Shageluk 

Location 

Shageluk Lake

The Shageluk observatory is located on Shageluk Lake (also known as "Swimming Lake"), about 4 km north of the village and close to the airstrip. Shageluk Lake was once a channel of the Innoko River that was cut off as the river shifted course, as all rivers tend to do in this region.

The observatory was set up on 21 January 2003, a bright sunny day with a moderate breeze and air temperature of about ­10°C. It was delightful weather to be working outside in for five hours. The average ice thickness, determined by drilling 21 holes by hand (yes, by hand), was 0.57 m, and the average snow depth was 0.12 m. Fortunately, Rudi Hamilton’s chainsaw had a bar that was long enough to cut through the ice so that the hot-wire ice thickness gauge could be installed.

Village elder Rudi Hamilton uses his chainsaw to cut a slot in the ice prior to installation of the hot-wire ice thickness gauge.