ANSMET camp in Miller Range with Twin Otter

We are at the Miller Range! Well, at least four of us, plus our Twin Otter crew, are here. Yesterday was a flurry of activity, as we got two airplanes at CTAM, the Herc with fuel (but not the rest of our party…) from McMurdo, and the Twin Otter from South Pole. We scrambled to help the Herc crew unload and load gear and to get all of our camp onto the Twin Otter in three flights. Once we arrived at the Miller Range, we set up camp and passed out, we were so tired.

When we finally lifted our heads up today, we saw what a beautiful place our little camp is in. We are just uphill from where a small tributary glacier flows between two mountains onto a larger glacier, with big crevasses that we could see from the Twin Otter. We really love those Otter flights, the planes are awesome and it’s such a treat to see the amazing scenery here in the Transantarctic mountains. This morning we were socked in with thick clouds, so that meant no flights for us today. So instead we went out – and found six meteorites! We searched a little moraine and the blue ice, with the help of the Twin Otter pilots Rodney, Adam and Larry. Here they are with their first find, a nice big rock that looks like chondrites we’ve seen from the asteroid belt, all by itself out on the blue ice. It’s so thrilling to finally be able to be doing what we are here for, and we think the Twin Otter guys caught the discovery bug.

We celebrated by having a cozy group dinner of green curry scallops and hot chocolate in our warm tents. We’ve loved having the Twin Otter crew in camp, and have had such fun hanging out and eating together. Now we want the rest of our group so our family can be complete!

Got one! Twin Otter pilots join the ANSMET team

Posted by Jani from the Miller Range South Camp, Dec 19