Saturday, June 19, 2021 - 2:30 pm PT

We woke at 1am this morning and fired up stoves for a quick breakfast and a cup of coffee and then we set off down Heartbreak Hill to the Kahiltna Glacier and up the the base of Ski Hill. By traveling in the wee hours of the morning we were able to take advantage of firm snow conditions and comfortable temperatures for climbing, before the glacier turned into a solar oven.

The traveling was pretty straight forward, climbing over some crevasses and skirting around others. We made quick work of the mission, and four hours after setting out we found ourselves making camp.

After "brunch" we retreated to our tents for some rest and to get out of the searing sun.

We'll stay on the alpine start schedule for now and hope to carry a load of food and fuel up to somewhere close to 10,000' tomorrow before returning back down to our current camp. We'll let you know how it goes.

RMI Guide Mike Walter