Tuesday, June 19, 2018 - 11:28 PM PT It was a full and busy day for our gang in Talkeetna. We met for the traditional breakfast at the Roadhouse where formal introductions were made and the plan and possibilities for the next few days were discussed. Then it was over to the Talkeetna Ranger Station where we greeted longtime friends in the National Park Service. Roger Robinson -who has been active on Denali since 1975- gave our safety briefing and orientation slideshow. We then made our way across town to the airstrip and the hangars of K2 Aviation, our flight service. Skies were cloudy, and we hear that it is still blowing and snowing hard all up and down Denali, but in town today, life wasn’t too bad. It never rained and there were even some spells of blue sky and sunshine in the afternoon. We spent almost the entire afternoon in the hangar though, conducting equipment checks and sorting tents, stoves, ropes, pots, pans, shovels and piles upon piles of food and clothing. By 5 PM it was all in order, weighed and inventoried... ready to be loaded on planes in the morning. The team got together one more time, for a relaxing dinner at the Twister Creek brew pub. After dinner, we strolled over to the river bank to watch the mighty Susitna boiling past town and to look over to where Denali was hiding in the storm. We broke up for the evening, with everybody intent on taking advantage of a final night -we hope- of Internet, telephone and comfy beds. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn