Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 17
Rest at Camp 5
09:00 - Gusts of wind are hitting the tent. Shockingly, I think the weather report last night may have been inaccurate. Gasp. Today is definitely a rest day.
Mike said that the 3am weather report (?) claimed that there would be 35 mph winds tonight and 15 mph winds tomorrow. That'd make for a very decent summit day. So, today we eat, drink, pee and poo.
12:45 - Ten people in four groups are ascending the autobahn to Denali Pass. A fog is rolling in and there are visible winds at the top. Spin drifts are descending right onto the climbers. That can't be any fun. Maybe they're on a tight schedule. There's no other good reason to try to summit today.
A couple we met on the climb up the West Buttress, who set up camp next to us here, turned around and descended today because of a memorial service for a 99 year old relative; and mostly because of the flak they'd catch from some other relatives if they didn't show up. If I were on day 15 of 17 and could return just a single day late, I think I would. It can't be easy to get to high camp and then turn around when the summit is nearly in sight and only a day away.
I went over to meet the makers of the castle I saw yesterday. It turned out to be four guys from Alex's US Army Rangers group. The rest of the group is moving up today.
14:00 - I jumped out of the tent to pee - a sign that I'm hydrating. Good for me. I witnessed a skier wiping out near the base of the autobahn. He stood up a moment later and brushed himself off. No one at camp looked particularly concerned for his well being. And I was just thinking about emptying my bladder so that I could get back to my nap.
The projected high today at high camp is -5. Be it thickening blood, numbed nerves or the intense sunlight, I had to strip down to long underwear and a t-shirt to be comfortable in the tent. It's a different story once you step outside and get hit by a thirty second gust of blowing snow.
Being situated at high camp I am simultaneously eager to see the conclusion of the trip (and the showers (plural) and shave that will immediately follow it) and sad that after one more day of climbing, I'll see no more of this landscape for at least a year. I've been thinking more and more of the 2012 West Rib trip. It's very comforting.
I tried to eat a freeze dried beef stew meal. I got through a spoonful of it before declaring it inedible. A 3 Musketeers candy bar stood in, in it's place.
Back to napping / TAL.
16:30 - No change really. Increasing winds as predicted. I'm trying to force myself to eat candy bars, peppermints, mixed nuts with chocolate, pringles. I'm probably not hitting 2,000 calories today much less the 4-6,000 I should be aiming for. Good food is heavy. Light food is bad.
Billy and company should be moving into Camp 5 today. They may already be here. I've been basking in the warmth of the tent. Back to basking.
20:30 - Billy's group pulled into camp today and constructed a very fair looking set of walls, including a crapper that is spacious in size. Mike invited us to make use of it as long as we are clean and use pee bottles. Does he think we're barbarians?
The weather report from Lisa this evening disagrees with the weather report that Mike gave us. Lisa said to expect 20 mph summit winds instead of 15. She also said to expect 25 mph winds today and they were WAY higher. Fortune cookie weather reports.
We'll wait and get an update from Mike's secret weather source tomorrow morning and make a decision. It's pretty unlikely that we'll be interested in a 2nd summit attempt if the first attempt fails. We haven't yet even cracked open our gallon container of fuel, so it's more an issue of patience than provisions.
