McKinley Expedition: Champion and Team Cache at 13,500’
Posted by: Nikki Champion, Nick Sinapius, Rosie Hust
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
Hello friends and family! This is Karen (in the yellow jacket from the latest picture) and I’ll be taking over the daily dispatch from Nikki tonight (Hi Mom and Dad!!).
We woke up to silence which usually means no/little wind. I strained my ears to hear what I call the “meeting of the minds” aka Nikki, Rosie, and Nick deciding what the plan is for the day. At around 8:30am we got the call “hots and breakfast in 10min.” IT WAS A MOVE DAY, WOOHOO!
After a nice oats and blueberry breakfast we started to pack our bags and decide what food we wanted to cache just below 14k camp. Nikki came around and asked everyone if they wanted to add the most important piece of gear, GLITTER! At around 10:45 am our bags were packed, our faces full of glitter, and we were off like a heard of racing turtles.
We climbed Motorcycle hill then Squirrel hill, then crossed the Polo Fields before a break to put our helmets on before rounding Windy Corner. To my disappointment, I didn’t see a single motorcycle, squirrel, or person riding a horse, but it’s ok because there was also a lack of wind at Windy Corner. When the sun peaked through the clouds, the views were breathtaking up there.
After 4 hours of hiking, we arrived at our cache site around 13.5k ft. After our cache, we were off, back down to camp at 11k. We took some time to chill before a dinner of creamy potato soup with chicken sausage. If weather allows, we will head to 14k camp tomorrow!
With that, I leave you with tonight’s Haiku:
Move day, move day, yay!
Rope teams so strong as we go.
Champion leads all!
Karen, RMI Guide Nikki Champion, and Team
Comments (1)
My sister is out here writing haikus at 13,500 feet with glitter on her face and I could not be more proud. Love you Karen, crush it tomorrow team!
Posted by: Margo Thornton on