Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 11
Back carry from 13,500 to Camp 4
10:30 - We woke up late, as usual. I guess if waking up late is usual, then we woke up on time. As usual.
Like previous nights, I slept warm up until the last few hours, and then I couldn't get warm or comfortable. It's a big relief to know that we can just change our schedule if we want to.
We had our first breakfast of granola and powdered milk. I had resisted this breakfast thus far, but I was pleasantly surprised. And supposedly it's loaded with calories. Can't beat that.
13:30 - Max and Justin (Jason?) decided to climb straight up some shoot to high camp, and a Swede decided to warm up by skiing up (and back down) the Orient Express. Amazing feats, both of them.
Wes and I suited up for our back carry. We had originally intended to do so yesterday, but we collectively agreed (without a spoken word) to not. We rested. And ate. Two of my favorite things these days.
There was a slight breeze today, but it was way nicer than yesterday. The trip down to the 13,500' cache took no time at all. And with empty packs, and going downhill, you feel like a rockstar.
Wes dug up the cache, we loaded our packs and started the slow ascent back to camp 4. This load I was hauling included tens of pounds of food and all of my warm clothes. No more chilly evenings for me.
15:00 - Max and Justin had climbed past the schrund and the Swede was sprinting up the mountain on skis. We unpacked.
We made a trek over to the ranger camp to talk to them about the 16,500' high camp on the West Rib. The ranger on staff gave us a bunch of useful information, and in short, we'll acclimatize there, but there's no chance we'll try to summit via the West Rib. It's apparently very icy and Wes only has an alpine ice tool with him. And we collectively only have two ice screws. Bummer.
As we were leaving the ranger station, I heard talk of a helicopter drop-off. I didn't think much of it at the time.
16:30 - A helicopter became evident on the horizon. It was headed towards high camp. It tried three times from three different angels to overcome the wind, but it failed. It turned around and descended to Camp 4, creating quite a breeze in the process. After landing, the ranger staff unloaded what looked like hundreds of pounds of supplies. The rangers rigged up a tow line of some sort, the helicopter lifted off and returned to high camp, this time, with a lighter load, and it succeeded. Moments later it left high camp with the body of the Italian Mountain Trip climber (I think).
I've dawned my Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero puffy pants. No cold can get to me, now. :-)
19:00 - Dinner this evening is toasted tortillas with cheese and chicken. Delicious. The Swede magically reappeared after disappearing for a while. He was descending. The attention of the bulk of the populace of Camp 4 was fixed on the Orient Express. His decent was slow at first, but he eventually flew into camp and came to a rest at the ranger station. The ranger staff appeared to stand at a respectful distance so as not to crowd this demi-god on skis.
20:00 - The weather report this evening is much the same as the past few evenings: crappy, until at least Sunday. Mike's RMI team, which we talked with, is in it for the long haul. They were shocked that we (Wes and I) would return to this mountain not just once, but twice. This is number three for both of us.
Winds tonight at Camp 4 are supposed to reach a paultry 55 mph. We've spent a little bit of time reinforcing the walls of our camp, but it isn't really necessary. On the other hand, having a wall collapse, in the middle of the night, in the midst of a storm, would, well, suck.
I charged the iPod Nano off the HyperJuice battery this evening, so I intend to fall asleep tonight while listening to TAL episodes.
23:30 - The winds are here. But Ira Glass's calming voice makes it all better. I can see the MSR decal on the tent fly appear and disappear based on the intensity of the wind. It's a little mesmerizing.
