Caption:  Shannon enjoying a good e-book.  The rising heat from the stove lets us dry out things by hanging them from the top of the tent.  So just out of sight above is an assortment of boots and gloves and long underwear and hats, thawing peanut butter and humus and cheese, and five different types of fresh-wipes.

Caption:  Beautiful blue sky above but a wall of snow showing the speed of the near-surface winds.  The blue  solar panel outside our tent give us electricity.

The weather that brought our great first morning of meteorite-collecting to a halt after lunch yesterday continued today.  Blowing snow kept us inside all day, giving us our first full tent day.  I haven’t yet gotten the wind speed measured, but the temperature is in the range of -20 C or less (around -10 F).  Whatever the wind chill is, it’s got to be significant!

Tent days give time for housekeeping and leisure or other work activities.  In our tent, after receiving the word from Ralph about no meteorite collecting until the weather improved, we snoozed, enjoyed a leisurely lunch, did a bit of cleaning (body and sleeping bags), wrote out Christmas gifts / cards for ANSMET teammates, and did some pleasure and work-related reading.  In contrast to the chilly weather outside, the temperature inside our tent is a balmy 9 C (~50 F).

Thus, in our first two days, we have gotten to experience both great meteorites collecting and no meteorites collecting!  We’ll see what tomorrow has to offer.

-posted by Shannon and Devon, Dec 22, Davis-Ward