On my own

How it all ends with a whisper!
I had a hard time sleeping last night. I was a little preoccupied with having everything I needed; also, I was overheating in my room. When I finally awoke at 7:40, I ate breakfast, and then raced around making final adjustments to the stuff I was bringing along.

Overnight, the helicopter got its 100hr once-over, thanks to Anthony and his little helper, Josh. They worked on it on the shore of Kiska harbor by lamplight.

I left with my survival pack, a tub for mixing cement, tools that Ed had packed for me, water, a pick, and yesterday's sandwich. We flew from the boat (still parked in the harbor) and had an uneventful flight to the volcano. We circled the crater a bit, so I took a bunch of photos. All in all, it was a pretty foggy day, so I ended up at LSNW instead of either of the other sites (LSKO, or LSPA).

First, though, I stopped on shore to remove cement from all the huts. I also grabbed a Hoe. I piled cement in the chopper with me, and then proceeded to the site. I was under the impression that we'd get to the shovels that were at LSPA. Wrong. The terrain I was digging in was heavily rocky, along with lots of soil. It would have been very beneficial to have that shovel! Instead, I was groping around with the hoe, and using my hands.

Bill showed up with the hut before I had fully prepared the site, and so we left the hut a bit askew, as I continued to chip away at the area with my meager tools. By the time I had finally placed the hut, Bill showed up with a shovel. Next, I drilled holes for the J-bolts and cemented down the hut. While given 5 bags, I used 4 1/2 bags of concrete, since two bags of cement were all but solid rocks.

Afterwards, I started digging a hole for the seismometer -- no luck. Too shallow rocks. Then I started a second hole.
As I nearly finished this one, Guy showed up (with Bill, of course) with the batteries, and news that I was going to be flown to the boat. Something was wrong with the helicopter's electrical system, so our mission has been scrubbed.

With that and a "hook up the batteries", he was off.

With a little radio help from guy, I got the batteries all connected. The air cells were activated and wired in series. The gel cells were wired parallel in threes, with the middle batteries connecting to the power switcher.

I could hear a little chatter. Apparently, guy was up somewhere in the fog and was slowly making his way down to the helicopter. Eventually, the helicopter just came to get me, and went back for guy, who was still off in the fog. I jumped out and hiked up to guy to give him a hand, and vroom! We were off to the boat.

Right now, there is a hut sitting on the beach that has no weight in it. Just air-cells and a solar panel. oh, and an antenna, hut kit, and seismometer cable. It won't likely be there when we return in 2-3 years.

Bill has flown with Ed back to the dock at Amchitka. We'll be spending the night there -- in Constantine harbor, again. The weather is supposed to be really crappy. soon. A storm with 55kt winds and high seas will be here on, I think it was Sunday. We need to be gone before that. And so... the great western Aleutian field excursion has just come to a grinding halt. 4 huts are in the ground on LS, which is amazing, considering that we didn't expect ANY. Two seismometers, I believe, are working there. All 6 at Semi are up and running. All together, pretty successful. Despite the weather.

commuters

Today was also a bit frustrating. Tina and Michelle headed out to the island with the morning flight. The rest of us took the boat over. Once somewhere near LS, Guy and Ed flew out to go finish their sites. Then, Max and 6 batteries went out to the beach. Next, Me and 6 batteries.

We dropped off the batteries, and then Bill took me up to LSPA, where I was to prep the hut. With me, I brought the 3D seismometer, the electronics, and a little water.

By this time, it was already something like 2, and the boat wanted to leave by 4:30. Well, the weather wasn't looking promising, so my hut was scrubbed for the day. I did wander around a little, decided it was a nice site, then hopped back in the copter for a trip back to the boat.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be on the first helicopter out with Jessica. If all goes well, I'll do LSPA. If it goes even better, then I'll do LSKO (which is on top of a hill, and usually inaccessible). If it doesn't look good at either of those two sites, I'm going to find and dig out LSNW, which Guy has spotted today.

The weather was still pretty darn nice, and for that I am very grateful... even if I didn't personally get anything done today.

Onward to Little Sitkin

Wow. Today (yesterday, as of this writing) we made an attack on Little Sitkin (LS). The boat left Paskie and Cyrus up on the hill, and ed on the dock. Meanwhile, the helicopter flew Guy to LS to start prepping sites. Then, it picked up Ed to do the same. Between Guy and Ed, Four sites have been prepped.

Back on the boat, we had a beautiful crossing, though I saw no whales. A rainbow watched us leave Amchitka's Constantine harbor. The crossing took only a few hours, and by the time we reached LS, we could also see Segula beautifully, and Davidoff Island, too. I helped prep the huts, which were then either slung to the locations or to the beach.

Also, en route, I grilled Tina about volcanology and her history.

Each hut has: 5 concrete bags, 4 1/2 air cell batteries, a power switcher, solar panels, mast, hut kit (with Jbolts and other connectors), several gallons of H2O (for concrete), a hoe, an LB connector (Elbow, used to run wires into the hut), an Antenna (with attachments) and a Seismometer cable. Separately, 6 Gel Cell batteries, Shovel, pick, toolkits (electrical, hard-tools, Goop Kit, Drill, (soldering iron?), Seismometer, and McVCO. The repeater station also required an additional antenna and a RF filter.

I helped get the huts ashore, then flew off to help guy. I mixed concrete and dug trench while he attached solar panels (Problems: my radio antenna broke, No green goop in goop kit, and no RF filter)

Just down from us at LSSA (Little Sitkin Saddle) were hot springs that bill reported were hot and or cold, but not just right.
The boat had to leave early, 'cause it was dancing about the various islands with no place to anchor. We then, with an hour left of work, took off in the helicopter to Kiska..

En route, I took pictures of Segula volcano -- a beautiful stratovolcano with snow just barely visible at the top. Also, on Kiska, there was the remains of an old Japanese sub base (complete with sub), and several large cannons. We poked around the cannons while waiting for the boat to show.

We then moved down to the beach, and watched the stars come out. The milky way was prominant, and you could see alllthe stars wonderfully. In the water, you could make out a sparkle of bioluminescence now and then. Sometimes waves would wash a bioluminescent spec on shore... which I then picked up and inspected. under a light I couldn't make out anything.

A luxurious walk

Wow! Today's been beautiful! Guy flew over to Semi with Tina, while Cy and John headed up the hill. Ed and I reorganized the huts, and then joined Max for a long excursion down the beach. Plenty of photos today!

Guy was successful in putting in the station (with help from Jess), so Semisopochnoi is officially DONE!!!! Bill returned everyone from Semi; Now we get to set sights on Little Sitkin.

Working on the Earth Station (again)

Today finally had a little upturn.

The day started off pretty crappy. The weather was socked in, and it was raining. I had no chance to do any real work at a volcano, and resigned myself to another day on this irradiated hellhole of an island. Yes, my attitude had finally sunk to a new low. Here I sit, when I could be doing anything else at all... maybe, dare I say it, Working on my thesis? Yes, I've been starting to realize that I haven't learned a damn thing other than (and I already knew this) the fact that Aleutian weather is unpredictable. Actually, it is pretty predictable. "Crappy".

Today, any work at semi was out of the question. Instead, five huts and accompanying equipment were brought on board, and the trash was sent to shore to be burned. Meanwhile, I went up the hill with max and Cyrus. The weather was shitty. really blowing, this time from the north, with rain.

We dug holes for the hut, just to the er.. north of the existing structure. Also, we banded the flex-conduit together for the solar panel wiring. Mostly, though, we sat around in the weather port bitching about the weather.

Then, at the end of the day, we (Cyrus, Me, Max as trailer bitch) took a little 4-wheeler trip, and the outlook improved dramatically. We wandered down this-road and that-road in search of a nice beach on the pacific side of the island. After several wrong turns, we found a little collapsed cabin by a lake (more accurately, IN a lake). After exploring the ruins a bit, we made for the beach again. This time, it only took a few minutes and we found ourselves at the top of a cliff. Birds were flying in every which direction ... There were a couple Bald Eagles, and several seagulls. The surf lapped on rocky beaches; the rocks were nice and rounded, of various sizes, and included corals. A fish skull lay there, among much seaweed and other flotsam. A couple plastic bottles lay there, and a great number of old-looking ammunition casings. There were plenty of rock formations between the beach and an island, with the tides playing in and amongst them.
Pretty soon, I noticed that the brown boulders on the next island over were moving -- In fact, they were a whole bunch of sea lions that had hauled out of the water.
I played around here and there, looking at life in the tidal pools (all the while paying very careful attention to my camera...) until we decided it was time to head back to the dock. As we came to the top of our little bluff, an immature bald soared right past, low & slow.
Then we looked out, and noticed seagulls molesting a sea otter. I suppose they were trying to get at it's food. Yeah, it was a really great 30 minutes. Amchitka isn't a hell-hole after all. But I still would like a sunny day with no wind. Is that too much to ask???

unravelling (slightly)

What to say about today? It was a boat ride The seas were rough, but not as rough as they had been. We arrived at Semi by around 2pm, but were unable to do anything, as the ceiling was low, the ship was rocking, and the pilot was tired. Basically, we took the trip over to just refuel the helicopter once. What a waste.

I can feel my own nerves beginning to fray as time just keeps slipping past up here. I could be doing so much more, but when the boat moves, I'm unable to do anything. For the trip back home (home meaning Amchitka), I had to drug myself up with Dramamine. Now I've been utterly useless. Did watch a couple bond flicks, though: On her Majesty's Secret Service, and just now, Dr. No.

Breakfast, as always, was eggs, pancakes, taters, sausage, and bacon. Getting a bit bored of that, and am beginning to even mentally drift wistfully to breakfast in Koyasan. I ended up with a single pancake, two sausages, and a half-bowl of peaches.

Today, rumor is that the cook finally broke down. Don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did. We really, really need a nice break to stall our downward spiral. It looks like Tina may go with Guy over to Semi in the helicopter; that way, if they set up the hut, great. If not, then she can take gas samples. Wish I were there doing that. Instead, I guess I'll head up the hill and patrol for rats or something.

these are the times that try men's souls

8:48 AM 9/24/2005
Breakfast at 8am, and now we're going to head over in the boat to Semi. The weather outlook is as bleak as ever; yesterday, Tina called Murray to get a bigger weather picture. Apparently, there's a bunch of lows that are forming and just sort of follow each other in a parade through here.

Been having trouble getting up in the morning, and have found my schedule sliding each day a little more into the night. Last night, I went to bed around 2am.

Paskievitch has requested one of the huts that remain here for use with the earth station -- without actually inquiring; we all assume it's to replace the tough-box as a battery storage locker.

Being out here is beginning to sand the edges of people a little. We had a scrabble game wherein the dark side of the trip came out. Many short, dark words made their way onto the board, like "vomit" and such.

plans

6:07 PM 9/23/2005
Plans change. We got a call today, suggesting it would be nice if we could head on out to Semisopochnoi and refuel the helicopter. So, we recalled Max and Jerry and Tina, hauled in the skiff, stowed all the stuff, and headed out.

lots of discussion this evening, where we tried to make a solid plan.

We'll keep trying for Semi, with an eye to MAYBE doing LS. Continue helicopter ops across the ocean with limited flying over there. Apparently, bill is pretty worn out -- the flying has been quite demanding. At one point, Guy related a story where Bill had pulled down entirely on the collective, (reducing the pitch of the rotor blades to where they're not providing lift), yet the helicopter was still flying straight -- severe updraft.

boat bound

9:21 AM 9/23/2005 - Friday
I forgot to mention how confused I've been with regard to the days here. I thought for sure that yesterday was Thursday... that's after thinking that it was Tuesday in the AM.

Today I'll be hanging out on the boat, since Jerry's heading up to help on the station and Ed/Guy are going out to try to install the last of the Semi stations. If they do then we'll be able to finally start looking at Semisopochnoi. The weather is also looking like, after a couple 40kt days, it'll settle down a bit.

I'm thinking about fishing, but the idea of catching a 180 lb halibut and then having to deal with it is actually a bit unappetizing.

Last night, another boat showed up in our harbor. It was a bit larger than us, but was the first boat I've seen around since we left Adak (oh, except for a few we've seen from the Earth Station that were cruising far out in the pacific ocean)

blah

Today was a busier day. The sun peeked out of the clouds early, portending a possibly beautiful day contrasted with the forecast of typical gloom-doom and wind. Jessica and Michelle were flown over to Semi early today. They'll be camping there for a few days while they finish up the geology.
I headed up the hill to help with stuff up there. I put conduit on solar panels, cut wires, did some soldering, worked on the vault, and such miscellaneous stuff. Meanwhile, Guy and Tina flew to semi and installed CETU (yay!)
Dinner was a great halibut soup, though it's official name was something I'd never heard before. I also got to talk to Katie on the sat phone. She informed me of some of the outside world's goings-on. Hurricane Rita is threatening to squish Houston, which in turn causes speculation that gas prices may go up to $5 per gallon.
We chatted for nearly a half hour ($$$, glad it's not mine; but I don't feel bad, 'cause I haven't talked to anyone hardly)
Not much else to report. The days are really beginning to merge and blur.