Mt. McKinley: Linden Mallory & Team Fly on the Mountain
The skies above Talkeetna were broken this morning with a light gray patchwork of clouds hanging low in the sky. We packed up our bags from the hotel and walked over to the Roadhouse Café for another hearty breakfast, keeping an eye on the skies through the window. By the time we finished the clouds were breaking apart so we hurried over to the airstrip to see what the pilots thought of the flying weather. Sure enough they gave us the thumbs up and we went into hyperdrive, packing the last few items and loading our bags into the planes.
By 10:30am we were airborne, the team split between two turbo prop planes outfitted with skis. As soon as we climbed above the last remanants of that low hanging cloud layer the Alaska Range reared into view, gradually filling the windshield of the plane with a white mass as we approached. Before long we left the green forest below and crossed above the moraines and glaciers of the Southern Alaska Range. Making a big turn around the southwest side of Mt. Hunter - the third highest peak in the Alaska Range - and entered above the Kahiltna Glacier. Another giant sweeping turn brought us into the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna and Chris, our pilot, gently touched the plane down onto the glacier.
Stepping out of the plane is always an overwhelming experience as the sheer scale of the surrounding landscape is brought into perspective. Soon the planes took off again, leaving us standing at Base Camp with a massive pile of gear and food sitting beside us. We quickly set to work, establishing camp and unpacking and resorting our gear from the flights. The rest of the afternoon slipped by as we reviewed our glacial travel skills, set up crevasse rescue systems, and played with various snow anchors.
In the evening Kel pulled together some phenomenal burritos and then we settled in for some rest. We are waking up again in a few hours to move to Camp 1, taking advantage of the coldest part of the night when the snow is frozen and supportive to walk across the lower stretches of the Kahiltna Glacier which is riddled with crevasses this time of year. We should arrive in Camp by mid morning tomorrow.
The team is doing well, excited to be here, and eager to begin the climb. We will check in tomorrow from Camp 1.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
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