Today is the day I head out to Taylor Dome on a twin otter skiplane. I have been having fun at work fixing radios and troubleshooting system issues all week. There are a lot of radios down here thats for sure. And there is a great variety. I have been reflecting on the three things that I believe make this place hospitible: Communications, Mobility, and Shelter. I find these three items to be a key classification system to understand and optimize sucesss in operating in such a harsh environment. I expect to sleep outside tonight. It will be between -25 and -40. It will be the coldest I have camped out I think. -25 below has been my coldest experience in happy camper school a few weeks ago. Before that it was with Jeff in Alfred NY. We did not have a thermometer but it was definately well below zero that night. That was few years ago but you have a tendency to remember them. Since then I have learned a lot about cold weather. Most of the lessons have come in the last month. A real good lesson is that "Don't get cold." That may sound over simple but the fact of the matter is that when you get cold it takes a lot of work to get warm again. You must pay attention to getting cool or too hot and constantly regulate your temperature buy adding or removing layers.
I will not be blogging for a couple of days. Weather plays a big part. I may be delayed by a week or even more. I don't expect to be out there past Monday. I will only be in contact by HF radio or sporadic irridum satellite phone. I will be in a deep field camp.
Here is a picture of a Basler.
