Pearson-1992 17 traps south of the road at about 30 km west of Perito Moreno. Here there was drifted ash looking like desert sand. It had drifted into gulleys, but nowhere was it deep. It seems to come in two colors, dark, on top, and pale, below. The pale is slightly larger grain and definitely lighter, almost pumice. I rather guess that it blows off and leaves the dark "sand" on top. when put into a glass of water, a layer of pumice floats on top but after a few hours everything has sunk to the bottom and the water is almost clear. We put traps in what would be mistaken for sandy desert with scattered bushes of duraznillo (Colliguaya), calafate, a ground cushion like a very spiny yareta with yellow composite blossoms, etc. Lots of bird tracks in the sand, hare tracks very abundant, Reithrodon droppings widespread but not particularly abundant at any one place. Temperature very mild, no wind. I put out 21 Shermans and 22 Museum Specials. Anita put out 30 Museum Specials.. Camped in a huge gravel pit 7.7 km nearer town. The day's count of recently squashed rabbits was 8, but there is very little traffic on the Rio Mayo to Perito Moreno road (unpaved; only one car passed). Night very mild, no wind. December 5. Heavy rain during night, but not cold. Lake water not cold. Many Museum Specials were sprung by the rain. No standing water. My line had 3 Eligmodontia in Shermans and 1 in Museum Special. Anita's line had 6 Eligmos and 1 gecko.. All of the mice were reproductively active. When the ash fell on the buchgrasses, it sank down in between the culms. Subsequently it has blown or washed away around the plant but is retained in the center of the bunch. There may be a windrift of ash on one side. None of the vegetation, however, shows signs of damage. In a few places along the lake we see fields of sandy hummocks held down by patches of the very spiny non-yareta cushion plant; surely too old to have grown since last year's eruption. It has been volcanic around here for a long time. Across the road from our gravel pit is a 60-foot cliff of ash with sparse stone inclusions of all sizes from pebbles to rocks. A strong wind came up during the morning, partly sunny. The surf breaking on the beach is full of 1-mm pumice. It floats to the top of a bucket of water. Last night's traps were 7.9 km east of Estancia La Ascension (on the map). After skinning we drove to Los Antiguos and had lunch in a hotel there. The manager had two jars of ash from Hudson, dark and light. He said that they were layered like a sandwich. When I asked him what happened to all the ash, he said that they scraped it