Henry's articles

One of my camp mates, Henry Bortman, has written a series of articles for the NASA on-line AstroBiology magazine. There is more to come I'm sure -- I'll keep you posted!

Arrival in the Arctic
http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_expedition&task=detail&id=4154


Drilling into Arctic Ice
http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_expedition&task=detail&id=4238


A Coral Reef in the Arctic
http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_expedition&task=detail&id=4224

Resolute Bay Plane Crash

Airport

Resolute Bay the town

Several people have asked me I knew any of the people on the flight that crashed just outside of Resolute on Saturday. Since all the victims have not been identified I don't know. What I was able to find out(from a Vancouver newspaper) is that at least 6 people on the flight were associated with the South Camp Inn (where I stayed) or other research/tourism support projects.

My heart goes out to the whole Resolute community as they deal with this tragedy.

Government/military area near Resolute Airport

  http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/08/21/canada.plane.crash/index.html?iref=allsearch

The Menu continued- Because we were hungry

By 7/24th I had all the food I was going to have. I was running out of fresh veggies. The apples and tangerines were history but I had new lettuce, eggs and powdered milk.


 7/25- 19 people in camp  Breakfast french toast and bacon    Lunch- sandwiches,salad, bacon/clam chowder, Thai chicken, veggie tofu soup Dinner- pulled pork, chicken in a white sauce, zucchini and onions, polenta with amazing things added to it that can never be duplicated


7/26-  Breakfast-veggie (spinach) scramble with or without bacon, kielbasa, lemon poppy seed biscuits  Lunch- sandwhiches, salad, corn and carrot chowder, ham and pea soup   Dinner- hamburgers, spinach, left over chicken, Kraft dinner ( In Canada you do not refer to this as Mac N Cheese) dessert MUD (for Girl Scouts this is Dirt with too much milk)

7/27- Breakfast- scrambled eggs , bacon and pancakes Lunch - Sloppy Joes, ham and pea soup, sandwhiches, salad  Dinner- Baked Chicken breasts with Mozzarella cheese, Italian tomatoes and sour cream, Orzo, Peas and spinach

Boiling brown sugar

7/28- Breakfast- caramelized french toast, Kielbasa Lunch sandwhiches, salad, Mac N cheese, Sloppy Joes, Corn Chowder, Ham and Pea Soup, Chicken veggie soup Dinner- Dahl, Curry Tofu and Veggies, Mexican chicken dessert- peanut butter short bread


7/29  Cooks morning off Brunch- Muffin eggs with cheese (eggs cooked in a muffin pan) Bacon, Cinnamon raisin biscuits, Dinner Teriyaki Beef Roast, Potatoes mashed with sour cream, corn and gravy dessert- 

7/30 breakfast- veggie scramble, pancakes and Kielbasa Lunch sandwhiches, salad, chicken veggie soup, roast beef Dinner-- Roast pork, Rice with hollandaise sauce and cheese, zucchini carrots and corn    Dessert vanilla cake with butter cream frosting and frozen berries

Tasted much better than it looked- saved last piece for Henry

7/31   Breakfast Caramelized french toast, scrambled eggs and bacon   Lunch Garlic pork, sandwiches, salad,Dinner Spaghetti, garlic buns with cheese & basil    Dessert Magic bars

8/1 Breakfast Muffin eggs, French toast, Orange Cranberry Biscuit, Kielbasa Lunch sandwhiches, salad, grilled cheese, beef stew Dinner-Honey glazed Chicken, peas, Mexican tofu, cous cous Dessert M & M cookies-- Cookies actually delivered warm to various parts of camp during early afternoon rain storm.

8/2 scrambled eggs with onions and bell peppers, pancakes, Kielbasa  Lunch sandwhiches, grilled cheese, beef stew Dinner Ham and bean soup, corn and peas, left over chicken , pork in BBQ sauce


8/3 Breakfast- caramelized french toast and egg muffins Lunch sandwhiches, spaghetti,ham and bean soup, beef stew  Dinner Hamburgers, Beans and Spinach Dessert- oatmeal,rasin cookies

Final cooked meal. Almost everyone loved tofu by the end of camp

8/4 Breakfast kilbasa, pancakes Lunch - grilled cheese and ham & bean soup Dinner Tofu with onions and peppers and left overs  dessert- candy

8/5 Breakfast cold cereal and oatmeal lunch left overs Dinner I don't care I'm off the Island




  

The Mars Habitat

Less than a mile from camp is a white building. It is the Mars Habitat. It was completed by the 2000 HMP camp for the Mars Society. It is designed to be a analogue of what a research station world be on Mars. Unfortunately, the Mars Society has not participated in the last several HMP seasons. So the Habitat is currently not being used.

There is much more info on the project available but wikipedia is a good place to start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Analogue_Research_Station_Program

The Menu- part 1

Since I was the cook, it's probably time to share my menu. As you know the food did not arrive all at once and then some of it was not exactly what I had ordered so there was no pre-set menu.

Camp Stoves always busy

Some food comes in with us--mostly zuchinni or so it seemed
7/15 Dinner- Ham & Cheese on baels with bell pepper, onions, cucumbers, apples and tangerines. Dessert- granola bars and candy   (no condiments)

7/16 Breakfast- Instant Oatmeal with apples and tangerines ( no milk)      Lunch- Vegetable Soup with lemon pepper (carrots, onions, zucchini, bell pepper and garbanzo beans)    Dinner- Ham and Onions fried in barbecue sauce, mashed potatoes with a cheese sauce
 Additional food arrives still no bread
7/17 Breakfast- Oatmeal, dry cereal (found some milk), bacon    Lunch - Tuna, crackers, salad, fruit and veggies and left over soup  Dinner- Dahl, rice with basil & sage, Garlic  fried tofu, salad  Dessert-  Eagle Brand Magic Bars (sort of)
 Some more food arrives  (including a couple loaves of bread)

7/18 Breakfast- Pancakes, oatmeal and cereal Lunch- ham and tuna sandwiches, lettuce & veggies,fruit, beef & barley soup (mix) Dinner- Chicken (cubed) in a holandaise sauce with rice, zucchini, corn and onions, lettuce & veggies  Dessert snack food and Eagle Brand Bars


7/19 Breakfast- Cinnamon raisin biscuits, bacon, cereal & oatmeal Lunch- ham, tuna and PB & J sandwhiches, lentil & carrot soup,  lettuce & veggies, fruit Dinner- Hamburgers, beans, soup, corn,  lettuce & veggies Dessert fruit and snack food


7/20 Breakfast- Pancakes, cereal & oatmeal Lunch Veggie noodle soup, Beef Barley soup (leftovers), Sandwiches Tuna, ham, salami & PB & J, lettuce & veggies, fruit,   Dinner-Pineapple baked ham, gnocchi, mixed vegetables, lettuce & veggies Dessert Peanut Butter Fudge and berries


7/21 Breakfast- Cranberry orange biscuits (yes biscuits made with TANG), bacon, cereal & oatmeal Lunch -sandwiches, salad, Clam Chowder made from scratch with bacon, fruit Dinner-Sloppy Joes, salad, seasoned corn Dessert - fudge and snacks  
Final food order arrives mostly meat and bread eggs and milk missing (re-ordered)


7/22 Breakfast pancakes, cereal & oatmeal  Lunch- sandwiches, salad, fruit, Thai chicken and rice soup (mix)  Dinner- Pork Roast, Mash Potatoes with sour cream, onion gravy, spinach  Dessert- peanut butter short bread


7/23- Breakfast- polish sausage, biscuits and gravy, cereal & oatmeal Lunch- sandwhiches, salad, Veggie Tofu soup, fruit Dinner- Chicken breasts with a peach barbeque sauce, tofu and zucchini, orzo and peas Dessert- leftovers

 7/24 Breakfast- pancakes, oatmeal and cereal Lunch Clam Chowder and Thai Chicken soups Dinner - Roast beef, salad, spinach, black bean and cous cous salad  Dessert- chocolate cake

Eggs and milk arrive I'm happy
 

 Candy always a good thing to have around

-

Closing camp

I'm at home now!  It feels good to do things that are "normal".  But part of me already misses camp.

Here are some pictures of the lat few hours I spent on Devon Island. 

One last hike to to the top of one of the ridges near camp. That's Henry a writer for an online NASA magazine.

Kitchen clean- Time to send the cook home.

Mark or Jesse at the top of Fortress Rock.

Seal claws from the top of Fortress Rock. One final gift to me from Devon Island.

Loading 1 of the 2 planes that took us to Resolute Bay.

  

   

The coast if Devon Island  August 5, 2011

View of the airport/military area near Resolute

 Pascal begins planning HMP 2012 while waiting for the plane

Darkness Finally

In Yellowknife the downtown buildings are connected by aerial walkways and underground tunnels.

Downtown Yellowknife

Late night August 6th I experienced nighttime darkness for the first time in over 3 weeks. In Yellowknife the sun finally went down for about 4 hours. Shortly before 11:00 p.m. we noticed that it was dark. Yellowknife is just South of the Arctic circle.

Yellowknife is beautiful. The city surrounds The Great Slave Lake, which I'm told is the 5th largest fresh water lake in North America.

A view of the Great Slave Lake from above the visitors center

There are flowers and trees everywhere! I sure have missed lush vegetation.

View from the restaurant I had Sunday brunch at with Brian Glass (NASA). The rest of our group slept in.

Chalk writing on the sidewalk in front of the Yellowknife public library.