Saturday, May 21, 2022 - 11:02 pm PT

Things were perfect to move to 14,000' Camp today when we woke up, except that all of camp had the same idea too, and were up early as well. We decided it would make a lot of sense to enjoy a good smoked salmon breakfast and let the unbroken line of climbers that stretched from the top of Motorcycle Hill work things out. A few hours later, we were packed, no teams in sight, and we rolled out of camp heading uphill. A high, thin cloud layer and light breeze kept us happily cool through breezy turn. As we came out the other side though, the wind died and it got HOT!  We climbed the last bit of elevation and happily arrived at 14,000' Camp. We dug in a nice camp for the next several days next to the first RMI team and gathered for dinner and cherry cheesecake before the chill of our new, higher home drove us to our sleeping bags. Tomorrow is a rest day. We're psyched.

RMI Guides Pete, Leif, Erika, and team

Friday May 20 - 11:42pm

We made full value out of our rest day today. We woke late, had a brunch of blueberry pancakes and maple syrup, lounged for the better part of the day, and capped it with burritos for dinner. We have had no problem eating well.

Our main entertainment has been a very large team made up of members of the British military. We are all on a similar schedule, and subsets of their team have been filtering into camp the last couple days. As of today, our camp is encircled on three sides. The main constant in the wide variety of British accents constantly around us is the abundance of the F bomb. That word cuts through all accents and after our informal survey today shows up on average as every third word. There has been general hilarity listening to their banter through our tent walls and it was a main topic of discussion over dinner tonight.

We plan to move up to 14 tomorrow. Rested and refreshed after today, it should be done enjoyable climbing.

Pete, Erika, Leif, and team

Thursday, May 19, 2022 -  10:57pm PT

It was a perfect day to switch from lower glacier load hauling to actually climbing. The weather was clear and calm in the morning, so we pumped through a bagel breakfast, grabbed loads of food and fuel, and set our sights on motorcycle hill. Many teams cache at 13,5k just past windy corner, but we had our sights set on 14. The first several hours were pleasant. Sunny, but with just enough air moving to keep us comfortable. Rounding windy corner, there wasn't a breath of wind. The sauna turned on and we all had mild cases of heat panic. We cruised on into 14,000’ camp and got to say hi to Mike Walter and team, who were kind enough to top off some water bottles. With our goal secured, we turned and beat feet back to camp.

It was a solid day out and hard work, so we will reward ourselves with the first proper rest day of the trip tomorrow.

RMI Guides Pete, Leif, Erika, and Team

Thursday, May 18, 2022 - 12:46 am PT

We took our time over coffee and breakfast burritos this morning, enjoying the slow start and the warming sun that doesn't hit camp until 9 am. Satiated, we left camp and moved quickly downhill to our cache at 9600', relishing the opportunity to stride it out and cover ground. We passed a lot of teams headed towards 11,000' Camp, slowly trudging under the loads of big packs and full sleds. With our cache retrieved, we worked out way back uphill to our cozy camp. Overall, 11,000' Camp felt like it doubled in size today and lots of folks were strolling around, enjoying a warm afternoon. We'll look to continue our momentum tomorrow caching a load of fuel and food up high near Windy Corner.

RMI Guides Pete, Leif, Erika, and team

Monday, May 16, 2022 - 9:37 pm PT

At 4 am this morning the wolf tried his first huff. He then continued to huff and puff and try to blow down our house but we had built it strong. While we hunkered in our tents it was clear that it wasn't a day to try to walk anywhere. It blew for the morning but by early afternoon began to abate and have us a chance to get out of the tents and stretch our legs. This evening turned gorgeous as the wind went calm and the skies cleared. We should have smooth sailing for a move to 11,000' Camp tomorrow. We'll touch base.

RMI Guides Pete, Erika, Leif, and team

Monday, May 16, 2022 - 6:54 am PT

We spent our first night in the Alaska range cozy in our -20 bags and woke to clear skis and a stunning view all around. The peak of Denali above had a small cloud hat, but otherwise the mountains jutted up into the blue and the sky promised another gorgeous day. We fired the stoves for breakfast and as the sun got closer to camp, woke everyone.

After bagel bacon sandwiches, we set to the task of organizing what gear we were going to move uphill to cache. A fair bit of our food and fuel made up the bulk of it. We departed, loads considerably lighter than yesterday and worked our way up Ski Hill. Several hours of steady uphill work brought us to 9700', where we opted to dig a deep hole in the snow and hide our treasure, to be retrieved in a few days. Moving light and downhill, we made quick work of the descent back to camp and a dinner of burritos. And so goes the rhythm of Denali - wake, eat, walk, eat, sleep. We'll touch base tomorrow.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer, Leif Bergstrom, Erika Birkeland, and team

Sunday, May 15, 2022 - 1:10 am PT

It was an auspicious start to our May 12 Denali Expedition today. When we called K2 in the morning to ask how things looked they replied "unlimited visibility and perfect". We rallied a hasty breakfast and headed for the hanger. We had gotten all of our bags set yesterday, so it didn't take much to get the planes loaded and launched. The pilots were taken with how clear and gorgeous the day was too, taking several detours to show us stunning corners of the Alaska Range on the way.

We landed and hit the ground running. Fully loaded sleds and packs were an indication of the magnitude of our undertaking, but the team cruised through the 5.5 miles of mellow glacier travel, and we rolled in to our first camp looking fresh. Everyone is fed and tucked into warm sleeping bags and as we write, a stunning full moon is rising over Mt. Hunter.

We plan to carry a load up towards Kahiltna pass tomorrow and then return to camp. We'll be in touch.

RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Leif Bergstrom, Erika Birkeland, and team