Posted on 03/18/2007 8:38:58 AM PDT by milwguy
Coordinates: 66.18.922 N, 65.32.032 W Distance Travelled: 19.26 mi / 30.99km Weather: Temp -20°F/-29°C , Wind 3 MPH / 4.82 KPH Cloud cover: Mostly sunny with high cirrus clouds moving in by late afternoon.
A small crowd of community members came down to the ice to see us off this afternoon. We lashed our sleds and hooked up our dogs with a few butterflies in our stomachs. Our dogs were well rested and excited to pull after a week's rest. Between us and the flat, open ice of the Pangnirtung Fiord was 100 meters of jumbled barrier ice, the broken ice that lines the shore, pushed up by tides and wind. We knew our dogs would pull with a great deal of strength and that the sleds would be careening in a somewhat out-of-control way, bouncing like a pinball off the mounds of ice.
I was mushing with Stetson in the first sled. We were both hanging on with all our strength and dragging our feet to try to slow the sled down. Finally we emerged from the barrier ice onto the flat ice of the sound. I let out a sigh of relief and said to Stetson, "Well, that wasn't so bad!"
Now the challenge would be to put our skis on while the sled was moving because there would be no hope of stopping the dogs for long enough to put them on. I climbed over the handle bars, up onto the top of the load. Carefully balancing, I put each ski on. I then lowered my skis slowly to the snow, found my balance and then let the sled slide past me until I could grab the handlebar. I slipped a loop of nylon webbing around my waist and secured it to the handlebar of the sled with a knot I hoped I would be able to quick-release if needed.
It felt so good to be back on trail. The weather was relatively warm for this time of year, there was little wind and the sun was shining. The mountains plunge dramatically to the ice on all sides. The U-shape of the head of the fiord ahead of us gave us a clue to the glaciations that sculpted this land, grinding away the granite to leave sheer walls of bare rock. I felt like I was inside an I-Max movie.
I couldn't help but think, however, that the weather we were having in the middle of March would have been typical May weather fifty years ago. We were able to take our mitts off to take photos without freezing our hands. We were all wearing sunglasses and not goggles to protect our faces. None of us were wearing our heavy parkas. It was hard to believe that we were about to cross over the Arctic Circle.
I was thinking how although I am dogsledding through the Arctic, I am not experiencing the harsh Arctic of years past.
Check Flight Delays Mon Mar 19 Light Snow / Wind 6°/-7° 90% 6°F
Tue Mar 20 Snow Shower / Wind -4°/-19° 50% -4°F
Wed Mar 21 Cloudy / Wind -9°/-13° 20% -9°F
Check Flight Delays Thu Mar 22 Partly Cloudy -2°/-17° 20% -2°F
Fri Mar 23 Partly Cloudy -3°/-15° 10% -3°F
Sat Mar 24 Partly Cloudy 2°/-10° 10% 2°F
Sun Mar 25 Snow Shower 5°/-11° 30% 5°F
Mon Mar 26 Scattered Snow Showers 3°/-5° 50% 3°F
Tue Mar 27 Scattered Snow Showers 6°/-4° 40% 6°F
Airport Conditions
I meant to say the average HIGH temperature for March is -1 degree and the average HIGH temperature for May is 30 degrees.
Hahaha.
They won't be so warm and toasty in their next report.
Blizzard warning.
And blizzard warning on Baffin Island does not mean the same thing as blizzard warning anywhere else. Hahaha
http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/city/pages/nu-7_metric_e.html
Funny, I don't see any canadians walking around with goggles on when it's cold out either. doesn't matter if it's -40c or -10. Sunglasses are mandatory on any sunny day when you are on a snow covered landscape.
Wearing a heavy parka when you are moving and burning energy (thus keeping warm) would be a stupid idea. That's because you would sweat, making your parka damp. when you stopped moving you'd freeze to death.
Lucky for this "writer", their guide is looking out for them and keeping them from bringing their "expedition" to an early end, thus putting himself back on unemployment.
This idiot obviously knows nothing about what normal weather is, nor how cold -29c really is. Just wait untill he writes about the bad sunburn he gets, which he will no doubt blame on "global warming" and holes in the ozone, not on the reflective nature of snow, which intensifies the suns rays.
I'll also howl with laughter when he gets cold, takes off his sunglasses and puts on his goggles, and subsequently goes snow blind, (which is every bit as painful as welding flash burning your retina's) because he was too stupid to understand why you must wear sunglasses on sunday days when on a snow field.
All these things were learned 200 years ago by the first european explorers, and much longer ago by the aborigionals in these regions.
Too bad these novices didn't read a few books before they set out. Now they are going to think they are discovering something new, and of course blame all these things on global warming.
Also there is this:
Elizabeth Andre, a team member of the expedition Global Warming 101, got frostbite on her fingers while setting up tents. She is now recovering well and plans to rejoin the expedition in a couple of days when it's in Pangnirtung. While disappointed to miss part of the trip, Elizabeth knew that leaving the field was the right decision, and she needed to protect her fingers from any further damage.From here.
Of course they are actually blaming it on the warmth:
One Inuit elder told Elizabeth that she believes that the unusually warm weather in Iqaluit the week before the team's departure could have contributed to her frostbite. The elder said that the warm temperatures didn't allow the team members to acclimate. During the team's preparations in Iqaluit, temperatures were 40 degrees Farenheit warmer than they were in Minnesota.
What they are not saying is that Andre spent time in northern MN getting ready for this.
Elizabeth the LYING author.
Doesn't look like she's anywhere near the tundra in that pic.
looks more like my back yard.
Former Shreveporter Elizabeth Andre controls a sled dog on a walk in Minnesota. The extremely powerful animals, which love to move at a brisk walk-run, have to be held with their front legs in the air or they'll drag their human handlers. Andre is part of a scientific team planning a four-month trek around Baffin Island in the Arctic Circle in northern Canada. (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Andre) PHOTO NOT FOR SALE
She spent time in northern MN getting ready for this "trek".
Either whoever wrote that is lying, or this "elder" is full of it.
You can't "Acclimate' to sub zero temps. I've spent my whole life working up north. Eposed skin freezes in sub zero temps, it's as simple as that.
Some old friendsI know living up north aren't complaining about "warm temperatures", they are complaining about how freekin' cold it's been this year, and when am I going to invite them down for dinner. I have to remind them that's it's been just as cold here because of the north winds, so they wouldn't be any better off.
Yes, 1 degree F not C..if it was celcius that would be about 34 F
If this bimbo would research her facts before she makes bold claims (lies) such as this, she'd realize that- A 221-Year Temperature History shows:
"the warmest period was not the last quarter century, when climate alarmists claim the earth experienced a warming that was unprecedented over the past two millennia. Rather, as Vinther et al. report, "the warmest year in the extended Greenland temperature record [was] 1941, while the 1930s and 1940s [were] the warmest decades." In fact, their newly-lengthened record reveals there has been no net warming of the region over the last 75 years."
The reality is, they don't look out the window and look at a thermometer when they wake up in the morning. In fact, they probably never owned one. All they look at is the wind and the sky to see if it's clear or overcast. Calm, overcastdays they know bring warmer weather, while clear windy days are colder.
To think they knew that the temp was 4 degrees warmer 75 years ago is a laughable. If fact, the "elder" they quote stating it was colder long ago instead of warmer proves that their memory is a very poor themometer.
I've been in near -40 wind chill, briefly, but never in a "static" air temp like that.
You know it's lies.
I know it's lies.
But, there are millions of dupes on this planet that will believe the "elder" because she's supposed to be so wizened. It's sad really what's happening to the human race. For the most part, as a species, we seem to be getting dumber for all the information we possess.
It's the old "there's two sides to every story" syndrome. Even stories about science have requisite "opposing side" in the story.
Thanks for finding the authors picture. I was wondering how old she was since in the article she wrote:
"I couldn't help but think, however, that the weather we were having in the middle of March would have been typical May weather fifty years ago. "
They make me sick.
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