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Brooks Range Adventures
Nov. 15th, 1995 06:38 pmThe below is the text of an email I sent to "everyone" in my address book in 1995. One of them shared it with me, so I am posting it here, with the date edited to show when it was originally sent.
******************************************************'
I finally got around to writing up some of this summers adventures and
thought Id mail it out to everyone.
I spent the summer in the Brooks Range doing geology. It was one of the
neatest summers I have ever spent. Two whole months away from the rush
of in-town living. Just me and my field assistant. Able to set my own
schedule-with some help from mother nature.
I was camped in the valley of the west fork of the Atigun River, about
nine miles from the haul road. We had our gear (and our selves) flown in
from the road by a Super-cub. Good thing too--I wouldn't have been
willing to carry one of the ammo cans full of food any further than from
the landing strip up to the campsite. When the weather was reasonable my
assistant and I would head out with our maps and try to fill in more
information on them. I was specifically looking at the folding and
faulting of the rocks in the area. As we were well north of the Arctic
Circle we were also above the tree line. (Our camp was at 3500 feet, and
the highest of the near-by peaks was about 7000 feet.) The lack of
vegetation and the steep slopes meant that I was able to see the geology,
folds and faults fairly well. Unfortunately, the weather was not always
reasonable. Clouds down to 4000 feet were common, and down to 3500 feet
were not unusual. Rain usually accompanied such weather. Needless to
say, I spent a fair number of days sitting in my tent working on my
needle-work. (This was the first time I ever did embroidery on the hem
of a tunic, I usually content my self with doing the neck and cuffs.) On
the rain days my assistant sat in his tent and I sat in mine until dinner
time-giving me the illusion that was all alone out there. Kind of nice,
actually.
My adventures consisted of things like climbing over cliffs past
waterfalls to get into hanging valleys, only to realize that it would not
be safe to return the way I had entered. I had to go over the occasional
ridge to get home. On one occasion I decided that the fastest way back
down the hill would be to sit down on the remaining snow in the gully and
slide. I was wearing my rain pants due to the rain a short time before,
and reasoned that I wouldn't get very wet if I kept them on for the
slide. I forgot to consider the numerous rocks which had fallen onto the
snow. As it was mid-summer there hadn't been any fresh snow in weeks,
and the surface of my slide was strewn with fist-sized rocks. With sharp
edges. I had to patch my rain pants with duct-tape in at least seven
different places!
I also had difficulties with the occasional stream crossing. My
long-legged assistant was able to leap the small river with ease, but I
always had to search to find a narrow enough place. He would often help
by hopping over first and then he would take my back-pack from me to
lighten my load. He would then find a stable place to stand and reach out
his hand, giving me something to grab for while I jumped. The extra pull
on his part was enough to get me over the stream. One time I tried to
jump without his help, even though I was a bit dubious about my ability
to make it. Sure enough, I did get one foot wet. Good thing it was on
the walk home--and it was a fairly warm day.
The highlight of the summer was the 5th of August. Not only did it bring
the first snow of the fall (the last snow of the spring was the 26th of
June), but my boyfriends came out to visit! I hadn't really expected
them to make the trip out, given that it is an eight hour drive from
Fairbanks, and then the long hike in. That and the fact that I only had
two weeks left before the pilot was scheduled to come back for me.
Anyway, both Don (Khevronia de Montfort in the SCA) and Ron (Rutger in
the SCA) made the trip. They brought me all kinds of treats. Real
bread, cheese, steak, fresh fruit, a pound cake, fresh reading material,
and more. My assistant thought they were wonderful-they brought food!
Although we had just enough food, Misha could have eaten three times what
we brought-he is a skinny little boy with a high metabolism.
The boys were only able to stay the one night due to their work schedule,
but it was so nice to see them. It really helped my morale for those
last two weeks. The extra food they brought removed our worries about
the plane being late. I have heard of cases where geologists were
trapped an extra two weeks due to bad weather. I was one of the lucky
ones. The weather made work impossible for the last week, but it cleared
up the last night. The morning that the plane was scheduled to pick me
up (17 August) was absolutely clear-not a cloud in the sky. And not only
did the pilot remember to come pick us up, the grad-student who was
supposed to meet the plane on the road for the drive back to Fairbanks
got there minutes before the plane dropped me off. (There had been some
worry that he wouldn't get back from Russia in time, but he did.)
After I got back to Fairbanks I was very busy with moving into the
Student Apartment Complex on campus. Once I was settled in there I found
1000 other things filling up my time, and am only now beginning to get
caught up with things like letter writing. Perhaps if I got rid of the
boyfriends I would have more time. But they are so sweet. They spoil me
rotten, and even do dishes!
----------------------- Headers --------------------------------
From ftrmc@aurora.alaska.edu Wed Nov 15 18:08:12 1995
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Date: Wed, 15 Nov 1995 14:09:27 -0900 (AKST)
From: "Reia Chmielowski (Kareina)" <ftrmc@aurora.alaska.edu>
To: Don Goertz <khevron@aol.com>, "Ronald E. Wilkes"
<ftrew@aurora.alaska.edu>
Subject: Greetings (fwd)
Message-Id: <pine.osf.3.91.951115140736.7844a-100000@aurora.alaska.edu>
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******************************************************'
I finally got around to writing up some of this summers adventures and
thought Id mail it out to everyone.
I spent the summer in the Brooks Range doing geology. It was one of the
neatest summers I have ever spent. Two whole months away from the rush
of in-town living. Just me and my field assistant. Able to set my own
schedule-with some help from mother nature.
I was camped in the valley of the west fork of the Atigun River, about
nine miles from the haul road. We had our gear (and our selves) flown in
from the road by a Super-cub. Good thing too--I wouldn't have been
willing to carry one of the ammo cans full of food any further than from
the landing strip up to the campsite. When the weather was reasonable my
assistant and I would head out with our maps and try to fill in more
information on them. I was specifically looking at the folding and
faulting of the rocks in the area. As we were well north of the Arctic
Circle we were also above the tree line. (Our camp was at 3500 feet, and
the highest of the near-by peaks was about 7000 feet.) The lack of
vegetation and the steep slopes meant that I was able to see the geology,
folds and faults fairly well. Unfortunately, the weather was not always
reasonable. Clouds down to 4000 feet were common, and down to 3500 feet
were not unusual. Rain usually accompanied such weather. Needless to
say, I spent a fair number of days sitting in my tent working on my
needle-work. (This was the first time I ever did embroidery on the hem
of a tunic, I usually content my self with doing the neck and cuffs.) On
the rain days my assistant sat in his tent and I sat in mine until dinner
time-giving me the illusion that was all alone out there. Kind of nice,
actually.
My adventures consisted of things like climbing over cliffs past
waterfalls to get into hanging valleys, only to realize that it would not
be safe to return the way I had entered. I had to go over the occasional
ridge to get home. On one occasion I decided that the fastest way back
down the hill would be to sit down on the remaining snow in the gully and
slide. I was wearing my rain pants due to the rain a short time before,
and reasoned that I wouldn't get very wet if I kept them on for the
slide. I forgot to consider the numerous rocks which had fallen onto the
snow. As it was mid-summer there hadn't been any fresh snow in weeks,
and the surface of my slide was strewn with fist-sized rocks. With sharp
edges. I had to patch my rain pants with duct-tape in at least seven
different places!
I also had difficulties with the occasional stream crossing. My
long-legged assistant was able to leap the small river with ease, but I
always had to search to find a narrow enough place. He would often help
by hopping over first and then he would take my back-pack from me to
lighten my load. He would then find a stable place to stand and reach out
his hand, giving me something to grab for while I jumped. The extra pull
on his part was enough to get me over the stream. One time I tried to
jump without his help, even though I was a bit dubious about my ability
to make it. Sure enough, I did get one foot wet. Good thing it was on
the walk home--and it was a fairly warm day.
The highlight of the summer was the 5th of August. Not only did it bring
the first snow of the fall (the last snow of the spring was the 26th of
June), but my boyfriends came out to visit! I hadn't really expected
them to make the trip out, given that it is an eight hour drive from
Fairbanks, and then the long hike in. That and the fact that I only had
two weeks left before the pilot was scheduled to come back for me.
Anyway, both Don (Khevronia de Montfort in the SCA) and Ron (Rutger in
the SCA) made the trip. They brought me all kinds of treats. Real
bread, cheese, steak, fresh fruit, a pound cake, fresh reading material,
and more. My assistant thought they were wonderful-they brought food!
Although we had just enough food, Misha could have eaten three times what
we brought-he is a skinny little boy with a high metabolism.
The boys were only able to stay the one night due to their work schedule,
but it was so nice to see them. It really helped my morale for those
last two weeks. The extra food they brought removed our worries about
the plane being late. I have heard of cases where geologists were
trapped an extra two weeks due to bad weather. I was one of the lucky
ones. The weather made work impossible for the last week, but it cleared
up the last night. The morning that the plane was scheduled to pick me
up (17 August) was absolutely clear-not a cloud in the sky. And not only
did the pilot remember to come pick us up, the grad-student who was
supposed to meet the plane on the road for the drive back to Fairbanks
got there minutes before the plane dropped me off. (There had been some
worry that he wouldn't get back from Russia in time, but he did.)
After I got back to Fairbanks I was very busy with moving into the
Student Apartment Complex on campus. Once I was settled in there I found
1000 other things filling up my time, and am only now beginning to get
caught up with things like letter writing. Perhaps if I got rid of the
boyfriends I would have more time. But they are so sweet. They spoil me
rotten, and even do dishes!
----------------------- Headers --------------------------------
From ftrmc@aurora.alaska.edu Wed Nov 15 18:08:12 1995
Return-Path: ftrmc@aurora.alaska.edu
Received: from aurora.alaska.edu (aurora.alaska.edu [137.229.18.1]) by
emin04.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id SAA16916 for
<khevron@aol.com>; Wed, 15 Nov 1995 18:08:10 -0500
Received: by aurora.alaska.edu; (5.65v3.2/1.1.8.2/14May95-1234AM)
id AA17541; Wed, 15 Nov 1995 14:09:27 -0900
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 1995 14:09:27 -0900 (AKST)
From: "Reia Chmielowski (Kareina)" <ftrmc@aurora.alaska.edu>
To: Don Goertz <khevron@aol.com>, "Ronald E. Wilkes"
<ftrew@aurora.alaska.edu>
Subject: Greetings (fwd)
Message-Id: <pine.osf.3.91.951115140736.7844a-100000@aurora.alaska.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII