Entries from Mt. McKinley
Monday, June 3, 2019 - 9:11 PM PT
And on the sixth day, we rested. Boy it felt good to just stay in one place for a day. We woke up to some winds and a little bit of snow, and we were due for our annual rest day here at
11,000' Camp, so we took full advantage. There was no up and attem this morning, as we let our bodies sleep, and waited until 9am to indulge in a eggs and hashers feast. We had a little bit of sun midday, but most of the day the mountain seemed to spit snow and coat us in clouds as we practiced some climbing skills that are pivotal for the coming days. Not much else to report from a day of rest, and that’s a beautiful thing. We’re hopeful to carry tomorrow to a cache site at 13,600’, but the mountain will make the call in the morning.
Until then, stay tuned.
RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe, and Team Tasty Bite
On The Map
Monday, June 3, 2019 - 5:49 PM PT
When we poked our heads out of the tent this morning, we hoped to see sunny, calm skies beckoning us to climb this mountain. It was definitely sunny, but winds up high were blowing snow into the stratosphere. As much as we hoped to climb today, it was an easy decision to stay put here at
17 Camp. We slept in, reinforced our camp with some big snow walls, told some jokes, and talked about the beach. Fortunately it hasn’t been too windy here in camp. We’ve been able to get out and stretch our legs from time to time, inspect other camps for architectural inspiration, and chat with the neighbors. We can see the tundra from up here, the only green in sight, 15,000 feet below us. We’ll do an early dinner again, and get organized in hopes of climbing tomorrow. At this point it all just depends on what the winds do.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
The RMI Denali May 8th Team led by RMI Guides Mike Walter, Alan Davis & Alex Halliday returned to Talkeetna yesterday. After lots of waiting at 14,000' Camp on both the ascent and descent, the weather allowed the team to depart Kahiltna Basecamp. Once in Talkeetna the team sorted gear, arranged rooms, shuttle transportation and flight homes. The trip ended with a celebratory meal before spending their final night in Alaska. All team members should be making their way back to their respective homes. We would like to congratulate them on a safe and successful expedition.
Thanks for following along on their adventure.
Sunday, June 2, 2019 - 11:10 PM PT
We moved up to 17 Camp today. In my opinion, this is the second hardest day of the trip, but everyone handled it with style and grace. We had a perfect day moving up the
West Buttress, with light winds and spectacular views. We’re all straight chillin in our tents now, eating dinner and snacks. The sun hits this camp until past our bedtime, which keeps us warm for the first few hours of sleep. We’re hoping to try for the summit tomorrow if weather allows, so we’re turning in early. We’ll let you know how we’re doing tomorrow.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
On The Map
Sunday, June 2, 2019 - 10:07 PM PT
11 Camp is now officially home! We back carried this morning and finally brought all of our food and gear to camp. It’s a short saunter down to our 10,000’ cache and we make quick work, two hours round trip to be exact. After some afternoon naps and much needed rest this afternoon, we were back up and attem for dinner. The Sriracha Ranch Chicken wraps were a home run! Our 5 star meal was followed up for 5-star views when, for the first time all trip, we finally had a break in the snow and had views of the incredible mountains surrounding us here in the
Alaska Range. It was a day for the books. We’re settling into the routines of expedition life and all is well. Tomorrow, we have our sites set on shuttling some gear up to a cache at 13,600’, but as we do here in Alaska, we’ll pole our heads out of the tent in the morning and see what Mother Nature has in store. Until then, keep it classy out there in the real world.
RMI Guides Robby, Joe, Nick and Team Sriracha
On The Map
Well folks, a lot has happened over the last 48 hours and I'm sorry to have been keeping you waiting. June 1, we woke up to somewhat clearing skies at 14,000' Camp and decided to pack up and get as far downhill as we could. Aside from an interesting GPS guided tour through an area known as the "Polo Field" the weather held out and we made it all the way back to the Southeast Fork of the
Kahiltna Glacier where we began our trip. We arrived just before midnight and quickly set up our tents, had a quick dinner and went to sleep with dreams of flying out the next morning. Well those dreams came true. This morning we woke to the sound of camp bustling with life when clear skies and the sound of basecamp manager Lisa's voice booming through the early morning with warnings that we should start getting ready to fly off. A few hours later we were in the sky heading towards Talkeetna. The trip has finally come to an end. It's been a fantastic three weeks here in the great Alaska Range and its bittersweet to see it end. We'll meet up for one last team dinner tonight before going our separate ways tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for following along. It's been a wild ride!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
Sunday, June 2, 2019 - 8:13 AM PT
We took advantage of a lull in the weather to pack up our kit and descend from 14,000' to Basecamp. We encountered light snow, but generally pleasant travel conditions during our 8 hour descent.
Here at Kahiltna Basecamp it is a crowded scene, as no planes have been able to land here in a few days. Hopefully the weather breaks and we can fly to Talkeetna today. That's it for now. There's still a lot of work to do organizing gear to prepare for a flight.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Saturday, June 1, 2019 - 11:00 PM PT
And the train keeps on rolling! We were up and attem early again this morning, rolling out of bed at 530 am and on the trail by 730 am with all of the remainder of our food and gear on our backs. We spent about 6 hours breaking trail from 7800’ camp all the way to
11,000’ Camp, without a single other climbing team in sight. The snow and clouds kept us cool, and allowed us to make efficient work of the climb. We made it to “11” camp just in time to see our fellow RMI teams led by Mike Walter and Steve Gately before we got down to building camp, which should be our home for the next few nights. Tomorrow, we’ll ‘back-carry’ and finally get the rest of gear up here at 11,000 and be all set to start setting our sites on some of the more fun climbing of the trip. Until then, keep it real out there in the real world. We’ll keep you updated on our progress.
RMI Guides Robby, Nick, Joe and Team Trail Break
On The Map
Not much going on at
14,000' Camp today. We ate a late breakfast, and have been watching it snow all day. It’s pretty easy to take a rest day when the weather doesn’t permit much else. Folks have been alternating between reading, napping, and guessing what’s going on in the real world. At this point, with our cache up high, we’ve done all that we can do to prepare to summit this mountain. Now we just rest, recuperate, and wait for good weather. If the forecast holds, we might not have to wait very long, but we will see.
We’ll check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
On The Map
Friday, May 31, 2019 7:58 PM PT
Today we woke to relatively warm temperatures and light snow. As we looked up to the ridge of the
West Buttress there didn’t appear to be any winds, although a bit of snow continued to fall. After a speedy breakfast we decided to make moves and head on up the mountain to cache gear somewhere above the fixed lines. Throughout the first few hours of the day we progressed apprehensively, wary of some menacing looking clouds that were lingering higher up on the mountain, but as we cruised up the fixed lines we were treated with warm temperatures and light winds. This enabled us to progress to 16,600 feet to dig a cache to store some gear to support ourselves for our summit bid. After a quick break we turned around and headed back down to 14 Camp where we are now relaxing and waiting to eat some dinner! Spirits are high and we are all looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.
RMI Guide JT Schmitt
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You need to rest, boys! Steve, thinking about you everyday; following the blog on the website-it’s great. Well, get some rest, you’ll all be climbing like a bunch of monkeys soon !
Love , Mike and Ruth
Posted by: Mike and Ruth on 6/5/2019 at 3:40 pm
We continue to pray for you Steve. We are at Omaha Beach because Pat’s dad was here 75 years ago and survived to come home. Very emotional day for us but we are remembering you on that mountain and praying you will achieve your goal.
Posted by: Mike and Pat Lurakis on 6/5/2019 at 9:24 am
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