June 21, 2017 It snowed a couple of inches overnight at 9500 ft but skies were clear by morning. A cool breeze kept us in bed for a little while, but we were on the trail by 9:30 and making slow and steady progress toward the head of the Kahiltna Glacier. We could almost see all of its forty-seven mile length stretched out below us as we turned East at Kahiltna Pass. The cool breeze was nowhere to be found as we worked up steeper hills at midday. We made it into 11,000 ft Camp at 1 PM and were happy to see our friends on Mike Haugen's team. They kindly helped to shovel tent sites for us and gave us some "starter water" to make us feel at home. The day had turned out to be stunningly nice... Which is always a good thing on the solstice. We gazed in wonder at the bright clean angular chunks of glacier hanging all around us and at the formidable rock of the NW and West Buttresses. Camp went up smoothly and quickly and we crawled in the tents to beat the heat for a few hours. Evening was a social whirl as guides and climbers from all over the world had reunions and wished each other well as they went in opposite directions. We will take a much deserved rest day tomorrow and look forward to catching up on sleep, reading, and hydration. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map