Day3/4 June 11/12

We took off on schedule and landed on the glacier about 12 mid-day. Base camp is deserted. Everyone left when the weather improved. The pilot said this was the best weather of the season. We immediately set up tents and rested. It was too hot to move. We had dinner at 5pm and discussed the plan. We would move out at 3am. We then discussed our packing strategy – on our backs versus sleds, how to rope up with the sleds, and how to rope the sleds to prevent them flipping us if we fell in a crevasse. The issue with flipping is that we may fall out of our harness. That’s bad, really bad! We also discussed ice axe arrest when pulling a sled, if one of the team dropped in a crevasse. This is most likely the leader, as we are all instructed to follow exactly his foot steps.

Then we hit the sack. Sleep was mediocre. It’s hard to sleep at 7:30pm in broad daylight, and the apprehension of what lies ahead.

We were woken at 12. Breakfast, a quite horrible granola with powdered milk. Then we finished packing -emptying the tents, packing up all the sleeping stuff, plus the group food and kitchen. My bag without any group stuff was 71lbs, add 3 liters of water, and the group stuff. 90-100 lbs.

I was slightly heavier in the sled I think.

At 3 am we hit the trail. I was the last in our group of 4.30 am in Alaska is daylight, midnight in Alaska is like a November day in Indiana or Ireland – just dull. The initial stretch is downhill. The weight doesn’t feel so bad. The brake is on the sled, to try and prevent it clattering your heels. Everyone was in snowshoes. The temp felt like 0-10F. The snow was crisp underfoot, and good to walk on. After an hour of downhill, we took a right and headed up the Kahiltna glacier. In addition to the underfoot conditions being better, the bridges on the crevasses are more solid. This with the snowshoes to spread the weight, is the safest option. The sun was catching the tip of Mt Foraker, it was glowing a bright yellow. Beautiful!

The pull up the hill was tough, but we set a steady pace, and plodded upwards. We took 3 breaks to snack, and hydrate. At the final break we took out our sunglasses and put on sunscreen. The sun the right hand shoulder of Denali, as we reached Camp 1. Up there somewhere is the famous Cassin route – not for the faint hearted.

Camp 1 is beautiful. An amphitheater of the most beautiful, pristine white mountains. Denali was clear all day. Francis, Hunter, etc, all looking majestic.

We set up camp – 5 tents, a cook/dining tent, and a ‘bathroom’. I buried my food, the heat of the sun would turn my chocolate snacks into a giant glob. Everyone grabbed 2-3 hours of sleep, and then hung out in the tents – resting.

Dinner at 6, with delicious burritos, some hot chocolate, and discussed the plan for tomorrow.

We will bring half our gear towards Camp 2, and cache at around 10,000ft, and then come back down

It’s good to have a day down. It’s encouraging to be able to complete the first carry. The road gets steeper, but the loads will get lighter. Now to try and grab some sleep.