Yesterday the helicopter dropped me off in a field of cloudberries. This was perfect since the cook didn't order enough fruit for camp. As my coworker ran straight ahead for the beach, I trailed behind with my bum in the air and face to the ground collecting hand fulls of cloud berries and stuffing them into my mouth. They don't taste much like any other berry. They're seedy like a raspberry, thick and juicy like a blackberry, with a mild taste that somehow reminds me of laundry dried outside in fresh air.
A cloudberry (that I photographed (kind of badly) and ate)
It was sunny out, and I was wearing my 'geology hat', that is somewhere between Indiana Jones and nerdy. I headed to the beach to rub the sand through my fingers as an analogue for the other sediments the glacier has left behind.
Diamond exploration in Canada relies on a mix of geophysics and kimberlite indicator mineral (KIM) trains. Currently I'm in the arctic to study the sediments to see if their nature is capable of hosting KIMs. Quaternary geology is what I studied during my MSc, and I have come full circle and putting those skilllllz into practice.
The exploration camp consists of a head geologist, two crews of drillers with geologists, a medic, two helicopter pilots, a helicopter engineer and a camp manager and a cook. My coworker and myself were flown in during the last week of their exploration camp, and it has that closing rush vibes that all camps have when they're about to shut down for the season. Everyone, including me, is off to other projects. Everyone is eager to finish this one off safely and completely.
Helciopter selfie
Camping in heated tents on the tundra, watching long sunsets, and marveling and attempting to understand ancient landscapes and how they came to be is a good way to spend two weeks in late August. Hopefully I get some fishing in.