Denali Expedition: Hahn & Team Fly into Alaska Range, Establish First Camp
Monday, June 20, 2022 - 10:04 pm PT
Greetings from 7200 ft on the SE Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. Right where we wanted to be. We left Talkeetna in two classic ski equipped Otter prop planes and headed into the Alaska Range. Clouds were clearing and the views were stunning. The weather in this section of Alaska has been quite dry in recent months and so there wasn’t much snow left outside the range. We had great views of the giant, striped glaciers like the Ruth and the Tokasitna. We landed uphill on the SE Fork at about 11:15. Avery Parrinello’s successful RMI climbing team greeted us and helped us unload, since our then empty planes were taking them toward Talkeetna and home. We exchanged a few hugs and wished each other well and then our team set to building a camp. It was made just slightly difficult. -putting up tents- by our need to stop every few minutes to marvel at the scenery and scale of everything. Mt. Hunter towers over basecamp, seemingly straight up for miles. Mt. Foraker, at 17,400 ft just across the way, looks impossibly massive and formidable. Once camp was up, we dove into some training and review for glacier travel and crevasse rescue. We covered many topics through the afternoon and evening, aiming to have the team well-informed for travel in the early morning hours tomorrow -when the glacier surface is frozen solid. We ate our first dinner on the mountain in a quickly excavated dining room and then did a few last organizational chores before turning in early (in the still bright sun) for some rest.
Best Regards,
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Comments (3)
Great start team!!! Yifei, you’ve got this!!
Posted by: Michael Freedman on
So exciting to follow!!! So impressive!!! Go, team, go!! Thinking of all of you and wishing you well. Go, Jim, go!!!
Posted by: Deborah Karmozyn on
This is so exciting. All the best, team! Yifei, keep rocking. :-)
Posted by: Koustav Mukherjee on