Monday, June 24, 2013

First Sampling Done!

Woohoo!  After a rainy, windy start, we successfully completed our first round of sampling in the channels!  The Welter crew, John Benstead, Tanner and I all went out on Wednesday to get started on the process.  The Welter crew checked out around 1pm to head back to give a presentation, and boy did they leave just in time.  John, Tanner, and I were left to do the sampling (which ran quite smoothly, once we got our rhythm down), but not without some treacherous rain.  There were about 4 or 5 really good rainy sessions lasting upwards of 45 minutes.  The sun would pop out for a second, giving us hope, and then not too long after the winds would pick up and we would once again submerge ourselves in our waterproof cocoons.  Dan and David came out for the last hour or so to check out the sampling and to help carry back some equipment.

The next two days, however, were uncharacteristically warm and sunny! We broke out the sunscreen and kicked off our shoes, letting the mysterious, glowing orb in the sky warm us up.  With one set of sampling done, everyone (especially Tanner) can relax and be a little more confident in the sampling process.


Enjoying the squishy (dry!) ground on bare feet!


View of the valley- if you look on the left hand side, the pool of water is the medium-warm hot pot Tanner uses to heat the water
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