Entries from Mt. McKinley
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 8:55 PM PT
Well, today we finally got out of 14 Camp. We had spent eight nights there and by an early season
Denali trip that’s nothing but for us and the weather we have had, it felt like an eternity. Today proved to be no cooler temperature wise, HOT going up the fixed lines and once we gained the West Buttress proper it was some of the figurative coolest ridge walking this group has done. We didn’t get great views due to thin clouds but that’s ok, our entire trip has been good views.
We don’t know what tomorrow holds and we could take a rest day if needed. High pressure is building over Denali and we are hopeful to summit tomorrow. Getting to 17 Camp can be a chore, but once you're there Camp must be built, 6 XGK stoves must be managed to make drinking water and hot water for meals. Camp is situated in a glacial depression and we can see the Autobahn which plagues climbers for the first two hours on summit day. This section gets its name from how fast you can get going if you fall and are not clipped into the running belays. Other than a long day, the Team is doing mostly well. It’s normal to not feel 100% here at 17,200’. None of us are living our best lives physiologically, but we are really excited to have a crack at 20,320’. Thanks for the support and blog comments, I’ve been saving them for an alternative pep talk tonight instead of my traditional surly high school gym coach style motivational speech.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Monday, June 17, 2019 - 11:43 PM PT
We were excited to fly up to
Denali Basecamp this morning. We hurried through breakfast and headed to the hangar where our gear was organized and ready to go. Even when we got the word that there was too much fog in basecamp to fly, we were optimistic that it would happen today. We waited into the afternoon when we finally got our chance to fly on. We got everyone and all the gear loaded up and headed to the mountain. About halfway there, the pilots could not find a way through the clouds and were not about to poke around in the big mountains without visibility. We thank them for trying and for using good judgment.
We are currently in a holding pattern and definitely not flying today. Hopefully tomorrow will be our day! Fingers crossed.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen & Team Siete
Monday, June 17, 2019 - 10:15 PM PT
Today was very productive for our team. We woke at 1am, packed up camp, and hit the trail at 3am. By 8:30 am we had made it to the
11,200' Camp, colloquially known as Camp Three. We set our tents up, had breakfast and coffee, and a few hours of rest, and by 1 pm we were back on the trail headed back down to pick up our cache at 10,000'. By 3:30 pm we were back at camp with all of our supplies. But there was still work to do flattening tent platforms, building a kitchen, and fine tuning camp. Dinner by 6 pm and bed by 7:30 seemed appropriate for today.
And tomorrow we earned a rest day. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow, so we won't be missing anything.
We'll touch base again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Monday, June 17, 2019 - 8:40 PM PT
Not much to report except that due to some weather and a few extenuating circumstances we took yet another weather/rest day. The forecast is looking good for the remainder of the week. We will plan on moving up to
17,200’ tomorrow. The Team is doing well, we are all anxious to get out of this camp after eight nights. They built an igloo to stay busy and spent a lot of time chatting in the kitchen tent. That’s all from 14, hopefully you’ll hear from us after a successful move day to High Camp.
RMI Guide Mike King
Monday, June 17, 2019 - 1:06 AM PT
After a rainy arrival in Talkeetna last night, we had a nice day to get our massive amount of gear ready to be flown on the glacier tomorrow. Our meeting with the Denali National Park rangers was great as always and we were rewarded with 20 CMC's (clean mountain cans) to make sure that all of our human waste gets removed from the mountain.
Denali is a pristine mountain and the park service does an incredible job of making sure it stays that way.
We are scheduled to fly into base camp tomorrow morning. The group is hopeful that the weather allows us to fly at some point tomorrow so our adventure can begin and all of our climbers' hard work and anxious packing can start to pay off. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen & Team Siete
Sunday, June 16, 2019 - 11:36 AM PT
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads reading this. We got a little snow and slight breeze last night. The weather from the SE continues to bring clouds and precipitation towards the mountain. We have opted to stay put today and see what Monday brings. There is a period of improving weather Wednesday to Friday. Since we have our cache in at 16,200’ we just need 36-48 hours to launch up for a summit attempt. Moral is still high in the Team. A snow couch and lounge area was built yesterday with a large snow “TV” carved out for viewing the clouds roll over Mt Foraker. Obviously we would have preferred to have been up and down by now but that’s not what Denali had planned for us. We will improve camp today, eat a big lunch and continue the 14,000' Camp hangout. Everyone is healthy and happy, fingers crossed for improving weather.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Sunday, June 16, 2019 - 10:13 AM PT
We let the snow surface freeze up a bit after dinner and left camp at 9pm, headed up the
Kahiltna Glacier with our backpacks and sleds loaded with food and supplies we'll need a we move higher. The traveling was efficient and the views were stunning as out team enjoyed beautiful pink alpenglow on Kahiltna Dome and Foraker, two neighboring giants that are dwarfed by Denali.
In three hours time we made it up to around 10,000' where we cache our gear in a hole dug deep into the snow. By 2 am, five hours after we started, we were back at our camp at the Base of Ski Hill and ready for bed.
This morning we slept in and will enjoy an extended egg and bacon brunch. Then we'll have some more resting in store as we will wait for the glacier to freeze up again in order move our camp to 11,200'.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Saturday, June 15, 2019 - 2:21 PM PT
We got up with a few more clouds in the glacial valleys below us and figured we would hope for the best. After breakfast we packed up camp and headed towards the fixed lines. As we climbed the lower slopes out of 14 Camp the clouds moved in with a light wind and snow. After an hour we caught our last view of the
upper mountain and saw snow blowing 500+ feet into the atmosphere. Since there hadn’t been any snow accumulation up there for a while we decided the winds on the Buttress were to high for the exposed terrain we needed to travel through before reaching 17 Camp. The Team is back in camp at 14,200’ and settled in for our continued hangout. We will be watching the forecast closely and looking at the “nowcast” and hope for a 36-48 hour window to sneak up there and have a summit bid. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Saturday, June 15, 2019 - 1:51 PM PT
When we hit the sack after dinner last night the weather was beautiful and we expected much of the same today. But the weather threw us a curve ball and at 3 AM we woke to snow and wind. We felt like we were inside of a Ping Pong ball, and the cloud cover prevented the snow from freezing last night. So, all in all, not an ideal morning. We pumped the brakes a little and decided to postpone this morning's climb for tonight. Instead, we had a great breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, and smoked salmon to pass the morning. We're currently still in the Ping Pong ball and wet snow is still falling. Hopefully tonight's weather will treat us better and we can get a cache of supplies up to around
10,000'. We'll keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Saturday, June 15, 2019 - 9:17 AM PT
Greetings all,
And just like that, we’re back in civilization. Just two days ago,
we were standing on top of North America, at 20,310’, after a long and demanding effort over the course of two weeks. And now, green grass, crowded Talkeetna streets and restaurants, and the comforts (and burdens) of modern technology and bustling civilization. It’s quite a shock to the system. But here we are, tired after finishing our walk out to Base Camp Friday morning, celebrating our expedition and our success here in Talkeetna. We enjoyed a wonderful celebratory dinner at the Wildflower Cafe with fresh seafood as the fare of choice, and reminisced about all the experiences we’ve shared over the last few weeks. It’s been an incredible couple weeks, and all the Team should be incredibly proud of their accomplishment! We’re headed back to Anchorage this morning to put the final steps of a great adventure in place, and head back to our friends and family. Thanks for following along all these weeks!
RMI Guides
Robby Young,
Nick Scott,
Joe Hoch and Team Homeward Bound
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Go team go! We’re rooting for you Allan and today’s possible summit!!!
Posted by: Bryan C-G on 6/20/2019 at 12:59 pm
Is so amazing what you are doing!!! Keep up the good work!!!
Please send my regards to Boris! We miss him!
Posted by: Laurent Villa on 6/19/2019 at 5:59 am
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