Thursday, July 11, 2013 We couldn't have asked for a much nicer day, but we'd have loved to have used it differently. It was clear and sunny from start to finish at 14,200' ft, just as we'd hoped it might be to settle the slopes above us. But I'm sure every climber on the team would rather have used such sparkling and fine weather to climb, rather than for waiting to climb. It was a bit of a tough day for the team as we had two climbers descend with Mike King, bound for base and Talkeetna. Their problems, a head-cold and a sore foot, were relatively minor, but 14,200' is not the best place for such issues to resolve and we had a golden chance to team Mike up with a descending team led by guides we know and trust. But we are sorry to not finish the entire climb together. It has been a great team. We can't say for sure that we ourselves won't be headed down in a day or two, but we cling to a slim chance for getting to the summit. Zeb and I went on a short recon mission on the suspect slopes and found things better than we'd expected. Good enough that we will make an attempt on 17 camp in the morning if the weather cooperates. We are still getting reports from those at 17,000' that the route to Denali Pass (18,300 ft) is presumed to be avalanche prone and impassable at present, but we'll just try to solve one set of problems at a time. The National Park Service rangers at 14,000' used the fine day to remove their seasonal base. A B3 helicopter flew laps for several hours to get the gear and personnel down. Camp -and the mountain in general- is getting very quiet as we near the end of the climbing season. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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