Sunday, May 23, 2010

9,800' camp, moving strong

Jacob phoned into the office today around 4pm to report the group has already moved a good ways up the Kahiltna and settled into camp at 9,800'. This is a good area to camp because of the mellow terrain and is usually free of major crevasses. The weather often comes over Kahiltna Pass and socks this camp in, but it is a short day to travel to 11,ooo' camp despite all but the worst conditions. They jumped out of the plane yesterday in the early afternoon, waited a few hours for the worst of the days heat to reflect off of the lower Kahiltna and carried their entire expedition to 7,800 camp. The move took 5 hours, which is a solid travel time. They ate a big mountain dinner and breakfast before hitting the trail this morning. The group all sounds very strong and healthy.
Here's some pictures from Saturday morning:
Gear check looks messy but lets the guides double-check the mountain kits to be sure they'll be up to the rigors of a Denali expedition. The Mariott let them use the floor of the restaurant for an hour or so.
The crew sits down to their last restaurant breakfast for several weeks- any diets or eating plans get suspended for Alaskan expeditions, because no matter what they eat pre- or during the expedition will be used. It's a lot of work!





No comments:

Post a Comment