Sunrise Carnival

 

The first "official" sunrise was supposed to be on Tuesday, February 28th.  On this day half the disk of the sun was going to be above the horizon, but there are very large hills to the south of the base which delayed the date that anyone could actually see any of the sun.  Everyday that week I waited outside around the time that the sun was supposed to rise but it was either blocked by the hills or overcast skies.  Finally, on Saturday March 3rd, the day of the Sunrise Carnival, I joined a trip up Mt. Pulan (not actually a mountain, but a very very, very, big hill) in hopes of seeing the sun.  It was about an hour ride in a military PV, with ten of us in the back in our parkas and sitting on pillows since it was an extremely bumpy ride (almost like being on a slow wooden roller coaster).   

We couldn't see anything out of the back, so I wasn't sure if we'd even be able to see the sun, but as soon as I stepped out of the PV at around 10 am I stared right into the full disk of the sun (I'll admit, I forgot just how bright the sun was and had to close my eyes instantly).  Instantly I felt my mood lift and could not stop staring at the sun and my surroundings.  It was absolutely breathtaking.. which may have been partly due to the fact that it was - 48 outside.

Below is a picture from Mt. Pulan, and the hill across from it is Crystal Mountain, (on these range of hills you can actually find crystals, but unfortunately that has to wait for the ground to thaw in the summer) and beyond it is the Arctic Ocean.  The box-like black speck is the PV that we drove up in.

    



In the afternoon of the Sunrise Carnival there was a number of games like smoosh races, sumo wrestling, and blind volleyball (unfortunately I pulled a muscle in hockey a couple days earlier and couldn't really participate). 

Dinner was a giant PIG ROAST in the maintenance building.  I think 2-3 pigs were roasted outside on giant barbeques, and their was plenty of amazing food, desserts, and of course, beer.  It was awesome.



Since it is the sunrise of the year 2012, and could potentially be the last sunrise ever (if you believe in that sort of thing), it was only suitable to have an 'end of the world' theme to the carnival.   Some people gathered in groups and put on skits and made sculptures that represented the Mayan End of the World.  They were pretty entertaining to say the least.
     The one below was a Mayan temple with a beaver on top that was supposed to be in a ring of fire.  Unfortunately, since it was -54 with the wind chill, all the propane in the ring had froze and wouldn't light. 


The final event of the day was the sunrise bonfire.  It was absolutely the biggest bonfire I had ever seen, and the smoke plumes were almost as fascinating as the fire (don't worry, the GAW lab is about 7 km away from the base and located so that the wind is usually in the direction from the lab to the base so events like these won't affect our air samples).  As I mentioned, it was - 54 by this point, but if you were standing within 5 metres of the fire it was pretty toasty.

Now the sun is up before 9 and sets around 5, but it is getting longer every day.  We do not have any complete darkness anymore, a bit of twilight is always present at night.  In april there will be 24 hours of sunlight!