Chillin' On the Coast

And so my Greenland adventure begins, though it almost was delayed a day. My parents dropped me off at the Stratton Air Force Base at the unsightly hour of 5:15 yesterday. We weren't scheduled to fly out until 8:00 so that early of a "check-in" time seemed a bit unnecessary but that's the military; they operate on a much earlier schedule than I :). Things seemed to be going smoothly when one of the commanders came in and told us to be ready to board the shuttle for plane in 5-10 minutes at about 8:10. But five to ten minutes came and went and not another word. Minutes turned to hours without a word and it quickly became evident that something was wrong. We speculated mechanical problems and turned out to be right. Finally, around 11:00, we were allowed to board.

Our chariot for the day was a massive C-130.



I was forewarned that the plane is incredibly noisy so I invested in a pair of those shooting range earmuffs. I felt a bit ridiculous making the purchase at the time but was very grateful for them once on the plane. Seating was tight (as you can see below) but surprisingly fairly comfortable. Who knew mesh backing could be cozy?


We were all settled in with our seatbelts fastened, ears plugged, and entertainment (books, cameras, laptops, etc.) out when we got the news: we had to get off the plane due to another issue. This one, we were told, would only take 5-10 minutes so we wouldn't be heading back to the base, just to the ac'ed shuttle. My new rule of thumb: when told 5-10 minutes, assume 50-100. This repair was apparently much more extensive than expected and we were held up until a bit after 1:00pm. This was a major bummer as now we wouldn't be getting to our first destination, the coastal town of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, until much later than I originally though. To satisfied hungry tummies (mine very much included, not surprisingly), we ordered some pizzas while we waited. This was one good thing about the delay; instead of chowing on my smushed pb&j on the plane, I got to munch on some delicious 'za.

We finally took off just after 1:00pm. With everyone plugged up, people kept to themselves, quietly reading or sleeping. Myself, I started book 1 of the Twlight series. I've been curious about the hype surrounding the books so I figured why not read them at Summit? Thus far, I'm not quiet sure what makes everyone so crazy about Bella and Edward but I'm willing to keep pressing forward. At the very least, they're a cute and easy read and definitely help pass the time.

We stopped briefly in Goose Bay, Canada (about halfway to Kangerlussuaq) for fuel, free (!) ice cream, hot cocoa, and what would be my last time on North American soil until the end of June. Within thirty minutes we were back in the air and Greenland bound. This second part of the flight went by much slower than the first, probably because I was so excited to get to Greenland. The last 45 minutes of the flight offered impressive views of the Greenlandic landscape from aloft, including its gorgeous glaciers (which unfortunately is shaded by the mountains in the picture below) and mountains.


I finally arrived in the coastal town of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland along with the ~20 other scientists and a handful of military personnel I'd been with for the past 14 hours around 11pm local time to a still very bright landscape. The sun, as expected, had not even come close to setting yet, which, even though I knew this would happen, was still weird. Kangerlussuag (or, colloquially, "Kanger"), which roughly translates to "big fjord", is essentially a hub for scientists doing research in Greenland. From here, only a few of us headed up to Summit (~8), but all of us are doing awesome work. There are a couple groups headed south, one which is looking to examine the hydrology of the glacial rivers to relate sediment in the waters to ice sheet melt/retreat. The other southbound crew, of which my roommate here at the science facility in Kanger is taken a bit of a different scientific route but equally as cool; they will be spending three months doing archeological work investigating the appearance and disappearance of Norse Greenland. So. Awesome! If I wasn't doing Earth Science, I'm pretty sure I'd go into archeology/anthropology.

Kanger is a bit desolate, but absolutely gorgeous.


I wish we had a bit more time to explore the surroundings but alas, we are on to Summit this afternoon. I'm very excited to see Summit and to really truly experience the Arctic. The cold makes me nervous though; here on the coast today it's probably in 40s (tropical compared to Summit) and I'm definitely chilly. I'm hoping it's just the dampness that comes with being close to the coast and that the dry cold that Summit offers won't be so bad. Either way, the long underwear is definitely going on before we depart!

That's all for now. I'm going to try to catch some shut eye before we are northbound. Between the early rise yesterday and the constant sunlight last night, I'm hurtin' for some sleep. Its a bit crazy to think the next time I write will be from the middle of an ice sheet. I hope you're as excited as I am!