Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 30

Travel to New York I made it to Salt Lake City. I got a decent amount of sleep on that rather long flight. The bummer of this all is that I usually look forward to the complimentary drinks that are provided in first class, but aside from the flight from

Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 29

Flight-Seeing Tour & Talkeetna to Anchorage to New York That was a very nice night's sleep. Except that someone in New York (212 area code) decided to call me at 6am. I guess that's noon their time. It only figures that my first night back in

Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 28

Camp 3 to Base Camp to Talkeetna Well, it's 3am and a little dark-ish out (it never really gets very dark here), which makes it a little difficult to see the contours in the snow, which consequently makes it a little hard to walk without tripping, but that&

Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 27

Camp 5 to Camp 3 True to the weather report, at 9am when I awoke it was hot in the tent. All of the moisture had evolporated already. And then I went back to sleep. -- Mike was kind enough to let us sleep in a couple of hours. I

Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 26

Summit Day It was beatuiful this morning when Mike woke us up. The sun was already warming the tent - hours before it did so yesterday. There was already at least 50 people heading up Denali Pass. It is a very nice morning at 17k. Breakfast was oatmeal, again, and

Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 25

Stuck at Camp 5 I didn't really sleep much last night. I started thinking about a Ham HT means of communication while on a trip like this. Then my attention turned to the Balloon Project, and then I realized that that Balloon Project interested me because it pertains

Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 24

Stuck at Camp 5 It probably took me four hours to fall asleep last night. But then I did finally sleep fairly soundly. Mike, of course, ended that sleep with an announcement of breakfast and that there were 50 mph winds above, so, "don't bother putting on

Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 23

Stuck at Camp 5 I slept fairly well, all things considered. Four people in a tent definitely helps things warm up quickly if you don't mind a few smells. The amount of frost on the inside of the tent was a little ridiculous though. If the winds aren&

Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 22

This morning was beautiful and not cold at all like yesterday. We got up a little early and "enjoyed" some kellogs cereal for breakfast. Immediately thereafter we set about tearing down camp and turning our kitchen into a giant cache. We're about to start on up

Mt. McKinley (2008) - Day 21

Stuck at Camp 4 We were awakened, again, before sunrise for no obvious reason. Leaving my sleeping bag each moring is the hardest challenge of the day. I mean, typically I've spent 10 - 12 hours heating up the sleeping bag, getting comfortable and finally falling asleep. Somehow