Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Cascading Glaciers

Tomorow I leave Columbus for Seattle- and its off to the ice! Erin Pettit a glaciologist from University of Washington Seattle has been busy with field GPS surveys all summer. On Saturday, Erin, me and a few others will head up the North Klawatti Glacier in Marblemount, Washington to help Erin complete her surveys. We may summit El Dorado peak before we return on Tuesday.

Next on the list is Girls on Ice, the program Erin has run out of the North Cascades Institute (picture below from Megan McGintey http://www.ncascades.org/programs/youth/girls_on_ice/)

This ten day field glaciology program will be exciting!!! The girls attending this season sound excellent, representing top notch 15-19 year olds from around the world. I will update with pictures from both trips as soon as possible. Leading Girls on Ice is Erin (she's a physics- based glaciologist whose research includes studying cliff face dynamics in the McMurdo Dry Valleys) and I will assist Erin and teach the girls field glaciochemistry. My advisor, Berry Lyons, loaned some test kits that we can use to perform simple analyses on glacial streams. The principal mountaineer will be none other than Cecelia Mortenson! It is a small world indeed to see CeCe after our adventures hauling a golf bag up the Asgard Range, Antarctica. This time, I shall have ample candy bars - ready for the unexpected- when granola bars just doesn't cut it.