Fiction vs Reality
I'm a third of the way into Atlas Shrugged, and I can't help laughing at the headlines about government stimulus packages and their intended benefits.
Curtis Jones
Denali 2010 Changes
My part-time Denali team wants a return trip in 2010, so here are my notes, mostly aimed at shaving weight: lighter sleeping bag, hybrid ice tool, one gallon of gas, replaceable batteries, no Clif bars, and one roll of toilet paper is plenty.
Background Pictures
I'm picky about desktop pictures, usually settling on plain grey. But reading Atlas Shrugged this evening, I noticed the moon behind a figurehead statue on a distant building, and after a lot of toying around in Photoshop, here's the result.
High[er] Resolution
Google finally added higher-res imagery of Denali, in a strip that conveniently misses the summit. Why bother? Anyway, I stitched my GPS tracks from two years into one route: three weeks up the white line, about a day back down.
![High[er] Resolution](/content/images/size/w720/2025/10/Full-Route-(Annotated).jpg)
Not a Workout
To the lady on the treadmill beside me: 3.5mph for five minutes is not actually working out in any meaningful sense. Your singing did make me want to go faster, in an effort to escape, but being on a treadmill myself, it didn't help.
The Money Shot
I love my watch, and I forgot to leave it in Talkeetna, so I photographed it on the summit and sent the shot to Tag Heuer. Surely they'll want to sponsor my next climb and send me a newer model. Here's the money shot.
Pig Hill
The route from High Camp to the summit climbs Denali Pass, winds through smaller hills, drops into the Football Field, then tackles Pig Hill and the Summit Ridge: about three thousand vertical feet. Here's video from the descent, plus an unfortunate close-up of my runny nose.
Ender's Game
Having burned through Anthem in Anchorage, I picked up my first Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game. Highly entertaining. The very end got a bit too cheesy for me, but it's a quick read, so even if you disagree it won't cost you much time.
Heading Home
No flight home until Saturday, so I floated in the hotel pool and walked 2.4 miles to see Star Trek (worth it, even if it lacked a certain Trek feel). Meanwhile I've been reading Ayn Rand; We The Living was amazing. Here's the obligatory summit GPS pic.
Star Trek
Star Trek came out today, and I'm missing it because I'm stuck on a mountain in Alaska. I'll catch it stale a month from now. Just as well: seeing movies in Manhattan is horrible. Today, if the weather cooperates, we back-carry supplies up to 14,200 feet.
