25 April 2007

Another good day for the expedition, making a long (but bumpy!) run down Aberdeen and Schultz Lakes. Tonight the SnowSTAR crew has pitched what is probably their last camp. Camp 41 is situated along the southeastern shore of Schultz Lake about 45 miles from the community of Baker Lake. They are following snowmobile tracks which should provide them with a relatively easy trail into town tomorrow. Tonights dispatch talks about the rough ride they have had the last 3 days on these large windblown lakes. We also have soundclips from Matthew and Henry. Enjoy.

Click Here for Soundclip from Matthew

CHUGIAK STUDENTS Click Here for Weather Report in Espanol

Bumping Along The Tundra

April 25, 2007: Schultz Lake, Nunavut

Camp 41 Location: 64º 40'N,   97º 21'W
Camped in a Protected Snow Gully

Weather: Sunny, Light Winds, -15C

92 km covered today (57 miles)

Bumping Along the Tundra

Today we covered another 92 km towards Baker Lake, but was it bumpy!  Sometime in the past few weeks
the wind really howled here, and it made the snow very rough.  Several types
of features can form: dunes, barchans (crescent-shaped dunes) and sastrugi.
The last word is a Russian word and it refers to snow that is eroded into
furrows and fins (see picture).  As you may imagine, we have to drive slowly
when the snow is like this.
Sastrugi

It also shakes things up in our sleds.  Everything.  Today the glass cover
to our latern broke, even though it was packed in foam.  One gas jug had a
hole worn through its bottom, and our food got jumbled and broken.  Even the
M & M candies break (into halves and quarters).
Broken M&Ms

The last picture is of snowballs in the back of one of the sleds.  Can you
figure out how bumping along the tundra forms these balls?