We woke from our first day at 14,000' camp to beautifully clear skies and stunning views of the West Buttress to our north and the rest of the Alaska Range to our south, punctuated by the other two massive peaks in the range, Mt. Hunter & Foraker.
After a modest breakfast of granola and hot drinks, we headed back down hill to retrieve our cache, just shy of Windy Corner. That trip involved just over an hour of moving, so we're enjoying lots of rest the rest of the day. Besides resting, eating, and hydrating, were doing some chores around camp, like improving our kitchen/eating tent by digging it deeper and wider and buffing out the seating.
We have a rest day planned for tomorrow. That usually means sleeping in and some form of bacon and eggs breakfast burritos for an extended brunch. We'll touch base again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
We woke early to perfect weather this morning and decided we couldn't pass up the opportunity to move camp up to 14,200' in Genet Basin. The weather remained great for us all day, with some clouds building mid morning and a few scattered snow flurries, but no wind to speak of. Laden with heavy packs, we made slow and steady progress and after about six hours we arrived at camp. It's been a few hours now and camp is up, the climbers are resting in their tents, and stoves are cranking melting snow for water bottles and heating water for dinner.
Tomorrow we will head back down to Windy Corner to retrieve our cache. That will be a short day and we're happy for that. We're also looking forward to our first complete rest day the following day (Monday). It's time to lick our wounds, rest, and acclimate.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Sounds like your progress is good as compared to last year! Enjoy the remainder of the climb, Tom M! Greetings to you from all the Mulvey-Temples ..... from the Oregon coast!
We're on a roll now with another great day today. We woke to clear skies with a cloud deck slightly below our camp. There was some blowing snow visible up towards our destination, Windy Corner. So to drag our feet a bit and let it warm up and see what the winds were going to do we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of toasted bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon--not bad for breakfast at 11,200' on Denali.
The sun eventually hit our camp and the winds abated. So we followed suit and finished packing up, donned our crampons and off we went. We were loaded down with food and fuel in our backpacks, intent on establishing a cache around Windy Corner. The first obstacle out of camp was climbing Motorcycle Hill, which took us 45 minutes to climb. Next we climbed Squirrel Hill and crossed the Polo Fields. Before we knew it we rounded Windy Corner and arrived at our cache site at 13,600'. We dug a deep hole in the snow, buried our gear, then headed back to camp. We were psyched to see the second RMI Denali team, led by Steve Gately, building camp next to ours here at 11,000'.
The next stage of the game for us is to move camp to 14,000'. We'll see what the weather does and that will influence whether we try to move tomorrow or take a rest day.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
After three consecutive days of hard work, we had a lighter day today. But it wasn't all rest; we had work to do, to go back down to 10,000', dig up our cache, and haul it in sleds and backpacks back to our camp at 11,200'. It wasn't easy work, but compared to the last three days it sure felt that way.
The snow conditions were excellent for travel on snowshoes and the temps were enjoyable. Intermittent clouds and light snow showers added to the great day. By the time we made it back to camp it was snowing a bit harder, but with no wind it didn't really bother us too much.
This afternoon we are resting, eating and drinking, and preparing gear and supplies for our next cache, which will be up around Windy Corner at about 13,600'. If the weather is good, that might happen tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Thank you for all the great updates and pictures, Mike! So happy to hear you all are making some good progress and the weather is cooperating.
Tom M, we all are thinking of you and hope your fingers and nose are happy this year!
Posted by: Susan Mulvey on 5/17/2019 at 8:23 am
I’ve been away from internet/cellular coverage for several days but finally I’ve been able to read up on your progress.
So good to hear you’re now well on your way after the initial delay and a couple of false starts -although still fun to catch a flight or 3. Loved the video from the May 10 flight –Hi Tom M xoxo
Here’s hoping the weather continues to cooperate so the team can continue with more of the awesome progress made over the last few days. Mike, thanks so much for the updates –much appreciated.
Best wishes to all. Stay strong, stay safe and enjoy the adventure!!
Our team had another big day today. We rose early, ate breakfast, and proceeded to break down our camp. We moved from our camp at the Base of Ski Hill (7,800') to 11,200', a big day indeed. When we got here the real work started though: building camp, setting up tents, the kitchen and the bathroom, and the arduous task of melting snow for water and then cooking dinner. We're currently in the melting snow for water stage and we arrived in camp over four hours ago. There's still a lot to get done tonight. Tomorrow we'll go back down to 10,000' to retrieve our cache. Til then...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The weather seems to have changed its tune as of late and is cooperating with us nicely. Today was mostly cloudy with an occasion light snow shower and a light breeze. It was perfect for climbing up Ski Hill and continuing up the Kahiltna to 10,000' where we made a cache of food and fuel and gear. The glacier is in excellent condition and the traveling was smooth. Our team all did well today and we're now in position to move camp to 11,200', hopefully tomorrow.
We'll let you know what shakes out,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Three times is a charm, I guess. On our third flight trying to get to Basecamp over the past few days, we had good clear skies and smooth sailing and finally made it in. After a few hours of repacking our gear, rigging our sleds, and digging a cache hole, we set off for our first camp at the Base of Ski Hill. The Kahiltna Glacier was in great condition and the weather was nearly ideal; mostly cloudy with the occasional snow shower - which kept temperatures from getting too hot. We made it to camp with full packs and sleds in tow in just under six hours. Today we'll carry a cache of supplies up a couple thousand feet and then return to camp. We'll keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Well, it was another day of waiting in Talkeetna for the weather to improve enough to fly into Kahiltna Base Camp. The FAA webcams looked socked in all day, but every once in a while some clearings would emerge. Finally, around 3 pm, we decided to round up the troops and don our climbing clothes and boots to be ready to board if a flight was possible. After a recon report from another K2 airplane on a scenic flight confirmed that it looked like we could land at Base Camp, we boarded the two Turbo Prop Otters and launched for the Alaska Range. A beautiful flight with partly cloudy skies took us all the way to Base Camp …but a small but thick cloud hung over the landing strip. We held in a waiting pattern for as long as we could and the conditions did not improve. Finally we regained our elevation and pointed back south for Talkeetna. An awesome flight, and oh-so-close. We’ll try again early tomorrow, with a more promising forecast.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Sunday, May 11, 2019
Today was another day spent on standby in Talkeetna, waiting to fly into Basecamp on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. The weather didn’t seem to notice that we were waiting on it, as it rained in town and snowed in the mountains all day. The team is in great spirits, enjoying some unusual down time from our hectic lives, and busy packing in the calories. We will see what tomorrow brings; the snowy weather looks to continue throughout the day, but lighter than the past two days. Monday will bring high pressure with relief from the precipitation for at least a few days. Today's photos are courtesy of the FAA webcam for the Kahiltna Glacier Air Strip, current conditions and view on a clear day.
We’ll keep you posted with any changes in the status.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
We loaded our on two de Haviland Otter turbo prop single engine airplanes this morning and took off for Kahiltna Base Camp. The flight over the tundra was beautiful as we soared beneath a low ceiling of clouds. As we approached the range it became apparent that our normal access points of One Shot and Second Shot Passes were not options due to the low clouds. So the pilots opted to try "the long way", which means accessing the Kahiltna glacier at its toe and following it up toward Base Camp. The problem was that as we gained elevation on the glacier the cloud did not, and eventually we were flying in the cloud, a thick pea soup, with very little visibility. So the team of K2 pilots made the prudent decision to turn around and head back for Talkeetna.
We spent the rest of the day on stand by to see if weather would improve. It did not, and in fact it deteriorated a little. We'll play the same game tomorrow, with a less than ideal forecast. The good news is that high pressure looks to be moving our way soon!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
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Go Tom Mulvey from San Rafael Rotary! May the weather favor you the rest of the way too! You deserve an easy one this time.
Posted by: Paul Claeyssens on 5/20/2019 at 12:55 pm
The cream of the crop will rise to the top
Posted by: Chris Torney on 5/19/2019 at 9:39 pm
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