Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 04
Fly to Base Camp
9am and we're all here at the hangar, ready to fly. I shoveled down my breakfast at the Roadhouse so that I could get to the airfield on time and now we're just waiting; and to think, I could have enjoyed those scrambled eggs. Oh well. The weather is beautiful here at the airfield (Talkeetna International Airport?) but apparently its foggy at base camp and they can't land in the fog. So we wait. It could be minutes. It could be hours. It could be even worse. I'm trying not to think about spending another night in Talkeetna, waiting to fly out.
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Apparently a weather front is moving in that could last until Sunday. Two or three more days in Talkeetna? Uggh.
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Two flight-seeing customers are about to leave and the pilot offered to take someone from our group along in case he could manage to land at base camp. Mike (the lead guide) told Billy (the first assistant guide) to go with them. If Billy manages to make it to basecamp and then bad weather moves in, he'll be stuck there by himself. We over heard a conversation between Billy and Mike that went something like, "But I don't want to go out there. I'm going to get stuck and have to spend the night there by myself." And then Mike, "You're a guide. This is what you do. Now go." Ha ha. Poor Billy.
Still, I'm jealous. *I* want to go out to base camp and get stuck. Enough of being in Talkeetna.
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Bad weather moved in. The pilot managed to land. The tourists got to walk around base camp for a bit and then they took off again, leaving Billy behind. The fog rolled back in so Billy is there by himself for the time being. We continue to lounge around the hangar doing nothing.
We're going back into town to get lunch. Probably ... hopefully ... our last good meal for a while.
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The weather is clearing up. Wes and a bunch of gear got to go on the next flight. They're off....
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Ten minutes later and Wes is back. Bad weather again. This sucks. But its comical too.
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Sweet! We have a go. Dan, Wes and I jumped on a plane and we made it to base camp. We tossed everything out of the plane, joined Billy and the pilot was gone. Fog is rolling in so no one else is taking off. Now the four of us might end up staying the night here while everyone else remains in Talkeetna for food and beer and spends the night there. Whatever. I think I got the better end of the deal (if it comes to that).
We're setting up camp (leveling out some snow for the tents), setting up the tents, hitching sleds and lounging around. It's great to finally be on the mountain, even if we're stuck at base camp instead of being able to push on to Camp 1 immediately. Too late in the day - even if everyone else arrived right now.
I think Billy is relieved to not be stuck here by himself.
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All of the sudden two Hudson planes showed up out of nowhere, carrying the rest of the group. So, we're all here. The guides are setting up the cook area; going to eat dinner and crash here for the night. Tomorrow, Camp 1!
