Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 22

Camp 3 to Base Camp to Talkeetna 01:30 - It had briefly started to snow while we were eating, and our fine, fine meal was consumed from under the protective covering of Wes' tarp, held up by our trekking poles. It was a simple but effective shelter, and

Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 21

Camp 5 to Camp 3 09:00 - Wes wakes up, by alarm, and calls his wife. Maybe this is why I'm not married, but I wouldn't have done this. 11:00 - We wake up again. The tent has no ice build up. I'

Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 20

Summit Day 08:15 - Wes has got the stove going and snow melting. There's a light breeze, clear skies; it's definitely a summit day. 10:30 - We're on the road. There are at least a few teams above us on the autobahn

Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 19

Rest at High Camp 02:00 - A rescue is in progress. Someone saw a team fall from the top of the autobahn (~1,500 feet) shortly ago. The very top. High camp is partially populated by one team of a dozen or so men of Dutch military, German military,

Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 18

Rest at High Camp 01:00 - I haven't slept at all. My mattress is flat and it's killing me. Inflating the mat really requires the participation of both people in the tent and I'd rather not do that right now. 03:00 -

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

Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 16

Camp 4 to Camp 5 09:30 - Despite moderately high winds all night, this morning was bright and clear. Mike's team was already resting part way up the headwall when we first looked out of the tent. We aren't the early birds in any sense.

Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 15

Rest at Camp 4 Nicely timed to make it easy for me to as least partially honor the sabbath, the weather today was marginally too bad to make a move to high camp, and increasingly sucky throughout the day. We saw several teams descend from here, including Mike's

Mt. McKinley (2011) - Day 14

Acclimatize at 15,300 10:00 - After a granola breakfast, we geared up and headed towards the upper west rib. We climbed to 15,300, which when viewed from back at camp hardly qualifies as an achievement. We turned around when we hit a crevasse with no obvious snow

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.