Inspiring minds through nature and science. Come and explore.

Home | Contact

Information Calendar Membership Kids and Family Education Research Collections IMAX Planetarium
Alamosaurus
Alaskan Dinosaur Expedition
Wyoming and Montana
Current Projects
Publications

Alaskan Dinosaur Expedition

July 20
It’s a foggy morning with a heavy mist. The inside of my tent is full of condensation; the temperature is in the upper 40s, and with a little DEET, the mosquitoes are tolerable. Yesterday, as we came to the bar, we were greeted by two kayakers from Marysville, Calif. They were doing a survey trip for a Sierra Club trip next year. Another kayaker group passed us a bit later, and this morning a small plane flew overhead. I’m beginning to think the arctic is a crowded place.

The fog lifts about 2:30, and the temperature has risen accordingly. It is now in the upper 70s. The questions become what to wear and how much DEET to put on; a slight breeze is keeping the mosquitoes from reaching the levels of yesterday. We’re spending the day at the Liscomb bed; it is about 450 feet long, and has some of the densest concentration of dinosaur bones I have ever seen.

We used a gill net in the river this afternoon to catch fish for dinner; we caught three white fish, and one arctic char. The fish were roasted in foil on the coals for about 30 minutes; the white fish was very good but the char was perhaps the best-tasting fish I’ve ever had. Its meat is a delicate pink and its flavor is quite mild compared with salmon; I hope we catch more.

In contrast to yesterday, this has been a very pleasant day; I think I killed only about 100 mosquitoes, compared with yesterday’s tally, which I would swear hit over a million. I see a nightly ritual has become to get into the tent, then spend five minutes killing all the mosquitoes that followed me in. Even though the sun does not set, there is a change in the color of the sky; about midnight, the sky becomes pastel-colored, and watching the thunderheads build up over the Brooks range is beautiful. The color of the Colville River turns a hypnotic azure, and with the pastel pink and blue sky, I find it difficult to retire for the night.

I saw killdeer, a swan, and several herring gulls today – also, a Pacific loon flew by at dinner. Several times during the course of the day I heard sandhill cranes.

Back