Denali 2nd attempt, June 2008

Somewhere in Mission Viejo, CA

135lbs of gear packed

Mt. Baldy. I hiked up from 6k to 10k with 75lbs the weekend before but there was a lot more snow.

Meanwhile, in Florida, Doc (Mark) says goodbye to his family.

Crossing contrails over the California desert

Todd jumpseats up to Anchorage and we hit up Mooses Tooth for pizza and beer

The next morning we pile our gear on the deck at Arctic Adventures hostel and wait for a shuttle van to drive us out to Talkeetn

Hobbe, Toad, Steel and Doc

Weighing in all our gear and persons at Talkeetna Air Taxi.

My brother and me at Talkeetna's bustling airport

The guys are in buying last minute gear items at AMS

I'm pretty sure Todd was drooling

All Denali climbers check-in, pay, get a briefing and pick up their Clean Mountain Cans (CMCs)

Matt, John, John, Mark (booze, water and CMCs are all we need)

We head in to the bustling metropolis of Talkeetna for a last beer. It is a strange mix of super fit climbers and chubby Alaskan

The West Rib Pub. Where climbers celebrate at the end of a long journey.

Last chance calories at the brawt stand (and yes, they had Tofurkey Dogs!)

John and John before 3 weeks of hygene deficite.

Me before 3 weeks of pooping in a can and no shaving.

Loading our chariot to just ouside the park boundary.

Turbo Otter, 1000HP of love.

IMG_1940.JPG

Byebye green

Hello side of a mountain.

Todd flew up to base camp with us at 7,800' just outside Denali National Park's boundary and spent a few nights on the glacier.

No really, we brought too much food, please eat it.

Steel making pre-dinner soup

Todd's home for the next two lovely nights

Soup and mashed 'taters by John, Pasta Salad by Toady.

Mt Hunter looms over Base Camp and the airfield

We see the weather is great and the surface and snow bridges are good enough for travel during the day so we rig up the next mor

Todd helps us rig our sleds to the main rope so they don't fall on us if we find a crevase the hard way.

I get my bandanas for the gangsta avoiding UV look.

Hobbs sports the bandito look

On the road by 11:30.

Steel takes point today as we move our quarter ton.