Wednesday, June 26, 2019 - 11:21 PM PT Our workable weather continued today. Crisp, cool and mostly clear conditions prevailed as we set out above 11,000 camp at 7:15 this morning. Motorcycle Hill was first up, but didn’t take us all that long, just forty five minutes of “duck foot” cramponing up a steep snow slope with a handful of well-bridged crevasses. Next up was Squirrel Hill, a little traversing and some more duck footing, which brought us up to the Polo Field at the west end of the West Buttress. By this point, we were finally out of the valleys... looking up at surrounding mountains has been fun, but now looking out and down at the world from 12 and 13,000 ft is novel and beautiful. Windy Corner wasn’t windy. We took a pleasant rest break there in the mid morning sunshine. Then we put our helmets on and climbed around the corner. A new world opened up to us as we could now see the upper West Buttress and the bulk of Denali’s South Peak up close and personal. At 13,500 ft, we’d reached our target for the day -about four hours above 11 camp. We dug a deep hole in the snow to cache food and gear out of the reach of crafty clever ravens. Enjoying the sunshine and calm conditions, we lingered for about an hour before starting our descent. The track was in fine condition, so walking/climbing down went smoothly and easily. We strolled into 11,000 near two in the afternoon, which as we’ve discovered, is a darn good time for a nap. Clouds came and went throughout the afternoon and evening, there were some light showers, but nothing of great significance from our perspective. We’ll rest tomorrow to solidify acclimatization before making the big jump up to 14 camp. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team