Mt. McKinley: Knoff & Team - Kahiltna Dreams
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June 21, 2014 - 8:11 am PT
The transition from the sweet smell of blooming cotton woods, green grass, the easy access to showers to a life of arctic surroundings, grinding work and confined tent living comes abruptly! This morning that reality was as large as the towering mountains around us but the team motivated quickly and with resolve to get our grand adventure underway. The mental weight of shouldering a 60-pound pack connected to a 50-pound sled and then hauling it into an arena like the Kahiltna Glacier can be far more intimidating than the actual physical load. Faced with this challenge our team shined! We were thrilled to walk out of Base Camp at 9:30 this morning onto the smoothest most user-friendly trail I have seen in all my nine trips to this glacier. Not only was the trail superb, we had the weather to match. Five hours after leaving BC we arrived at Camp One. At only 7,800 feet the vertical gain was not all that much but the distance was enough under monster loads to assure us this journey will not be an easy one. Tomorrow we will attempt to move again. Stay tuned.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff signing off
On The Map
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Comments (3)
Sounds like a day in the making. Best of luck. Fair trails and following winds.
Gary
Posted by: Gary Butcher on
Looks like day one was a beautiful blue sky day! Hopefully everyone is feeling strong and rested for day two. Good luck to everyone and may the good weather continue.
JH
Posted by: Jerry Hildebrand on
Good to hear that the conditions were good and the team was strong. It’s going to be a tough climb by all accounts so best wishes to all.
Peter
Posted by: Peter Williamson on