impending snow

Yep, that right there is snow on the mountains around camp. There's quite a bit of it and it just sort of appeared overnight, with no sign of going away. It's been cold enough the last couple of days that there is ice on the little puddles in the morning (although it's pretty much melted by midday). There is snow in the forecast for this week.

*shivers*.
We had a pretty extraordinary storm here two nights ago. The wind was pretty crazy, every so often there would be huge gusts that felt like someone was taking my tent and shaking it, and heavy rain that would wake me up. So I didn't sleep too well. Yesterday was pretty sunny and today is spectacular, with a perfectly clear blue sky. It's only a couple of degrees C out there, but when the sun's out it's not so bad.

Yesterday Mike and Catherine and I got to take a trip into Fiskaenesset, which was a really great break from the routine. :) We went to the store and got some licorice and related gummy things for the next time we play yahtzee, and I bought some chips that turned out to be really terrible, which was disappointing. Danish chips are weird - they're all kind of like Munchos and Pringles and that kind of chip - like they're made out of those fake mashed potatoes or something. If you want chips made out of potato slices (like Cdn chips), you need to look for 'franske-kartoffeln', French-style potatoes.


I really like the little dragon/sea monster finials on the top of this house. It's fun to see little decorative touches like this - most of the houses in Fisk are prefab so they all look pretty much the same.


A view of Fiskaenesset from the ridge above the town. This is probably one of my favourite pictures I've taken this summer.


A shipwreck! This is on the other side of the ridge, I guess it wasn't worth it for the ship owner to recover it, so it was just left. It's in reasonable shape, I suppose - Mike climbed on it a little and didn't fall through the boards or anything. Anyway, it made a great subject.


Mike and Catherine on the ridge where I took the last picture from.

The last few days have been pretty awesome. I got to do some real field work. :) We went up the hill to the place where the drilling was, and Mike and Jose and I made up a grid to map the area on, which Mike and I then photographed and mapped. It was tough work but a lot of fun. Also the weather has been*fantastic* for the last three days, so we finished just in time - today is cloudy and cold and tomorrow through Wednesday call for rain in the forecast. (It was nice enough that I got a bit of a sunburn on my arms and my nose has come over all freckly. oops. -_- My hands are nice and tanned though!) In this picture I have just finished painting some lines.


Yesterday I also learned how to drive a Zodiac boat, which was pretty cool. Mike and I weren't sure if the helicopter was going to be able to come up for us in time, so we took the boat across the lake and were just getting ready to start the hike down the hill when it showed up, so we took the boat back and got back in time for supper, instead of an hour late. yay!

The view was pretty spectacular from up there, too.

A handful of the remaining people in camp left on Saturday. Brian, Iqbal, Jose, and Gary have all left, so things are even quieter than before. I think pretty much everyone has a cabin to themselves.l-r: me, Mike, Jose, Brian, and Gary.

a caribou!

I saw a real live caribou yesterday, yay!


My camera is not so good with the wide shots, though, so that's why there is an arrow pointing him out. If I can get my hands on some of Britt or Gary's pics I'll post a better one.

I also got a nice shot of a raven:


And it was Jeppe and Tom's last day in camp yesterday. They are heading back to school soon, so off they went to spend most of a day in Kangerlussuaq (which apparently has a golf course! so they are going golfing...), and then leave for Copenhagen. Camp has been much quieter without them.
(Britt, Tom, me, and Jeppe. yes, I know, I look even shorter than usual. I'm actually standing in a hole. :P)