Adak Adventure: Day 7
Posted by heymoe on August 12th, 2007
8/11/2007: Saturday
Today started out just like yesterday expect we had hot water, sort of, for showers. The hot water would come and go during the showers so you have to brace yourself for the jolt of cold water every now and then.
Since we left things pretty much working when we left last night the only thing we had to do today was put some polish on a few things and have a training session for the they guys that work on Adak so they know how to manage our system. Of course a few minor bug were found but nothing that required a multi-hour con-call like yesterday. I made sure to bring lunch with me today so I did not have to miss lunch like I did yesterday. Justin and Terry did some testing from actual home sites while Chris and I finished up on a few things before Chris started the training class. Everything seems to work but the Internet link seems to be a little flaky so the Adak guys will have to work with the Sat provider on that one still.
We actually got done with everything a little after 5pm and the Adak guys were nice enough to lend us their truck so Chris and I could explore the island some. It would seem that a majority of the time Adak is cover is low clouds and mist. Justin pointed out a few mountains which he said that you very rarely see the peeks because they are also in the clouds / mist. Other then not being able to see a clear sky and winters with 100+ MPH winds and snow, the island is quite beautiful. After a short drive to get out of the city you are surround by rolling grass covered hills and mountains. The wild life seems to be vast on island with otters, seals, caribou, bald and brown eagles, several types of fish, whales etc.. This is most likely make Adak a good tourist spot for hunters in the future.
Chris and I headed back to Clam Lagoon to find some abandoned military and other buildings to explore and there are a lot of them on Adak. It almost like some sort of horror movies walking though some of these buildings. I kind of expected to see zombies jumping out at us as Chris and I wondered though these building in the dark with only a small flash light. Most of these buildings were abandoned back around 1998 when the Military decided it was not worth having a base on the island anymore and pull everyone out. It almost looks like White House called and said you had 30mins to get off the island. All of the house that military families lived in still have furniture and other personal type items in them. The buildings still have computers, copiers, draws full of stuff.
The weather here really does a number on the structures on the island. It looks like onces power was turned off on all these buildings the high humidity seeped in and started to rot everything inside and out. The old high school’s basketball court was severely warped due to the boards expanding due to the humidity. Some building with basements had standing water in them. The wind in the winter blows quite hard and some homes have siding ripped off of them and roofs missing, etc.. Add on top of that the amount of vandalism caused most likely by the teenagers having nothing else to do and no police to stop them. Justin described some of the other abandoned housing developments looking like something out of a horror movies where you feel like people are looking at you through the hold run down homes.
We found a few communication buildings that had really nice raised floor data centers that must have housed some really hush hush type stuff since some of these building were surrounding by fences and bullet proof glass. Some of the rooms still look like they are in good condition but I’m sure it would take a lot of work just bring power back to them rooms and most likely have standing water under the raised floors.
We had to cut our exploring short since we were going to meet the Adak guys at the bar for drinks, dinner and some pool. Over all today was a good day. We got all the work stuff done and had time to get out and see the sites. To bad tomorrow is our last day but the flight off the island is a little before 9pm so we have a lot of time to explore more before we have to leave.
Stay tuned for Day 8: The final day… maybe…
