After 4th of July in Selawik, took a few days in Kotzebue to catch up on sample processing, data entry, and prepare for the next trip out to the Asik Watershed on Agashashok River. I'm starting to get used to the constant flip flop of locations, packing of bags, and tracking down of gear.
After landing in Kotzebue from Selawik, Gwen and I noticed that our flow meter was nowhere to be found. Not familiar with flow meters? I'll explain. An adjustable pole has a small impeller on the end, which when pointed upstream is spun by the moving current. As the impeller spins, each spin iscounted and displayed on a screens, allowing flow in a given river to be measured.
So, back to where it actually went. In Selawik, the meter was packed into the airplane's rearback compartment along with the tail prop. Freight isn't typically placed there which resulted in the meter remaining on the plane as it traversed all over Alaska. The meter was in Anchorage when finally it got tracked down and was sent back to Kotzebue. Upon reaching Kotzebue, the meter was sent to every office except Fish and Wildlife. Many calls and an interesting email chain later, the meter was back in our hands. What a mess.
With the flow meter on it's own adventurer, Gwen and I boarded a bush plane and trekked out to our study site, arriving later in the evening. After setting up camp, we took a hike up to a tundra ridge, and then followed the ridge line up to a small peak.
Bears are always on the mind when hiking but admittedly, my vigilance has wained a little. That changed on this hike. I was ahead of Gwen, about to crest a tundra ridge when I noticed a bear running for the woods about 400 ft away. As soon as it hit the tree line, it turned, sat, and sniffed the air to see who was coming. I stopped in my tracks, said, "Hey Bear!" calmly a few times before Gwen got to where I was. Gwen noticed another, much darker Grizzly to the right tucked further back into the trees. We watched the bears. The bears watched us. A curiosity standoff. Gwen and I slowly backed away to give the bears space and continued to talk loudly but calmly. The bears seemed to be waving to us as we backed off, standing up on their haunches and gently pawing at the air. After a minute or two, they nonchalantly sauntered deep into the trees.
Following our bear hike, had a warm dinner and hit it early. Most of our time this trip would be dedicated to taking tree cores, reestablishing study plots, and taking tree measurements. In theory, these tasks are simple and shouldn't take much time.
Reestablishing plots involves; 1) finding the tree with a location tag called the reference tree, 2) surveying the area around the plot to determine if any old stakes can be located, and 3) measuring a 20 m by 20 m square around the reference tree. If all the trees were clearly marked, thick vegetation wasn't present, and triangulating produced perfect squares everytime, this task would have taken a few hours. But, a whole day later, only three plots got completed. With nerves more than a little fried, Gwen and I were frustrated and spent. A perfect time for a side trip hike that turned into a 2 hour diversion. Each time a crest was reached, it was, "Well, it looks to be only a few more minutes to the next one. Want to see what's over it?" This philosophy brought us to a weather station I'm sure people have forgotten about and a great view of the Agashashok River. Plus, tensions are eased by a steep hike and beautiful views.
The final full work day in the Noatak was dedicated to collecting water samples, taking tree cores, and tree diameter measurements on as many plots as possible. Around lunch, things began to get dark and a storm began rolling through.
Thunder bellowed but lightning never followed. The view from the ridge down into the valley was spectacular. A drastic change from the blue sky view of only a day ago. Good weather luck ran out and we paid for it. Rain came down lightly at first and then picked up to a steady and hard rain. Not a downpour, but still got soaked to the bone. Did not have a dry spot on my body. After the rain had subsided, any mosquitoes in hiding came out and were just brutal. Pigpen from Charlie Brown, his dust cloud that encircles his every movement, that was Gwen and I but with mosquitoes. That really put me over the edge. The first time I can say I have been miserable on this trip. Everything soaking, wet feet being torn up from hiking, mosquitoes so thick their hum is deafening, just too much. I got back to camp, went right to my tent, removed all my clothes and just brooded under the covers until I was warm again. An Oreo instant cake mix helped ease my pain too.
From this point on in the trip, weather never got any better. From the rain storm, the Aggy river had come up so much that the inflatable raft had to be blown up to reach sites on the opposite bank. Probably a 2 to 3 foot rise in under 12 hours. On my way back over to check the weather station, I did see a rainbow low on the tree line but still visible.
Rain broke enough to pack up camp, but our pick up arrived late and the rain came back through. We hurried to cover things with tarps and as the rain began to fall, I hurriedly set my tent up to give us some shelter. There we waited until Jared (Bearing Air) pilot was able to swoop down and pluck us out. Never have I been happier for a warm shower and big stack of pancakes. Yep, hot coffee and pancakes for dinner.
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