A trip to the ice cap

Saturday, April 10: High: 9F Low: -4F Length of Day: 17h 27m

Today the community center has organized a trip to the ice cap. I'm not quite sure what an ice cap is, but it's something that breaks off from the ice sheet and feeds the glaciers. About 30 people meet at the community center and load up into cars and trucks. We travel about 20 minutes with the last 5 minutes being pretty rough terrain. I'm in a truck with Damian and Peter who are part of the security forces of the base. They are driving their boss' truck. Damian is from northern Minnesota and Peter is from Florida. We're all glad Damian is driving and not Peter as Damian knows how to keep the truck from getting stuck. Peter, on the other hand, has gotten 3 trucks stuck during his short stay in Greenland. They are pretty fun guys and both have been in Greenland for only 3 months. The troops here serve for one year, and most people seem to enjoy themselves up here. I think the short term helps make this more like an adventure than a chore.

After parking, we all grab sleds and head down a river bed. I luckily was able to score cold weather gear on the base which consisted of a parka, snow pants, wool socks, and gloves. I also have a face mask and reflective bands which are only used in case of a storm. Although it's cold, there isn't one bit of wind. I'm so warm in my gear that I sweat a ton. I really didn't need the pants and in fact, they didn't fit well and made it kind hard to walk. Walking is already hard as there is a bunch of snow, and although some of it is frozen over and well packed, there are huge lengths where you just sink into several inches of snow. It's like walking in sand. We hike 2 miles up this river bed which is formed from the melting snow. The river bed is huge with 200 foot high silt mounds on one side and a 200 foot ice wall on the other. I keep imagining how much water is in this river bed when the snow melts. It's truly breath taking.

We stop just shy of a place where the ice wall is exposed and do some sledding. Then we hike past the exposed ice wall and some people climb up to the top of the ice wall to see the ice cap. I can't make it up the hill and settle for just hanging out at the bottom, checking out rocks. There is a point where you can get really close to the exposed ice wall, and Michelle and I go and check it out. The ice wall has several layers each a different color. The brown layers are obviously formed by impurities in the ice, but there are crystal blue layers and white layers. According to Tim, a glaciologist in our crew, the white ice has more air in it than the blue. That makes sense since snow is white.

After about an hour and a half, we head back. I take off my snow pants since I'm really hot and it makes walking so much easier. We have hot chocolate and cookies waiting at the trucks and then we head back to base. Several people mention that the TOW club's restaurant is having its monthly fancy dinner and there will be steak and crab legs. So after taking a shower, I head out to the TOW club for dinner. Most of our crew has had dinner and left by the time I get there, and so I was resigned to having dinner by myself when these two ladies offer to let me join them. Miss Dell is from the southern United States and has that southern air about her. Elinda is from the Philippines, but is now a Danish citizen. Both are civilians working on the base and both have been here for 25 years. Miss Dell works for Lockhead Martin and works in SAT/COM while Elinda works for the Greenland Contractors group and works in the embroidery room. You can take just about anything to Elinda and she'll embroider it with whatever you need. I make a promise to her to stop by to have her embroider something about Thule on it. And she also has things to purchase in her shop. Miss Dell tells me about the museum on the base. She's the third person to mention the museum. I make plans with her to come by on Tuesday night when she is volunteering - as long as we aren't in Fairbanks. They also tell me that the Greenlandic Post Office might have local crafts for sale. I hope so after the dissappointing craft sale last weekend.

We order wine - an Australia Shiraz and dinner is fillet mignon with a huge pile of crab legs. There's ice cream and coffee for dessert. We spend 2 and a half hours having dinner and talking. And then Miss Dell paid for it all. She absolutely refused to take my money. I make a note to pick up something in Fairbanks for her like a bottle of wine, good cheese, or smoked salmon. It was a great end to a glorious day.

One thing that wasn't so great today is my asthma has been bothering me. Even before the hike - in fact, ever since the Ukrainians arrived - my asthma has been bothering me. I think it's a combination of the cold air and the fact that the Ukrainians have been smoking in the bathrooms that is causing me an issue. The drag is that my inhaler leaked out during my travels to Greenland. It must have been in a non-pressurized cabin at some point. I think I can get it replaced at the local medical station and many people tell me that it'll most likely be free. I'll look into it on Monday and if worse comes to worse, I'm sure I can make it to Fairbanks and I can replace it then.