It’s been a busy month. Actually a busy 4 or 5 months when you consider all the time spent with preparations and planning. Since we got to the glacier, I’ve barely had the chance to open any of my stuff sacks let alone change my clothes. So since it was such a clear, warm day, we decided to get clean. Jason headed off early in the morning to conduct our GPS surveys in the middle and lower cirques, while I headed up to old IGY survey spot just above our camp to take pictures. I have photos from Austin Post from this site from 1958, and I have repeated them in the past. I decided to pick a new spot for long term repeat photos, because as best as I can tell, Austin was sitting with his back against a rock bracing the camera with both hands while taking his pictures, and that site is just awkward to set up a tripod on for exact repeats. The survey site that he was photographing is only about 20 meters away and is on a nice flat bench and easy to work from (which is no doubt why it was selected as a survey site too).


Surveying with theodolite from the survey location just behind our moraine camp.


Surveying with D-GPS from the same site.


If current climate trends continue, 50 years from now the terminus of the glacier may be within view here and the ice hanging from the mountain slopes across the valley will be gone. (Click on the panorama and drag to look around, press Shift to zoom in, Command (Mac) or Control (PC) to zoom out.) Enlarge this panorama

With the photography out of the way, Kristin had arranged a tub and shower set up for us and already bathed Turner, who was reluctant to leave the water despite it now being cold water. So we took turns sitting in a plastic tote, using a little pump to spray warm water on us. I probably shed 10 pounds of dead skin, and it felt nice climbing into clean clothes and having real hair again rather than something approaching dreadlocks. It also gave me the chance to get a better look at the abuse my body was taking. My toenails, which I had thought were just dirty, were clearly bruised from walking up and down rocks wearing my telemark boots, my back was covered in a rash caused by abrasions from a pair of suspenders I was wearing, and my hands and face were clearly receiving more sunshine than they probably should have. But I was clean and it was a nice day, and easy to forget about the minor annoyances of field work.