John, Jani, and Steve soak up the sun atop the Ferrar dolerite hills

John, Steve, Jani and I are still snugly ensconced at CTAM, surrounded by gorgeous mountains, sparkling glacial plains, and sunny skies. We’ve spent a couple of days grooming – not the personal kind, but using our skidoos to drag a heavy metal contraption behind us, lopping off the sastrugi and filling in ruts, to create a silky smooth, 10,000-foot runway for the LC-130’s to land. Unfortunately not everyone has had as good luck as us, as planes from McMurdo and Pole have been delayed due to mechanical issues and weather, respectively. Even John couldn’t find work for us to do today, so we went over to the old Beardmore camp. It was quite a camp back in its day (1985-86), hosting a conference and boasting flush toilets. Now, the plywood buildings are buried under several feet of snow, and descending into it is a little eerie. However, we were not alone! Scores of other ANSMET veterans welcomed us with notes and names and well wishes. I was especially pleased to find the shrine around an Optimus stove, which immediately brought memories of white gas fires flooding back. After lunch, John creamed us at Scrabble, then more than made up for it by leading us by skidoo up one of the nearest hillsides. The hills are made of everyone’s favorite rock, the Ferrar dolerite, sculpted by freeze-thaw cycles, salt, and wind into fantastic hoodoos. In the distance, we glimpsed the QUE, LEW, and other famous meteorite locales. We are surrounded by history. We are all in good spirits, though anxious to be reunited with our whole team and out collecting space rocks,

Barb adding her name to the ANSMET rolls in Beardmore old camp

-Barbara, at CTAM camp, Tuesday Dec 17