Successful trip up Denali (Mt. Mckinley) - "The High One" - 20,320' (6194m). Steel, Doc, Hobbs and the Hippy take on the West Buttress again.
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.
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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.