The day, perhaps more aptly called a travel marathon, began at 4am, July 20th. The streets were clear and the world felt like a cement slab; asphalt and concrete covering everything in sight. The feeling of smoothed, perfect unending paving had begun to wear on me this year and I seemed to notice its presence more in the past few months...a sign that it is time for me to get out for the city for a while. The day was a blur of transitions, car to building to lines to gate to plane, repeat. Until I reached Thule my interaction with ambient, natural air was isolated to the blast of heat and humidity I felt walking down the jet ways. This contact with the uncontrolled, natural world dissipated as quickly as it hit me with each transition into air conditioned, fluorescently lit concourses or passenger cabins packed with people.
My itinerary took me to Baltimore via Detroit, MI. By 8pm I had worked out still more clearance issues regarding my entry into Thule and received a hand printed boarding ticket. The flight boarded at ~ 1:30am July 21st. All flights to Thule are on a DC-8 cargo plane built in the early 1970s. “A dump truck with wings” one man told me. Perhaps this is why, upon getting a boarding pass, you write your name, next of kin and their phone number. Two men in their 50s chatted with me about Thule, they were co-workers, but more accurately: “practically family.” They informed me that one of the pilots was a friend of theirs and had been a submarine controller…he now flew cargo planes, apparently “its practically the same.”
The man who checked me in, George, was also collecting boarding passes. A veteran with AMC and the regular Thule boarding official, he was aged, deliberate, calm and consistent. As I handed him my boarding pass he paused and told me “Is this your first time to Thule? When you get to Thule, you are going to have a problem there, there is going to be an issue when you land.” Great, more clearance issues, I thought…he continued “ So when you land, be careful because there are a lot of polar bears up there and they like pretty little things like yourself” I laughed, as did the man behind me. Thanks George, I’ll watch out! ;) “Thule is a real adventure” another man told me. Just what I was hoping to hear…
This was not a day of ‘riding off into the sunset’ …this was a day spent careening towards the sunrise at hundreds of miles per hour until there simply is no sunset at all. The sun appeared at around 3am. Here, all day and all night, the sun circles overhead. There will be no darkness for weeks.
Approaching Thule I could see ice bergs in the water, the edges of their submerged keels glowed a vivid aqua beneath steel blue water. From the air this place is all ice and rock and snow. From the ground you begin to see signs of life. Bold purple and yellow wildflowers dot the glaciated landscape, willow trees the size of ground cover spring from crevices in the rock and lichen clings to the surface of glacial till.
The base at Thule is as stark and simple as its surroundings. Most buildings are low lying, weather worn, prefab constructions sided with the type of material you would expect to see on a refrigerator. Building 353, the Arctic Research Center, will be my home for the next 1.5mo. It is like a trailer on steroids; basic and homey with one long hallway. Dorm like bedrooms sit between rooms turned into make-shift labs. Outdoor loving researchers fill the rooms, labs and common space.
I have been on the go for 33 hours, with about 4 hours of intermittent sleep. The cool, fresh air and bright midday sun (its 5pm) is invigorating.
I will look into posting some compressed photos, but uploading images can be megabyte intensive and is discouraged.
Sounds like a good start. Have fun out there.
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