With the deep drilling finished, it was time to start transitioning fully into our process studies on McCall Glacier. What we are particularly interested in this year is the fate of surface snow melt. How much of this drips into the snow pack and refreezes? How much reaches the bottom the glacier and helps the glacier move faster? To answer these questions we are planning to track this meltwater throughout the year. We will do this by repeatedly coring the upper 10 meters or so of snow in the accumulation areas, and by studying the stream at the outlet of the glacier. This is logistically complicated because these two areas are at opposite ends of the glacier – the very top and the very bottom. Separated by seven kilometers, this means a lot of hiking back and forth to try to watch both ends at the same time. To help with this logistical complication, we had hoped that by arriving well before summer started that we could stage camping supplies at both ends and start baseline measurements before melt starts (and traveling was much easier), but the logistical support required for the deep drilling operations and the bad weather we experienced slowed efforts down considerably. In any case, with the close of deep drilling operations, we lost no time in getting to work.

Jason and Darek spent the day in the upper cirque, using the shallow coring tool provided to us by ICDS. Since our departure from that camp site, about 70 centimeters of snow had accumulated there, largely obscuring our former presence there. This of course means that a substantial amount of digging was required to find the equipment before it could be setup and operated. The weather was fortunately quite cooperative and work proceeded quickly once we got up there. Getting up there was no minor job, though, because the recent snows substantially reduced traction for the snow machine. Had we started deep drilling operations now, or had we not taken full advantage of the conditions of our put in, it is likely that we would not have been able to extract our core there because we would have been unable to get our gear into that location. Though weather and conditions are often worthy of a number of choice swear words, in the end I like the fact that our work is dependent on the weather. It feels good to be able to accommodate nature with minimal energy expenditure rather than insist on muscling through it just to prove something to idiots.


Darek and Jason wrestle with the shallow coring drill, now about 8 meters deep, hoping to not get it stuck in the hole.

In between helping out (in a minor way) with the shallow drilling work, I spent much of my time moving drilling gear to the skiway and helping the drillers get home. The weather was clearly improving throughout the day, but it wasn’t until about 4PM that I felt comfortable calling Dirk to try to make an attempt to begin the pullout. In terms of gear, fortunately it was all downhill from our drill site in the lower cirque to the skiway, so the transport was largely uneventful. Transporting the personnel was somewhat more animated and though there were no tearful goodbyes, both Bella and Terry were soon on there way back to Fairbanks.

By this point it was already late evening, and after wrapping up the shallow coring operations in the upper cirque, the rest of us enjoyed a good meal of homemade meatloaf and sauce and toasted our success with some sake that that Ryo had brought from Japan. It’s been six weeks since we arrived here and a long six weeks at that. Thanks to the dedication and experience of our drill team and the crew that supported their efforts, we had successfully reached the bottom of the glacier in three different locations. By any measure of success, this was has been a wildly successful expedition, and its really only just starting...

Today we spent largely breaking down the camp in the lower cirque and preparing for the next phase of the expedition. The day began severely clear, so we decided to take advantage of this to send out another load of drill gear. Dirk arrived a little after 11AM and shuttled a load of gear down to the tundra and quickly returned for another. The idea here is that given our elevation and limited runway length, his load is limited to only about 700 pounds. But from a several mile long lake on the tundra, he can take off with more than 1200 pounds, so by combining loads there we can move gear more quickly and cheaply. On the return trip we decided to move the 550 pound winch. Fortunately we had many hands available to help. Turner also wanted to help, but when he saw his momma inside the plane (helping pull the winch in), he thought she was leaving with the plane and ran and hid in between the boxes in our cache and began to cry. Fortunately momma didn’t leave and all was soon well again, and Turner was able to help load the last of ice, six tubes worth taken from the last hole.


The last of drill gear waits to be taken home. (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


Killing some time waiting for Dirk to arrive.


Turner is a big boy now...

With a load of gear and the last of the ice gone, we decided to take advantage of the weather to break down the lower cirque camp take some panoramas there. It was a pretty straightforward move, just a 5 minute snowmachine trip with no major changes in topography. The panoramas went pretty well, though the wind grew strong enough to blow snow around while I was taking them , and by the end large lenticular clouds were starting to obscure the sun. Once finished with the move and photos, Jason and I set up the last of our thermistor string stations to begin logging ice temperature data. It all went smoothly and by 6PM or so we were back in camp and ready for dinner. Unfortunately I hadn’t eaten all day despite having packed a lunch (which happens a lot) and had drank even less, and so I was exhausted from prolonged sun exposure (forgot sun screen too) and dehydration. But after a few gallons of blue-powder water and a hot meal, we enjoyed a nice evening of discussions about the glacier and the science that’s gone on here the past 50 years.


The lower cirque is one of the most spectacular locations on the glacier, and that’s saying a lot. (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