NEAT ROCKS

The spikey rocks on the left are called Rose Rocks around here. Word around the station is that this is one of 2 places on earth that this particular type of rose rock forms. They are made up of crystalized calcite formed by the extreme temperatures and weird pressures here. The white lumpy rock is made up of a whole bunch of shells squished together and the little round one is a concretion. This is the story of how these neat rocks came into my possesion.

Last Monday, after my night shift, the senior Met Tech, Andre, took me out to go Rose Rockin'. I was tired but how could I turn down such a cool offer? So, we got the quads out, gathered our gear and set out after a good lunch. We took the quads past the landing strip and out onto the tundra as far as we could until the ground got to rough for the quads. We left the quads and started walking. We walked up Blacktop Creek toward the mountain for a couple of hours then, when we turned to come back we started the hunt. Rose Rocks and their friends are very sneaky. Sometimes we would only see one or two little crystals sticking out of the mud. I was glad to have Andre with me, he is the Rose Rock master.

Having worked all night I tired out early so I took my bag-o-rocks and headed back, as planned, a little before Andre was ready. It was no problem to find the quads and I really enjoyed taking my time wandering back down the creek to where we had parked. My quad started up on the first try and I was off!

The plan was to follow our tracks back to the airstrip and from there I'd be back on station in no time. Unfortunately, the musk oxen had a different plan. Those 2 in the pics a couple of posts ago were on the trail and the big male mentioned that he didn't think I should drive through there until his family had moved on. I saw his point almost immediately and turned around to find a detour.

... In the words of my little brother "There were tracks going in and tracks coming out"...

So there I was, driving along, prefectly content, having a great time. I was out in nature, was going fast over bumps, and was getting muddy. Sounds like a prefect afternoon doesn't it? The detour was looking good, it even looked like it was a better way to the airport. I had to cross a couple of damp spots but there were tracks on both sides so I wasn't too worried about it. As I started up the dunes things started to get a bit past damp so, knowing if I stopped to back out I would just sink in, I tried a nice gentle turn to get back to firm, supportive, dryish mud. The instant I turned the wheels I sank in. After a few feeble attempts to stay on top of the quad and get out I was forced to dismount and face reality. Following the initial excitement of sinking to my knees in tundra I found my quad had been claimed by the goo up to the foot plates. Once I had come to grips with the fact that the mud had come to grips with the quad more strongly than I ever could I had to decide what to do about the situation. Seeing as no one was answering my attemps at radio contact the choices were to walk up the dunes and ask at the station, or to walk back to Andre's quad and get him to winch me out. The musk oxen, having fulfilled their role in my adventure, had moved on so I figured it was safe enough to go back to the other quad. When I was about half way there Andre started driving back toward me so I flagged him down. It was no problem for us to pull my quad from the clutches of the tundra polygons and we were off once more. This time, we stuck to the path. We even made it back in time for supper.

The perfect end to the afternoon was washing the equipment. It took about a minute to get Andre's quad clean, and about 2 hours for mine. Before I was allowed in the station, they just turned the pressure washer on me from mid thigh down.

I learned about alot of things Monday afternoon, not the least of which is that Prosolve Carpet Cleaner takes tundra stains out of jeans.