Once Gwen was on the plane, I still had lots of work to finish in Selawik. I did manage to squeeze in a few walks down to tent village south and sit on the gravel beach to watch the sun go down. Tough to beat.
For the final Aggie trip, I was headed out alone. But, as Jesse pulled the plane down to the gravel bar, a few large wall tents were already erected. A large hunting group had made their base camp on the Aggie. After chatting with the guys for a few minutes, I liked them immediately. You had the cocky macho hunters, the eccentric with the twirled mustache, two old crotchety men, the quiet guy that knows all there is to know, and the guy who is there to sit and drink beer. A full smorgasbord of entertainment, food and drink included. I also got to spend some time with Sarah and her new research assistant Cassi. Sarah was at the gravel bar a few trips back and it was nice to catch up, play some bananagrams, and do lab work while sipping hot toddies.
When I wasn't down at the gravel bar getting my social fill, I was really logging the miles with a heavy pack. Getting to all my sites and carrying twice the gear made for long days but I was in heaven. The sun was out, the bugs were gone, and I was just traipsing through the woods. My main focus for the last Aggie trip was to pull all the summer probes and resin bags, install overwinter data loggers, fix a bear ravaged snow gauge, and install a new stream site. The little hosiery bag is filled with anion and
I tried to cram as much work as I could into each day, giving me ample time to do the last hike on my list. Just to the south west of the gravel bar, a chain of ridges connect about four peaks together forming a ring. I've been eying this hike all summer and finally have the time to crank it out. I left fairly early in the day under blue skies. Following the river downstream for about a mile, I cut up to the first steep scree slope and got onto the ridge line. The wind just howled after reaching the ridge. It was so strong I could lean forwards with my pack on and be supported. I don't know how long I hiked for, I didn't bring a watch or check the time before I left. Lost myself out there. A few spots of the hike got pretty sketchy, and looking back, probably should have avoided some of the steep scree slopes. I crossed a steep section to reach an easier grade towards the peak. With each step, jagged shards skittered down the slope.
Had good weather for my last day of field work and final trip to the alpine sights. Took a long detour to the summit of Asik Mountain, the main peak in my study watershead. Steep scree is the majority of the hike after hackng through dense willow thickets. The slope levels of multiple times, creating view terraces to the valley. Birds rode thermals up the slope and were dipping and diving on one another. Some even nicking eachothers wings and barrel rolling together.
The panorama from the peak in incredible, with the cold wind and smell off the ocean. Vast tundra spreads out to the west, littered with tundra ponds. The north and west directions give views into the Brooks Range. It was hard to head back down the slope and into the valley to collect my last water samples of the year.
After bumping my pullout date to the 16th, I had the feeling I wouldn't fly out till the morning of the 17th. Hunting season is in full swing and the pilots have their hands full. I spent the day packing down camp, reading a few books, hanging out with the hunters and helping Sarah and Cassie finish their last day of fieldwork for the season. In celebration, Sarah made us Peppermint schnapps and hot cocoa, which we drank out by the weather station.
Back in camp, I headed over to the hunters camp to catch up with Gary and Jeff, who promptly filled my mug with beer after beer as we talked well into the night. For the second night in a row, the sky burned pink in the west and a rainbow formed over the mountains in the east. Have never seen a rainbow sunset and got one two nights in a row. Nice work Aggie.
Sarah and Cassie came over and then the party really got going. The hunting guys started trading flying stories and I don't think I have ever laughed so hard so consistently and for such a long period. My lungs and stomach hurt, tears came out of my eyes, and I had to gasp just to keep my breath. We all talked well into the night, each taking turns trying to pull teeth out of a caribou skull and moose jaw to take home with us. Just after midnight, the music was blaring, stories were being told and then everything stopped, punctuated by the call of a large wolf pack on the ridge above camp. Everyone instantly froze and headed into the darkness to become one with the sound. The wolves howled for a good ten minutes as they moved over the ridge and upriver. A haunting sound that immediately brought everyone to quiet. Everyone stared into the black, myself and a few others ventured out, and Jeff gave a few calls. The pack moved on as quickly as they had come into the valley. Everyone meandered back to their chairs but that was it. The night was over. The perfect cap to the evening.
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