Denali Expedition: Wittmier & Team Take a Rest Day at 11,000ft Camp
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Daniel May, Lacie Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
Sunday, May 19, 2024 - 8:56 pm PT
Of Hypoxic Dreams, Luxury Items, and the Suspension of Olfactory Senses I was sitting at dinner, sipping a glass of aged Saperavi wine with a perfectly-cooked ribeye steak, describing to my friends an expedition up Denali. One of my friends then asked "so what happened after Camp 2?" I stared down into my glass and a panic set in: why couldn't I remember anything else of the trip? I shot awake, back to the reality of where I was: in a Trango 4 tent, at 11,000 feet, in the middle of the sunny night, cold, with my tent mates Chris & Ilya. There are still weeks to go. Our tent, tent 2, as it were (we have no idea which ones are 1 and 3, but we're in the middle, so we'll call it number 2), has been affectionately (or derogatorily?) referred to as the "manferno" and "the pile." And it was beginning to smell, as you might imagine after 6 days without showers, but the mind has a way of shutting out the involuntary gag reflex when confronted with fermenting sleeping bags, excessive sunscreen, and jambalaya in a confined space, heated by the nearly all-day sun.
Today was a rest day for the team, apart from a crampon refresher, to recuperate from the last few days of dragging sleds uphill, and to acclimate. A day to eat, and relax. In tent 2 today, we prepared a charcuterie board with various cheeses, meats, olives, chocolates, hot sauces, and crackers. The olives in particular added the missing ingredient in our mountaineering potpourri. With the aforementioned lack of breathable oxygen, you might even say that tent 2 is the perfect place to prepare for higher altitudes. Each of us finds solace with some small item to still feel human on days like today: a pillow, a paper book, or, in my case, an electric razor to avoid looking like a grizzly mountain hermit–at least from a distance, the smell would surely give it away up close.
Off we go tomorrow, crampons beating against the ice, sleds pulling on our backs, on to cache gear higher up to build the next pile.
RMI Climber Skyler Parkhurst
Comments (2)
This team always seems to have the most creative posts. (Definitely have been getting a kick out of reading these every day.)
Posted by: Some guy from Puyallup on
A new literary classic is born- “The Manferno” by Skyler Parkhurst!
Love you, great job so far, and keep up the pace! Go team!
Posted by: Matt Milford on