Entries By leah fisher
May 26, 2013
Posted by: Brent Okita, Leah Fisher
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Bagels fried in butter, slathered in cream cheese and accompanied with smoked salmon and bacon. It was the perfect fuel to start us out on the perfect day. Clear, calm skies prevailed over the
Alaska Range once again and shortly after 9:30 we were hoofing it down to pick up our cache at 9500'. Everyone cruised up and down, allowing us a quasi rest day upon our return to camp around 1:00.
A little afternoon training with our crampons and ice axes will serve us well as we start climbing some steeper terrain tomorrow. Motorcycle Hill, Squirrel Hill, the Polo Field and Windy Corner will be some of the areas we'll climb through on our way to caching a bunch of food and supplies at 13,500'. We're looking forward to an exciting and challenging day.
As we were preparing to settle in for our dinner of burritos we got a pleasant surprise when the first RMI trip arrived in camp after summiting on a perfect day yesterday. It is exciting to see our friends, and certainly gets us stoked for the climbing to come. We're hoping for some similar conditions when it comes our turn to go for the summit. But for now, we'll just concentrate on the matter at hand. Getting our cache to 13,500'.
We'll be getting up fairly early in order to get back to camp with time to relax and prepare for the next day.
Until then ...
RMI Guides
Brent, Logan, Leah
On The Map
May 25, 2013
Posted by: Brent Okita, Leah Fisher
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,200'
The sun doesn't set at
11,200' camp until after 9:30 sometime. Then it just passes behind a mountain to cast shadows on this place that we're now calling home. And we're soaking it all up after another nice day of climbing.
Today we made it to camp in under four hours, and for the first time had pretty reasonable sized packs. A cool down-glacier breeze offered us a change of pace from the sweat fest of the lower glacier, and I think most of the team welcomed the drop in temperature.
Pulling into camp in the early afternoon allowed us to walk into a vacated camp spot and relieved us of the tough work of building walls and excavating tent platforms. Most of us relaxed and enjoyed a well deserved break from our toils.
Another first for the trip: we enjoyed a fine meal from the comfort of our Posh House. This is a tent like thing that allows us all to sit, cook and eat, protected from the elements like the wind, cold, snow or even sun. It's cozy and makes it fun to just linger over a couple of hot drinks and enjoy each others company.
Tomorrow we'll be doing a back carry to pick up the cache we left there this morning. We're looking forward to a fairly easy day, and hopefully another great day of weather.
Before we sign off, Ayla wants to give a big shout out to her sister. Happy Birthday Eva! (By the way, your sister Ayla is a rock star - she's doing great.)
Until tomorrow ...
RMI Guide Brent Okita
On The Map
May 24, 2013
Posted by: Brent Okita, Leah Fisher
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 9,500'
Weary though we were last night, everyone bounced back after a good nights sleep. Looking up at
Ski Hill and knowing we needed to haul these loads up it had us a little anxious in the morning, but we all found the strength and spirit and we made it up to camp at 9,500' by 3:00 p.m.. We were pretty happy and relieved to get here, and it was wonderful to have another perfect day for it.
We've been enjoying the warmth of the afternoon to make camp, and perhaps more importantly, to relax a bit and even get out of our boots.
Tomorrow we start ferrying loads up the mountain, moving only half our gear at a time. This means that we'll be spending at least two days at a time at each camp. Tomorrows plan is to pack up camp and bring just a few days of food and fuel with us, caching the rest here in a deep hole and away from the ravens who have developed a taste for candy and ramen. We'll make camp at 11,200', then come back the next day with empty packs to bring up what we left. What does all this mean? Light packs! Ok, perhaps I should be realistic and call them 'lighter pack.'
Anyways, we're firing on all cylinders here and things couldn't be much better. What a treat it is to climb with a fun, strong team.
We'll talk again tomorrow.
RMI Guides Brent Okita,
Logan Randolph and
Leah Fisher
On The Map
Hello from
Talkeetna, Alaska
The result of a day of hard work sorting and packing stuff we'll live with for the next two or three weeks. With a little luck we might be flying onto the glacier in a couple of hours or so. The weather looks promising here, but of course it could be completely different on the mountain.
We're all set and doing great. But first, breakfast at the Roadhouse ...
RMI Guide Brent Okita
May 22, 2013
Posted by: Brent Okita, Leah Fisher
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 346'
Everybody made it to
Alaska just fine with just one not-so-minor hiccup. One duffel never showed up and had one of us spending the afternoon at REI replacing missing items. As luck would have it, we got a call from a climber in Talkeetna who had picked it up at the airport by mistake. With that behind us we were ready for a beer and turned in after our big travel day.
Today we were busy getting the incredible amount of gear needed for this adventure ready for our flight in the morning. Everyone is excited about getting started. Me too, even after all these years.
More to come soon...
RMI Guide Brent Okita
On The Map
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I think George is jealous about your trip. Next time take him too…
Posted by: susan birnbaum on 5/28/2013 at 3:17 pm
Razzle-dazzle & Ray Ray,
What an amazing experience! I remember you telling me about the fried bagels as we sat in the sun trying to imagine what your climb would be like. Can’t believe it’s really happening. Be in every moment, absorb it all: the sound of the snow, your heightened sense of awareness, the way you can read the terrain… It’s you and the mountain.
Miss you, love you,
-E
Posted by: Eva on 5/27/2013 at 10:25 pm
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