Denali Climb at Camp I Pictures

Awoke around 1 p.m. Not leaving until this evening. Some clouds have come in. It is snowing a bit. If we only could have weather like yesterday everyday. Sleeping is tough since other climbers are all around us. There are also the airplanes landing and taking off. Well, we finally left around 7 p.m. with partly to mostly cloudy sky. We passed some Koreans (6) who will probably end up dead. They were having a hard time going down Heartbrake Hill, so they untied and all went solo. The clouds soon got thicker after some nice views of Kahiltna Pass. Once to the 7,600 camp the weather went all crappy. We set up camp, and then went over to dig up our cache. I can not believe the amount of crap we have. River cooked up another great meal, he has cooked his community meals the past 2 days and it is like a Sherpa with us. Now it is 4:30 a.m., our camp is set, our bellies full, and we are going to sleep by the sounds of wind and snow hitting the tent. It was 18 degrees tonight during dinner, much warmer than the 0 temps during our first shuttle. We know todays weather is going to suck, so we will sleep all day and night so we will be back to the day shift. Last night (or 2 hours ago depending on your perspective) was extremely dark for Alaska. You could still walk outside but cooking was a bit tough. We met 2 guys from Hawaii on their way down. They say the mountain whipped their butts. As of now only 2 climbers have summated this year.

Today was a complete waste. I got up around 1 or 2 p.m. and everyone in all the camps were gearing up to go. The weather was good, unexpectedly. You would think we need to go, but no. Bruce and Cortland wanted a rest day. River said we could do it but he did not push like I was doing. Well we did not go and we just ate and prepared for tomorrow. We hope to do 2 carries from here 7,600 to 9,700. The route is Ski Hill and it looks fun. One of the funniest things today was the Germans nearby. They left their camp and about 10 minutes later a ranger went over to where they camped. The ranger next went by us asking if we had bags for crapping. He said the Germans crapped everywhere around their camp. He said they were going to be fined. He left to catch them. About 20 minutes later, the ranger had brought the Germans back and made them clean it up. As the Germans went by they said, it sure costs a lot to shit here! I yelled out asking how much did they fine you? He yelled back $150 dollars a person. We all were in shock (laughing). Now its 9 p.m. and were going to sleep at a regular time.

7,600 Foot Camp I