Today was really a "get packed and go" day. We spent the morning finalizing the packing, securing the sling load for the helicopter, and weighing and tagging all the "loose load" gear. The loose load includes anything that won't fit, or can't be transported, in the sling load. Everything must be weighed and tagged so the helo technician knows where to pack things in the helicopter; they like to keep those things balanced you know! We flew across the Canada Glacier and set up our tents and equipment at Lake Fryxell.
The ice here, at Lake Fryxell, is about 7 meters (over 21 feet) thick! This will be a dive tube! The dive hole isn't quite ready for diving - we need to get it a little wider before we send anyone down the hole! Tomorrow we melt and chip ice! We hope to be diving again by Friday. I've never been diving in Lake Fryxell - I am looking forward to it!
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How many different glaciers can you see in this picture? Can you name what type / category glacier they are?
(This is still at Lake Hoare)
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I always find it amazing how large rocks can cling to the edge of glaciers, seemingly defying gravity. Check out the large rock sitting on the edge here! This seems to give new meaning to being "stuck" - that's a BIG, HEAVY rock!
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This is just a reminder of what some of our gear looked like yesterday afternoon.
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By the end of the day, we had it "stacked and packed"! I learned how to prepare the strapping for helicopter sling loads. We'll have to do this a few more times in the next few weeks and we don't want any of our gear falling out of the sling! We also had 700 more pounds of equipment that didn't fit in the white boxes, as well as the dive tanks, umbilical cord, dive compressor, weights, etc. from out at the dive hole. These extra items will be transported inside the helicopter as "loose load." We moved everything over to Lake Fryxell where we will be for the next two weeks.
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Everyone takes cover and holds down the loose or lightweight gear when the B-212 Helos come in; they create quite an impressive wind "storm"!
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This is my new home for a couple weeks!
Not a bad place to spend some time!
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The glacier in the background is the Canada glacier. We have moved over the glacier - Lake Hoare is on the other side of the glacier.
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Peter's tent did some colorful cartwheels across camp when it got caught in the wind! Ian and Peter were able to catch it and tie it down securely! (Peter DID have some weight in the tent to hold it in place until he could tie it down, but a gust of wind came and blew it away!)
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This is Lake Fryxell camp and Lake Fryxell is behind the camp. The "building" with the curved roof is called a Jamesway. The Jamesway contains the kitchen and the common gathering area. The other huts are science labs; we have converted one of them into a dive locker.
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