Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 13
Rest at Camp 4
No amazing climbs today, or rescues, or bodies being transported. Today (and all of last night) was marked by high winds and snow; we probably got a foot or more snow altogether. The high winds helped carry some of it off. A blessing and a curse.
09:45 - I filled the pee bottle over night, and I know Wes hasn't been sleeping well, and it looked like he was sleeping soundly so I held it as long as I could. I have my limits though. The wind was blowing, the sun was almost entirely obscured by clouds, and the snow drifts outside the tent were deeper than my camp booties, which made the trip to the designated pee hole a chilly endeavor as snow creeped over the edges of the booties. I emptied the bottle and then I emptied my bladder - both represented an impressive amount of liquid processing. My body is a machine.
Breakfast, which was around lunch time for normal people, was pancakes. They were great, as usual, but I'm not sure they were worth getting out of the tent and getting completely covered in snow and ice. Delicious though.
17:30 - Mostly we were in the tent today. I shoveled out camp, and then an hour later Wes re-shoveled out camp. Wind by itself isn't so bad; but when it carries snow, it just sucks.
I took a very nice (and warm) nap. Even though the wind was blowing all day, the sun managed to make an appearance and the tent very nearly dried out. It was an ice cave this morning.
20:00 - This evening has been amazing. No clouds at our elevation (lots upstairs though), bright sun, and little to no wind.
The weather report continues to claim high winds and clouds through Sunday, followed by clear skies and light winds for Monday and Tuesday.
It'd be possible to move and summit on Mon and Tue, respectively, but that wouldn't be a lot of fun. We're hoping that tomorrow or Sunday will be nice enough to allow us to run an acclimatization trip. With all the snow, it's looking less likely that we'll venture onto the upper west rib (due to avalanches). So, it's back to the headwall then. So be it.
It's bad form to start counting the days remaining so soon, but we're looking at two more tent-bound days, followed by two climbing days, and one day for the descent - for a total of sixteen days on the mountain, which would be an insanely short trip for this time of year.
