Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 11
Stuck at Camp 3
The plan for today was to haul a bunch of stuff up past Windy Corner (called a "carry"), but, as usual, the weather sucks. In lieu of anything more entertaining to do, and since the weather is getting bad, we're going to help Billy construct sort of a walled hallway at the entrance of the kitchen to reduce the draft.
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I gave Mike some aspirin and vitamin c, since he left his all of his stuff back in Talkeetna, and I have way more than I need. I like being useful.
My cough is a bit improved and I secretly hope we are not able to proceed today, to give my lungs (or whatever it is) a chance to heal. On the other hand, if we don't carry today, we'll be stuck on the mountain one additional day. No muscle soreness to report.
I learned today that Mike has summitted on all of his previous expeditions here (4). And the guide leading the RMI-1 team also has a perfect record (11).
One of the benefits of the 11k camp over the two lower camps is the presence of a crevasse that can be used for "cracking" full CMC bags - no more hauling the prior days digested meals with us. No one likes having the full CMCs on their sled. Surprising, huh?
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I've been thinking about what I've learned on this trip as it applies to my upcoming trip to Yosemite (to hike up Half Dome). I'm definitely bringing my thermarest prolite and foam pad (since Jeremy said that he intends to sleep outside - and I will too). I think I'll just pack everything in one of my packs and stuff the pack into a duffel, and take that. No suitcases. Logistically that's a very simple trip when compared to this one.
My use of the CMC today was the "smoothest" yet. It's almost comfortable. Our design of the "restroom" proved to be a little drafty, but the resulting ventilation was really quite nice.
Jerry decided to venture out of the tent and has reported back that the weather is getting worse. We now can't even see the hill that we're supposed to climb and the wind is kicking the tent around pretty good. But, waiting (ie, acclimatizing) at 11k camp isn't a bad thing - better than three days at Camp 2.
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I've been contemplating what sort of torture to endure next, and when talking to John about it, it turns out that he too is thinking about an antarctic trip - different goals though. I want to summit the highest peak (Vinson Massif, 16,050ft), while he wants to do this multi-week cross-country skiing thing. But I probably won't be doing this anytime soon since it is a $20k trip. I could do so for a lot less if I went without a guide.... Maybe not the wisest idea? We'll see.
I haven't been picking my lips at all during this trip. Leah would be so proud. Time to start thawing out something to eat.
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Took a nap. I woke up because I was getting too hot. Even up here, with the wind and the snow, the sunlight can bake a tent. There's something peculiar about being completely idle and over-heated while napping on a glacier.
I ate some chocolate cookies. Before this trip I unwrapped a bunch of chocolate chip granola bars and stuffed them all into a ziplock bag (so that I wouldn't have as much trash to deal with). Anyway, they all froze into a single, large clump, which clump is now with me in the sleeping bag, thawing. Back to staring at the ceiling.
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Finished that nap. The latest weather report from the last person brave enough to venture out of the tent: sucks. Mike says, "mountaineering is so much fun because it feels so good when you stop." On to the next nap now.
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I've been thinking about taking one of the "flight-seeing" tours after I get off the mountain. One of them spirals up the mountain all the way to the summit, while some of the others set down on Ruth's glacier. No option to do both, sadly. Doing this flight-seeing thing would require staying in Talkeetna another day. Jerry encouraged me to spend a couple days in Anchorage and go down to the key-something peninsula and do some halibut fishing. I wonder how anxious I'll be to get home?
It's encouraging to think that, weather permitting, the mountain portion of this trip could be over in just another 7 - 8 days.
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Against my better judgement, I left the warmth, comfort and for a time, solitude of this tent to eat dinner, which was rice and chicken and "famous anus" (Famous Amos) cookies for desert. I was nice and warm before, and after an hour of sitting on a block of ice, I'm cold again. The weather report for tomorrow is favorable. An AAI group ascended Motorcycle Hill this morning, only to turn around and come right back down - ice frozen to their faces and generally looking a lot like popsicles.
It's freaking freezing out.
