5-room hotel, we had a German, Japanese, Danish, Greenlander and American socializing over wine. Amazingly small world! The night ended around 1AM, as we needed to get up for a flight around noon the next day.
Day 6
Sleep didn’t last too long as we were awoke around 3AM by pounding on the door. Suddenly Thomas busted in, and greeted us to almost full wakefulness, and just wanted to talk. He was holding an almost empty bottle of Vodka, and talked about nothing for about a half hour (though he used more English than during our trip!) before I managed to talk him into going home and sleeping. Chris, my roommate for the night, wasn’t sure how I was gonna get out of that one! After managing to get another few hours of sleep, Lance woke us around 9:30 to remind us that the souvenir shop would open at 10, and we had to be back at the hotel by 11 to get ready to go. So we rushed down to the shop, found a few gifts, and had to pay for them in the local town hall. We ran back to the hotel so Mogens could get his stuff loaded first. He took back all the cool gear (though he did let us keep the underwear and socks!) and loaded it all in the SUV and went off to the airport. The SUV came back for us, loaded us up, and took us there too. Mogens was to head out on a flight to south Greenland, whereas we would return to the base via helicopter. His flight came in first, and we said goodbye to our fellow expeditioner, and waited another hour for our ride. On the helicopter, we flew a bit lower and saw many cool sites. We even stopped in another small village north of the base for a quick 10-minute cargo pickup/drop-off. We arrived back to the base around 1:30, happy to be back, but sad that the trip had come to close so soon. That evening, we told the story to Lt Eggers (who wrote the article in the Air Force Link story: AF Story) over some beers and a wonderful steak dinner… ahhhhh
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Greenlandic Times
Issue 07
Half Way Done!
Monday, 26 July 2004
Well, the snow is almost completely gone; the ice in the bay has moved out. The remnants are seen as icebergs floating past the Thule docks. Some are small as cars, others are as large as a mansion. The blue water, cold as it may be, calmly reflects the sky and clouds above. Although not much has happened in the realm of excitement in the past week or so, seeing the true beauty of this land leaves me awe-struck. Just check out the flowers alone; how these things survive up here is beyond me. There’s a whole world of wildlife, too, from geese and seagulls, to the small annoyances called mosquitoes. Many hikes through the local lands have shown these wonders to me, and I get excited every weekend knowing I’ll probably see something new. Soon, we’ll be able to make it down the “Green Valley”, where the mighty muskox live!
One such weekend adventure was a hike to the northernmost Geocache location on 10 July. Geocaching is hiking to a set of GPS coordinates where you’ll find a “treasure”. In this case, the trek took Lee Abraham and myself through several hours of rugged landscape (rivers, ice, slate-rock “mountains”, and of course mosquitos) culminating in the arrival at the edge of a cliff overlooking the point where three fjords come together. The ice chunks that were pushing off the mountains had this thunderous calving affect when they’d break off and crash into the water, forming new, giant icebergs. The “treasure” was a small tupperware bowl with several trinkets inside, hidden beneath a pile of stones.
Aside from the local terrain, other exciting events have taken place in the past couple months. One most notably, the Queen of Denmark arrived, with her husband, the Prince Consort, and her son the Crown Prince and his new wife from Tasmania. The week before their arrival, the Public Affairs officer and the Chief asked me if I’d be interested in being the Official Photographer… you can guess the response! Get a chance to play with a $4000 camera AND be able to get up close with royalty? Heck Ya! The day of the event, the Denmark press arrived early to get in place, followed by the cordon guard comprised of the military folks on base, then the local crowds (a mix of Danes, Americans, Canadians and Inuits). The Queen’s plane soon came into view, and the crowd started getting excited. I didn’t know it at the time, but as I moved forward to get into position near where the plane would be landing, I looked back and saw that none of the other journalists were coming up, too. I figured they just had really nice cameras that could zoom in to get the great shots, but I later learned that they were not allowed out of the hanger. Only I had permission! Wow! Anyhow, the plane pulled up and the stairs came down. The red carpet was literally rolled out and the cordon guard marched up to the plane. The first person to come off the plane was a woman, but she didn’t look royal. She seemed too down to earth and dress relaxedly for that. But sure enough, this was the Queen. The base commander and the Danish commander were standing by to welcome her and her husband. As I was shooting away, they started down the carpet to where the others from the reception line waited, and I ran with them to keep getting shots in. As I entered into the crowd of photographers, I realized I’d also entered the realm of elbows and swift knees, and a wave of action way too fast for my still-life standards. Before I knew it, I was pushed out of the way and decided just to go back to the van where they would be departing from the hanger to get in some last shots. Again, none of the photographers followed, for the same reason. Only the Air Force photographer could be in that area. 🙂
Two other events took place that evening where we had exclusive rights to photos. A meet-and-greet at the local community center with the entire royal family, and a BBQ in the pavilion in their honor. Needless to say, it was a long evening that didn’t end until well after midnight. And it was a work night, too! One of my friends here was also honored with being the Official Cook of the BBQ event. He was in his glorious state as he showed the Queen which items were on the menu and is even having a bottle of his BBQ sauce sent to Denmark to get the official Danish seal! Cool, huh? Oh, and I spoke with the Prince Consort (they don’t call the Queen’s husband “King” because King is more powerful than Queen – in case you were wondering), and meeting him, he said, “Oh! You are not Danish!”. I said, “No your highness.” (We had to address the Queen as “your majesty” and the rest of the royal family as “your highness”.) He said, “Oh, that’s too bad.” I started to reply but he said, jokingly, a second later, “… for you!” Eh, who said there’s no humor in royalty – even coming from a Prince Consort who’s actually from France.
Something else of excitement happened last week. I received an email from the Air Force News Agency telling me one of my pictures from the Arctic Expedition was published in a dog sledding magazine called Mushing Mag! They wrote to ask my address so they could send me a copy of the magazine.
Well, the sun is still out 24-hours, but you can tell it won’t last long. So we’re gonna make the best of what’s left. Even though it’s been a cool summer (average temps in the 40s), there’s still things-a-happening. In mid-August, the base will host a Polar Bear swim. The first night festival shouldn’t be too far along after that, and that means that Storm Season is also just around the corner. I’m not looking forward to getting back into the parka and heavy clothes. My first real break comes up in October, and I’m planning a west coast trip for a couple weeks. By the time I get back, I’ll only have 3 more months before moving on to Iceland. I just talked to the folks out there today, and there are 2 people I knew from prior bases that’ll be out there, at least for the beginning of my year there. Should be fun! Seems like it’ll be expensive to have the Jeep out there, but I’m sure it’ll be well worth any extras paid to be able to see the countryside near and far.
I think that’s about it for this novel edition. 6 months has gone quick, and I’m sure the next 6 will be passing just as fast. So, please keep in touch and let me know what’s new out there in the real world. You’re my LINK!! 🙂
Hope this finds you well… take care and write soon…
Dan
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Greenlandic Times
Issue 08
Diminishing Light
Saturday, 21 Aug 2004
Well, I thought we were pretty far north, but that assumption changed this past Tuesday when I took a trip to a small Canadian station located about 430 miles north of us, and only 400 miles from the North Pole. Directly under the North Star, Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert is a small antennae base found at the very top of Canada in the providence of Nunavut. I was told in the early morning that the flight was full, and there probably wouldn’t be other flights this day. So I went back to work and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive, but before that happened I got a call saying that someone dropped out and I was in! The flight would leave at 11AM. So I had a couple hours to get re-ready. Extremely tired, most of the hour and a half flight up I was sleeping (along with everyone else, but about 20 minutes out, the flight captain invited me up to the cockpit to get a nice aerial view of the northern frontier. Of course, I had camera in hand, and couldn’t get enough of the shots. We flew past a wreckage site where a cargo plan crashed several years earlier. Once on the ground, there really wasn’t too much to see. I thought it was pretty desolate at Thule, but man was this deserted! The most interesting thing was the fact that the base even operated up here… A little background on the flight up, twice a year in the “summer” Canadian Forces arrive at Thule as a staging point to deliver tons of cargo and supplies to the remote station, as there’s no way to do this during the winter. They bring up all the food, fuel and supplies need to keep Alert running for the whole year.
Check out more on Station Alert at these sites:
img.forces or troywoodintarsia
On Thursday (or I guess Friday morning) at 10 minutes to 1AM, we had our first sunset, which lasted only about 8 minutes. But from here on out, through the end of October, we’ll see around 20 minutes less day light every night until the sun completely disappears. Now maybe I can finally get some SLEEP!!
We haven’t had too much inclination for outdoor activity; the weather has been horrid, raining all the time, or winds so fast it makes ya walk at an incline. Hell, the weather at Station Alert was better than here. There’s mud all over the streets and the skies are gloomy and overcast.
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Greenlandic Times
Issue 09
Across Five Time Zones
Tuesday, 2 November 2004
It’s one in the afternoon; our final sunrise/sunset was Saturday, and winter has reclaimed his arctic domain; snow surrounds the land now, and the archies’ fur is as white as the land.
I’ve just returned from my off-island vacation, a fantastic visit to the west coast where I visited with friends and relatives, soaked up some sun, and took in the fresh aroma of green foliage, which lacks in the frozen tundra.
After 4 weeks of almost continuous work building up to the Year End closure of the finance books, I left for the States on Friday, 24th of September to finalize the year in Colorado Springs.
On the way there, I stopped off to visit with cousins Matt and Laurie, Tom, Nick and Daniel down in Virginia. Over that weekend, we checked out one of Nick’s soccer games, saw the Jet Li movie “Hero” and I went down to DC to see the new World War II memorial.
Then, on Monday, I flew over to Phoenix, where I had a long lay over, so I called up ole “Chief”, who I knew back in England. He took me out to check out his place, followed by a trip downtown for some brewskis before heading back to terminal to fly up to Colorado.
Work began fairly immediately, and for the next 3 days, we spent many hours in the office reconciling all the money and buying all the final things we needed before the hours of Fiscal Year 2004 came to a close. The last night (30th) kept us in the office til just after 2AM. Now don’t get me wrong, I still had some fun. My friend Tracy came down from Denver for a visit, and I went to check out the Garden of the Gods. Also went to see “The Forgotten” – great scary movie!
Just a few hours after closing the books, I had a plane to catch, so I went back to the room to catch a few hours of shuteye. I set the alarm for 5:30, but it didn’t go off! For whatever reason, I still woke up at 6:30, realized I was LATE, and called the front desk to rush my check out. After a quick shower and threw everything in the car and took off for the airport. Thankfully, it wasn’t as crowded as the major airports, so getting through security and ticketing was a breeze and I got to the gate within a few minutes of boarding. Ahhh…
Next stop was Boise Idaho, where my friend from Langley Virginia, Carlos, was retiring from the Air Force. He had a fantastic ceremony followed by a great series of parties that lasted through the wee hours of the night. The whole family was there, and we all got caught up while having a few beers and singin’ karaoke. Carlos, here’s wishin’ you the best of luck on your new career in sales!
Early the next morning (Saturday, 2nd October) it was off to the airport again, off to the land of Canuuks. Destination: Vancouver Island, British Columbia, home to my Uncle Tom, Aunt Tammy and cousin Steve. The first day I was there, we went to see Steve in a soccer game, and the next day was spent at Tom’s place near the beach, and we took a tour of Sooke. But the next three days were on the road; I accompanied my uncle to the upper end of the island, where he had some business (and let me tell ya, if I can get the kinda “business” where I work for a half hour then spend the rest of the day goofin’ off, I’d snatch it up in a heartbeat!). The next couple days into the weekend I spent at Steve’s new place, where he shared a house with 4 other roommates. The first night we spent almost the whole night at the local pub (Maud’s) and Steve had to be up for work at 4AM the next day! He got off early though, and he showed me around Victoria. That night his roomies had a great all-nighter party at the house. After sleepin’ in the next morning, we went out to check out some stereos, and also found ourselves ogling over the new Crossfire. The last few days were relaxing as we just spent time around the house at Tom’s. But we did get to one of Steve’s “must-dos”: he finally got the tattoo he’d been talkin’ about for the past couple years, and I went into a barber for my first straight-razor shaves. Tom and I went runnin’ a couple times (5k!) Tom, Steve and I also went sea-fishin’ where we caught 5 nice-sized fish and fed some seals afterwards, and celebrated the Canadian Thanksgiving Day. Mmm Mmm–Turkey!
After a relaxing week and a half, and repeated suggestions from Tom that the West Coast is the place to live, the time had come to head back to the States. And who should be waiting at the Reno airport, but my Great Uncle Don. It was great talking to him and my Great Aunt Susan, both of whom will celebrate their 76th birthdays next month, and just celebrated their golden anniversary last year. I got a good ear-full of stories, both old and new, from Uncle Don, and learn many things about the family I never knew before. Also got to visit with my cousin Adam, who lives just a few miles outside Reno (we went out to see “Team America” and hung out downtown for a while). Don took me around Reno, where he knew just about everyone in town. We also drove up to Lake Tahoe, but the gorgeous view I’ve heard of was skewed by smoke from a recent forest fire. Don imparted some quick piano lessons–coming from one of the kings of the ivory keys, I was taken back by how easy he made it seem.
Going back east (now Monday, 18th October), I had to stop in New Jersey to get my Jeep in for some last minute repairs before it gets shipped to Iceland. Not that I didn’t expect it, but the dealer said I didn’t have an appointment. They managed to squeeze me in though.
Drove back down to Baltimore, and went to visit again with Matt. The plan was to catch the flight back to Greenland on Wednesday night, but that plan quickly changed when I called the airport and there was no listing for my flight. I called HQ and was told the flight was delayed for 48 hours. Whoo hoo! Extended vacation! That extra 2 days turned into 5 when all was said and done, and all the delays pushed my flight back to Monday morning on the 25th. During that time we went rock climbing, I went to a national park, we went out for some beers, and went Halloween costume shopping.
Now I’m back “home”, and tonight we’re in StormCon Bravo (winter storms with high blowing winds and low visibility). We had a Halloween party over the weekend, where, to include drinking much beer, dancin’ and partyin’, I came away with First Place in the costume contest! On the downside, the base has done away with our internet service in the dorm rooms, so no more web-surfing or chatting online. But I still get email at work, so it’s not a complete loss. And, though the sun won’t be up by then, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s careening this way. Less than 3 months left to go before moving to Iceland. Yeee Haaa!
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Other random notes:
Trip – Sunday – Dundas
Prank Calls [Arnold Schwarzenegger]
Sunday’s trip went according to plan, for the most part. We headed out around 8, to the Thule docks, where we made our final journey across the frozen bay, at least for the remainder of the summer. The bay is starting to break up in areas, and the last area affected is between Dundas and the Dock.
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Journal of Daniel Rea Photography 