McKinley Expedition: Burns and Team Ascend to Camp at 11,000’ Through Wind and Snow
Posted by: Seth Burns, Ben Thorneycroft, Margo Kerr
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska
Elevation: 11,200'
Tuesday, May 26th 11am PST
An early dinner with early bedtime made for an early morning start out of Camp 1. Our team woke up at 5 am and were headed back up ski hill by 7. We got our first glimpse of the top of Denali on our way out of camp.
In our current game of cache or carry - today was a carry day. We set out with sights set on 11 camp. We hauled sleds, did maths in our heads, and considered would you rather have constantly rotating or eternally damp socks. Our bluebird day turned cloudy, eventually giving way to snow and wind at 9500 feet.
We were happy to arrive at camp at 11,200 ft and after a quick group effort our camp was up and functioning again. We tucked ourselves in our cook tent with hot tea out of the wind and snow, and entertained alternative uses for tea bags. Now waiting for our impending delicious dinner from our amazing guides, we look forward to tomorrow and what the weather will have in store for us. I leave you with a quote I often utter as I hoist my body up this cold mountain. As a wise Mexican chihuahua once said “With my bean and my sombrero, the candy is never far away”
-RMI Climber Julia (aka Juls/Jube)
PS - Shout out to my mom and dad, who are currently watching my dog so I can run around Alaska for 4 weeks, my family/my best friends/my girls at Pennsy following along/my child dog Coco.
Comments (3)
Go Jube and Treav and team!! Coco says hi!! Stay safe and hope you are enjoying the journey!
Posted by: Anna Hickman on
So happy to be able to follow along to the coolest person I know’s journey! Keep crushing it! So proud!!!
Posted by: Ashlee on
We appreciate every update but especially this one! Go Jules!!!
Posted by: Kryssy on