19 July, 2002

Finally at the glacier..........

Most of today was spent collecting the last odds and ends needed for the various projects that will be worked on over the next weeks.

We traveled from downtown Anchorage where we spent last night and arrived at CRREL (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory). This is an army corps of engineers facility located on the Ft. Richardson military base. The equipment that Greg sent up arrived via Fed Ex and we transferred it to a rig that was driven down from the glacier.

The drive from Anchorage up the Matanuska valley to the glacier was spectacular. Greg was a wonderful tour guide and pointed out numerous glacial features. After looking at the scale of the land, I am completely in awe of how big this glacier was in the past.

At the camp site.......

Once we finally arrived, I set up my tent staking claim to a small area to call home for the next month. There are about 15 people here at the camp representing several different research programs. There are people from CRREL as well as a group of REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) students and the program advisors. The REU program is designed to give undergraduate students from universities all over the country an opportunity to conduct field research.

I have attached a picture of the Matanuska glacier taken from a road turnout. There will be many more to follow in the coming days.

Life Is Good,

DT