Today was a supposed “rest day”. We slept in ‘til 5:30am, which was welcome after some of our earlier starts. We were now at a height where snow melt and crevasse bridges was less of a concern, meaning we did not need to travel through the night. On the other hand the heat of the day was significant, despite the temp being in the 10’s or 20’s, so moving before it got too hot when we had full sun in the sky was important.
The rest day entailed going back to our cache at 10,000 ft to collect our stuff. We left camp at 6:30 am. It was cold, probably 15-20F. Despite our best estimate to cache half our stuff, the half left in the cache was heavier, or at least appeared to be, so the carry back up to 11,000 ft was tougher than expected, but it was relatively short. We were back by 8am.
Shortly thereafter, it was a feast of bagels, cream cheese, and bacon. A few hours of rest, followed by 2 episodes of Clarkson’s farm season 4, and then a refresher in uphill walking techniques in crampons with Dominic. I hate walking side step, but on steeper ground it provides some relief from the normal duck step. Doing either in crampons, and avoiding stumbles or slashing one’s gaiters, does necessitate some practice. My legs haven’t done either since late November in Antarctica.
Different teams on the mountain have different strategies on assaulting Denali. Some bypass Camp 1, and stop somewhere between Camp 1 and Camp 2, and maybe not cache until above Camp 2 – so they carry all their gear in one carry. That’s hard! However, they will also need to have a different rest day strategy, to acclimatize.
We had a group charcuterie lunch Al fresco in the afternoon, looking at these glorious mountains, getting to know each other better, and unfortunately watching the clouds gather on Mt Foraker to our south. Dominic says it’s not a great sign, but weather up here is unpredictable
Dominic says the real climbing starts tomorrow. So far had been ‘approach work’. Before going to bed tonight we pack our backpacks assuming we will move tomorrow and cache somewhere below 14,000ft. The cache will be our heavy layers, and lots of our food. Food remains the big question, it weighs a lot, and it seems like i brought too much. The consolation is everyone is in the same boat. I can leave some here at 11,000 and collect it when we descend, but the fear is running out, or running short.
So far it’s been pretty hot. While day temps may be on the mid 20’s to mid 30’s, the sun and the reflection make it feel like the 70’s or 80’s. Sitting outside is so hot. Most of the time we lay in our tents or sit in the Posh (cooktent). Lying in the tent, we put the sleeping bags on top/outside of the tent to keep the tent cool. It really works!
From Camp 2 we can see a large part of the next day. ‘Ski hill’ is the beginning of our next stage. We sit and watch other teams ascend, like little tiny columns of ants. It is steep, so will be a test, but so far so good!
Tonight after dinner the whole camp enjoyed the spectacle of a few guys skiing down, with sleds and duffles. Some were spectacularly successful, and some were a train wreck. As we watch we think skis would be nice, being able to descend in minutes versus hours. However, this is not simple skiing- no groomed runs here!
Night time temps are still manageable, so haven’t had to increase the nighttime layers yet. Sleeping has been ok. I am struggling to get to sleep, but I have to be woken each morning. The pee bottle is the savior in the middle of the night
Site Title 
Leave a comment