As the plane taxied away from the Warbelow’s office at Fairbanks International Airport, the pilot said something about low cloud at Huslia and perhaps not being able to land. The closer we got to Huslia the more nightmarish that option looked – the coffee I bought at the Alaska Coffee Roasting Company on Geist Road before checking-in at Warbelow’s had ceased to stimulate my brain and was now busily stimulating my plumbing. You can imagine my relief when the weather was clear at Huslia and we made a smooth landing.

The sign outside Jimmy Huntington School, Huslia, (above) illuminated by the camera flash in the darkness at about 9 am, Tuesday 29 November 2005.

This painting of Jimmy Huntington (right) hangs opposite the main entrance to the eponymous school in Huslia.

Last year the study site was run by Sharon Strick. This year it will be run by Sharon’s colleague Jeff Johnson, who teaches mainly grade 9-12 science and mathematics. Before lunch I did a brief algebra lesson for Jeff’s students – calculating a snow temperature gradient, which seemed appropriate, since we would be making the necessary measurements in the afternoon. I was impressed with how sharp the students were as we went through the calculations – there was some nimble mental arithmetic going on.

By 1:30 pm, an assortment of snowmachines and sleds left school for Richard’s Spring Camp Lake, where we arrived at 1:55 pm. The weather was a little warmer than when I arrived this morning, but it was still a brisk -22°C. While some of us installed the ice thickness gauge (ice thickness: 0.407 m), another group quickly had a fire going on the bank. This subsequently provided entertainment for those students who didn’t find the science so compelling, and warmth for those who weren’t doing enough to stay warm. Another source of entertainment and warmth was the rope swing attached to an old spruce hanging over the lake edge. The rope broke while one student was attached and the 0.12 m thick snow did not provide much of a cushion on the hard, 0.4 m thick ice.

A couple of students drill holes and place the wooden stakes to mark the transect on Richard’s Spring Camp Lake, Monday 28 November 2005.

We must have left the lake at about 3:30 pm, having set up the study site, made a full set of measurements and collected the requisite three snow samples. The drive back to school was quite gloomy - the sun had set and low clouds had rolled in since this morning. The school bell rang soon after we walked in the door and the day was over, for the students anyway. Since then I have been answering e-mail, writing this trip report, taking care of journal editorial responsibilities, showing Jeff Johnson how to enter data into the spreadsheet and talking about running an ALISON study site, eating dinner, and, of course, using the Worldwide Web to check on the cricket scores (Australia have just thumped the West Indies, and the Third Test between England and Pakistan has just begun).

Computers and the Internet/Worldwide Web never cease to amaze me. Here I am in remote, west-central Alaska using a school wireless network to take care of my e-mail, surfing the Web and following the live coverage of the England/Pakistan cricket match in Pakistan.