Sublimity…

So the gear is all packed up and we’re ready to get out of here. It’s a little hard to imagine that we’ve been here in Snap Lake for a week, at times it feels like it was only a few days, while other times it seems like it has been a month! As always, time is a deceptive beast. The last few days have been busy here, not too strenuous, but working full days. The rest of the crew has been off servicing MT (magneto-telluric) stations, and I’ve been back here at camp working on packing the three POLARIS stations that we brought out of the field. Lugging things around, putting them on pallets and then strapping and wrapping them, it’s not bad work, and kinda nice for a change – especially since MT work basically boils down to digging a bunch of big, deep holes the the esker to replace electrodes. I’d like to think that I’ve burned off at least some of the extra energy I’ve gained here from all the food, three solid meals a day, plus snacks and desserts anytime, with portions meant for miners and construction workers means that you have to watch what you eat. It’s hard because it’s all “free” and very good, but the ever present danishes have been my undoing.

The weather has changed dramatically and become more what I had expected; cloudy, cold and windy, with the occasional showers. Keeps the bugs away like a charm, and to be honest I like the cool temperature and the wind, and if it gets too wet I have a shack I can escape to which makes it great. I’ve had my iPod cranked up while I work, Dream Theatre goes perfect with work like this, and makes the time more enjoyable, as well as pass quicker. Nights are a bit harder now becuase I’ve finished my book (all 900 pages of George R.R. Martin’s “A Storm of Swords” that I started on the plane here… there’s nothing else to do but eat and read in the evenings), but I’ve started my back up, the first of Terry Goodkind’s series, but so far it has been a disappointment. Oh well, even a so-so book is better than nothing.

Today we’re flying back to Yellowknife, and I think we’re going to get a rest tomorrow (maybe run a few errands). Saturday we’re taking a floatplane out to take down the 4th POLARIS station, and then Sunday & Monday we will fly out to Ekati mine (hopefully) to do maintenance on a station there. Should be cool, I’d love to be able to see the site, but I’m not sure we’ll get the chance. I found out last night that there are often daily tours of the mine here at Snap Lake that are open to anyone who wants to go, I’d have jumped on the chance but it’s too late now. It’s a bit strange that there is all this security and paranoia about people taking diamonds, but then they turn around and offer mine tours to all. It’s a funny place. I think Stephane (an MIT professor who here working with us) summed up the feeling of this place best. He likened this place to a minimum security prision; the place is clean, the food is good and plentiful, there’s TV, a small rec room and a weigth room, but you have to clear security to go in or out, you can’t go outside without being escorted, can’t go walking around the site at all, and are in a (beautiful) but completely isolated place where there’s no hope of escape. The more I think about it, the more the analogy rings true. It’s not a bad place and the people are friendly, but you are pretty limited in what you can do. All in all, I’ve had a good time, it’s been neat to see a mine site (especially one under construction like this) and we’ve done some good work, but I’m looking forward to moving on. I haven’t seen any wildlife, and as I said last time, although the scenery is beautiful, it’s so repetive and I’ve had my fill of it for now. Having seen the barren lands now, I’ve pretty much decided that although it’s nice, I’d rather spend my time in other parts of the north – I can’t wait until I get up to Igloolik.

Internet connections from here on are going to be harder to come by, so I may not get a chance to write again until I’m back in Ottawa sometime next week. Til then, hope you all are having a great time, and wish me luck on my “Escape from Snap Lake”… dun-dun-daa!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2005 at 11:37 am and is filed under Arctic, Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.