June 27, 2016 - 11:08 pm PT Another murky day, weatherwise. It was snowing lightly when we checked things at 6:45 AM, but it was calm and there were hints of clearing in some of the cloud layers stacked above us. We got up and had a slow and substantial breakfast as we watched the skies. With a few patches of blue showing, the decision was made to go on up for our carry. We left camp at about 10:15 and were promptly surrounded again by calm and listless clouds. It was a relief to be spending a day without our sleds and to be in crampons instead of snowshoes. The terrain, beginning with "Motorcycle hill" right out of camp, was steeper than any of the ground we'd covered to date, but that was nice too. We all felt a bit more like climbers with ice axes in our hands at last. The team wound up and across "Squirrel hill" to get to the lesser angled "Polo fields" below the end of Denali's West Buttress. At least we think those were the granite walls of the Buttress... we couldn't really see very far up it in the clouds. Conditions stayed windless though, so we pushed on to Windy Corner. Nobody seemed disappointed that it wasn't living up to its well-earned reputation. We cached the provisions we'd been carrying there at about 13,300ft, digging a big hole and burying it all to keep the ravens from attacking. Then it was an easy and uneventful hour back to camp with light packs and still not much for views. We were down by 4PM and taking naps and sipping water by about 4:30. Tomorrow is a rest day, so we are less concerned than usual by the continued light snow and ever-present murk. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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