Arctic Dispatch: Life at Toolik Field Station

After nearly two weeks at Toolik Field Station in Alaska, I'm getting ready for our departure tomorrow morning at 6am. My bags are packed, I've just completed participating in what I'm pretty sure is the northernmost Michael Jackson tribute dance, and I spent the day in the field at a thermokarst--a large area of permafrost that has melted, causing a huge amount of land to slump, forming a gully. I'm sitting in the dining hall, where about two dozen journalists and scientists are playing card games, chatting, reading, poking around on the computer, or out on the deck observing a red fox. Did I mention that it's 11:30 at night? My last activity before bed is to join a group going out to look at lapland longspur chicks at 12:15am. It's light all the time, so you can pack a lot into a day. Now that I have a better idea of life at Toolik, here's a look at camp, and what folks do for entertainment:

Toolik Field Station: sleeping quarters at the bottom, labs at the top.

It's a jamboree--plenty of John Prine, the Beatles, and more...oh, and the music is written on the floor in permanant marker.

Everyone gathers around the unique Solstice bonfire.
 

The sauna is fired up five nights a week. It's a popular place, especially because showers are only allowed twice a week. Most folks work up a sweat, then jump in the lake. There's a big vat of Dr. Bronner's biodegradable soap out on the deck for all to use.

This week's menu includes: tilapia, chicken satay, and bbq pulled pork. Yum. There are snacks out all the time, including cereal, microwave popcorn, leftovers, and a selection of candy bars that rivals NYC bodegas.

"The Tower," aka, three-seater outhouses. Don't worry, there are partitions between the toilets. And as you can see from the photo below, a nice selection of reading material...even if some of it is magazines from 2003.

Our space--Lab 6.

Sleeping quarters: Six beds, four women; two weeks. We blacked out the windows with plastic garbage bags so we could get some sleep!