Mt. McKinley: Haugen & Team’s Adventure Continues
June 26, 2014 - 9:40 pm PT
We set out Tuesday morning to move up to 17k when circumstances both unfortunate and out of our control forced us back down to 14k camp. We made the wise mountaineering decision to forgo the summit for another time and begin the arduous trek back to Denali's Basecamp. We made it back to Basecamp around ten yesterday morning and were disheartened to hear that although clear here, the planes were not flying because of weather between here and Talkeetna. We set up camp and made the best of being stuck in the Alaska range.
Although we thought our adventure was winding down, we woke up last night to over a foot and a half of snow threatening our tent. We shoveled around camp for over two hours helping other teams that had tents collapse. When the snow finally slowed down this morning, we had collected well over three feet! Although it was fun to see that much snow, it also meant we needed to put on our snowshoes to stomp down an entire runway filled with nearly waste deep, wet snow. The weather never really cleared today, but we are hoping that we will not receive as much snow tonight and the weather will be clear for flight activity to resume tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen and Team "The Ocho"
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Comments (3)
Mike and Josh,
Thank both for leading Bruce on such a great trip!
Posted by: Mom and Dad on
I’m so sorry, you guys—but I know you made the correct decision based on what you were facing—I was watching the local weather for Denali via the NOAA feeds and I’m very glad to hear that you’re down & safe! That’s all that matters in the end!
Posted by: Susan Matthews on
From the looks of the weather on the upper mountain, you all made the best choice. Up is optional, down is mandatory.
Posted by: James on