14 November, 1998

Last night was colder, but I kept warm with the extra down military sleeping bag that I had taken from the Jamesway. I woke up at 9:00 am to a bright sunny day. It was quite warm again, temperature-wise. The wind normally picks up later in the day which makes it colder.

John made us (now Ed, Nina, and me) breakfast-- huevos rancheros (scrambled eggs and beans on tortillas).

Ed was still working on melting out an icepit for his sensors, so I couldn't use the melting device to get my sediment trap out of the ice. We found a triple-beam balance in the middle lab, and I decided to use that for my sediment weighing. The last time I used a triple-beam was in high school...boy, digital balances are a lot easier and more convenient. I sieved my sediment samples to collect the various sizes of sediments (2 cm, 300um, 63um, and smaller). I then took 5 samples from each size of sediment. So, for example, I put about 8 g of 2 cm-sized sediment into each of 5 bottles. The bottles were labeled 2 cm, Time 0 hr-- 2cm, Time 12 hr-- 2cm, Time 24 hr-- 2 cm, Time 36 hr-- 2 cm, Time 48 hr. Tonight I will be starting my experiment, having received extra bottles from Nina's lab. I will add meltwater to all of the bottles and then immediately filter off the meltwater from the 2 cm, Time 0 hr bottle to pour into 3 separate bottles- 40 mls for nutrient analysis, 30 mls for cation analysis, and 30 mls for anion analysis. This would be done for each size sediment every 12 hours. I finished washing and labeling the bottles I received from Nina.

John showed Nina and me how to turn the generator on and off and how to check the oil, just in case we were stuck in camp and needed power for some reason. The generator shed is a short distance away from the Jamesway. The generator is turned on when power is needed, especially in the labs (the incubator, the filtering systeming, and the portable heaters). The microwave, stereo, and computers in the Jamesway are usually run off of the generator, too.

Nina and I had lunch (John and Ed were working on the icepit on the lake...attempting to chainsaw portions of it out). I took time out to call Dan (my husband). The phone works pretty well out in camp, except on cloudy days. The phone is run off of a solar panel, I hear...There have been several days that I have not been able to call home because of this.

I made some coffee to take out to John and Ed on the ice...warm liquids make all the difference in the world when you're cold...great technique for keeping warm! They were coming in for lunch as I was walking out to them, so they drank their coffee with lunch.

I chipped more ice for meltwater, thinking that I would need a little more for my experiments that I'm starting tonight. Nina made dinner (enchiladas, Spanish rice, and corn). Delicious!

I started my sediment nutrient leaching experiments at 8:00 pm. It took me 2 hours to get everything done, but I had to start the experiment and collect Time 0 hr. filtrates.

I made myself a hot water bottle for the bottom of my sleeping bag and went to bed around 10:30 pm. I have to wake up about 7:30 tomorrow, so I'm ready to go on my experiment by 8:00 am (my 12 hr. checkpoint).

John playing his guitar, relaxing after breakfast. The guitar itself is very light...perfect for traveling!

At night the shadows on the mountains are so pretty and dramatic. These are the mountains across the lake from our camp at Lake Bonney.