First Day in Nepal

Now on the ground in the Nepal airport, our team regrouped at the baggage carousel. It was really nice after a couple days of travel to have entered another country. None of us had trouble gaining our visa into Nepal and we are all set to start our adventure. And once we got our bags, it did.

Getting our bags in the Kathmandu airport. 

Now picture nearly 30 people, each with a carry-on backpack and two additional bags each weighing 50 pounds on carts being pushed through the airport. We were quite the site. Our leader had done this many times before and instructed us to have the ladies be in charge of the carry-on bags and the men push the carts with the larger luggage. Then the ladies walked at the side of the carts between us and the security workers and we all set off together and overwhelmed the customs agents. They basically waved us through as a large group and we gained the fresh air of the parking lot at full speed.

Andy in the back of the truck with our bags. They are piled pretty high, glad they brought the truck they did. 

Once outside in the dazzling sunshine and the sweltering heat and humidity we found our Nepali friends in the parking lot and loaded our bags into the back of a truck. The supplies inside them made their way to a storage area where they will be distributed on an a more individual, needs-based method than we had anticipated. We initially had the thought of carrying those supplies into the mountain villages ourselves while trekking but were later told that this wasn't the best means. Gift giving could be misinterpreted and we want the supplies to go to those who need it rather than those just taking free things.

Then our group headed toward the bus to take us to our hotel. I had been told this before but in my travels it hasn't been that much of a problem: be aware of people wanting to help you with your bags. In this instance they were literally taking them off our backs and loading them into the back of the bus for us. They are very nice and considerate, albeit fairly aggressive about it, but then they will demand money even if they only "touched" your bag on its way into the back of the bus.

If I was in Hawaii I would have thought I had been given a lei! Marigolds in Nepal.

Our friends greeted us on the bus and then "welcomed" us to Nepal by giving each of us garland necklaces of marigold flowers. They were very beautiful! I noticed marigolds strung together decorating other door frames and floating in bowls of water in other places. I never asked but assume marigolds to hold some sort of significance to the people of Nepal.

We took a slight detour on the way to the hotel to visit a Hindu temple built to honor the god Shiva. The idea was to go on our first day into the country to begin to get a feel for the country and its culture, as well as it being conveniently located close to the airport. It is recognized as a World Heritage site by some world-wide organization (UNESCO maybe?) so there is an entrance fee to maintain that status. I don't know what the money would be used for however, it was kind of a dirty place.

A Hindu funeral. Notice the majority of people are in white.

They were in the midst of funeral ceremonies while we were there and the smoke from the burning bodies was almost overwhelming. Burning the bodies is part of the reincarnation process and is a large, family involved affair. If you are mourning as a Hindu, you wear white, as opposed to black in Western culture. Much of the ritual has to do with separating the body from the spirit of the person so that they may be released to start another cycle of life or, if they have gained enlightenment, release from this world. Here's an interesting wikipedia article about it. In this place, once the body is burned the ash and leftover wood are pushed into the sacred water of the river below. The water is considered holy and is used to cleanse people of certain things. People also bathe in it, brush their teeth with it, and attempt to die with their feet in it because they believe it will help them have a better chance of success in the next life.

A Hindu Lingam idol depicting male and female reproductive organs. From my understanding this is a representation of Shiva and his Hindu goddess consort and is worshiped as a fertility idol. 

I am including information about the Hindu and Buddhist religions as I understand it from my trip. I don't agree with the teachings and am merely wanting to share what I learned and try to have you as a reader understand some of things that we experiences. We saw a lot of evil and corruption in these beliefs and practices. Many people we encountered seemed to have lost hope and joy in their lives because of Hinduism and we could see it in their faces and their eyes. I hope that in sharing what we saw and experienced I might be able to share some of the happiness, freedom, life, love, and joy that I have in my relationship with Jesus.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. We got to our hotel (greeted in the lobby with fresh mango juice!) and checked in. We had a training meeting to go over the materials that the teams would be taking into the Himalayas and to discuss scheduling for the week. It was very hard to stay awake in the hot room. Then we all had dinner together before saying our good byes as the four teams would head their separate ways the following morning. Dinner was almost comical: we were all zombies barely able to stay awake to eat. I think I fell asleep a couple of times before our food came, and I don't even remember what we ate other than it was a buffet and it had rice. But I could confidently guess that nearly everyone of our meals had rice in it so that may or may not be an actual memory...

Preparing my Stomach

I'm super excited about Nepal and everything that it has to offer. And what else to look forward to but food! I had fun reading this Wiki on Napalese Cuisine. Check it out!

Now, I probably haven't been able to completely mimic the meals that we will be partaking in while out of the country, but I'm doing what I can to prepare my body for less protein, more rice, and lentils. Shown here on the right is come curry lentils over a mix of rice and quinoa. A little bit of canned chicken tops off the ensemble. It's very good (especially with a little Sriracha hot sauce!) and very simple to make. I made these containers the night before and then Alli and I had them for lunch the next day.

Pray with me that our stomachs and our bodies will be able to adapt quickly to a foreign country, especially that we would have the fuel and energy to carry our supplies into the mountains.

Minnesota Wedding

The weekend after Memorial Day, I left Wednesday night for Minnesota for a high school buddies wedding. My friend Tim, a ski buddy mentioned in posts before, married the love of his life Emily on June 2nd. The road trip of 15 hours both directions was well worth it; it was so much fun! I don't think I've laughed that much in a long time, sharing stories of the golden years.

Wedding party rehearsal photo bomb.

This is one fun, amazing couple!

One of the jumping photo attempts.

Beartooth Weekend

This year for Memorial Day, my family came down to visit. They picked up Larkin in Missoula, Alli and I in Bozeman, and we went on to Red Lodge and the Beartooth Highway and Scenic Byway. It was the first weekend that the road would be opened and we were hoping to go and take advantage of the lasting snow for some late season skiing. 

Family photo with a rushing stream!

Unfortunately the weather was not in our favor and the road was not opened on Saturday when we arrived. So we drove up as far as we could and posed for some family photos. Not to be denied some skiing, we then powered up to the Red Lodge ski resort where Alli, Dad and I skinned up to the summit. The snow seemed as if it would be awesome: fresh from the recent winter storm, but that was all we were skiing: 6 inches of fresh on top of grass and rocks. Dad found several with his elbows, poor guy.

Summit self timer photo having followed the "skin track to heaven" to the  top, ready for gravity to take us down.

The next day, after a wonderful mexican dinner in downtown Red Lodge, we attended church services at the local church of Christ, where our little group greatly increased the number of people in attendance. Afterwards, we went back up a newly opened Beartooth Highway (at least partly opened, up to Vista Point). But it was opened enough to get some fresh turns on the Rockcreek Headwall.

Jump on that train!

Larkin, Alli, Dad, and I got up into the alpine, even bootpacking/wallowing up a wide couloir.

Mama Lane loving it in the Beartooths. 

Skier in the middle (Alli?) coming down the Headwall, taken from the truck by Mom. 

We got snowed on while skinning up the Headwall and therefore got to ski powder turns...on May 27th! Some of the best turns of the year, just smooth as butter, blasting down through some really cool terrain.

Cousin Visit and Home for Easter

My cousin Luke flew in from California this Spring to check out MSU. I tried to do my best to show him all that Bozeman had to offer in an effort to convince him that he needs to come to Montana to go to school. We'll see if my efforts pay off.

Luke throwing down on the Gallagator Boulder, a 5 minute walk from my house. 

We went skiing on Saturday down in Big Sky, and it was raining. Poo! I think we were soaked before we even got out of the truck. And the snow conditions were icy, visibility was poor...yuk. So we went inside, ate some snacks and had some hot cocoa, before venturing out again when the rain seemed to abate a bit. 

All smiles and excitement in the lodge at Big Sky.

And wouldn't you know: it turned out to be an amazing day! Great spring snow conditions and we ran into a friendly Big Sky local, Karen, who gave us a ripping tour of the upper mountain. We wound up skiing until 5 in the evening. Not bad for such a crummy start.

Luke hanging out on the chair with our new-found friend Karen. We met her on a ride up a triple chair and she was willing to ski with us most of the day, giving us a tour of a lot of highlights of the mountain. Lucky to run into her. 

At the top of our last run. It got washed out but Lone Peak was finally shining through the clouds.  Such a good day: after leaving the truck in a rain shower, it only got better and turned out to be difficult to leave.

After skiing at Big Sky the night before we ate stacked enchiladas and watched A River Runs Through It that night. So the next day I had to take Luke to some of the scene locations from the movie. Luke is here messing around on the steps of the "Missoula Police Department."

Easter means a three-day weekend for us college students at Montana State, and I took the opportunity to travel home for the Parental visit. I was hoping to ski at Big Mountain, catch up with good friends, tour the sites of the Flathead Valley, and share them with someone special. 

This might be breaking news for some of you that I haven't had the chance to talk to recently, but I am dating the coolest gal I have ever met. You might be thinking, "Colter has a girlfriend?! I thought he'd never find a girl." Well, you're not alone, I thought that for a long time too. I've had pretty high criteria, high standards, that no one seemed to be able to attain. Then Alli came along and knocked me off my feet and my life will never be the same again. She came home with me to meet Mom and Dad and find out more about my past. Luckily it seems like she likes what she found.

Viewing the Flathead Valley from Lone Pine State Park. 

Skiing while it was snowing at Big Mountain. It's hard not to smile on a day like that.

Dying Easter eggs Saturday night.

Alli and I heated our ski boot liners for a better fit. Cinderella can have her glass slippers, my gal would rather have perfect fitting ski boots. Does that give you a picture of why I've fallen for her?

We got to see my sister Larkin while on our way back to Bozeman. Wow, aren't I lucky? Flanked by two gorgeous gals, smiles all around!

The Spring Semester of school wrapped up well, with vacations and trips like Spring Break in DC and then Easter in Kalispell as highlights. The final push juggling teaching, research, and coursework was pretty rough, but I passed everything with flying colors and transitioned into full-time work for the summer. Who'd have thought that working 40 hours a week would feel like a vacation! Now it's on to climbing, fishing, running, biking, hiking, and paddling. The problem will forever be deciding which activity to do...

College Friend Visit

I got one of my best Christmas presents early this year. Over the course of the Fall I had been trying to plan my winter break vacation time with four goals in mind: 1) ski and ice climb as much as possible, 2) enjoy a family reunion in Colorado, 3) visit college friends in Wyoming and CO, and 4) catch up with friends and family back in Kalispell. The first was a struggle as the winter across the contingent states has thus refused to cooperate very well for powder snow pursuits and I lacked a consistent climbing partner. Numbers 2 and 4 went as well as I could have hoped, seeing a good number of friends while home and enjoying the company of my family in Colorado almost too much (particularly the food prepared!).

The third goal was potentially going to fall through the cracks based on limited time and money on my end, until the Pickles suggested they come up carpooling with my Wyoming buddy Alex and visit me in Bozeman. Needless to say I was overjoyed, both at the opportunity to see them and to share my beloved home.

Getting the uphill ride at Moonlight Basin.

Sarah surprising us all with a splash of snow during a
self-timer group photo.

Two Pickles in front of the Pickle Barrel with ice cream
filling home-made waffle cones!

Alex "planking" the 45th Parallel. Bravely done, my friend.

They arrived on a Friday night for some hangout time at a friend's house in town. Saturday saw us up and out of the house early for a beautiful ski day at Moonlight Basin. We went to church on Sunday morning and tromped around in the snow in Hyalite Canyon during the afternoon followed by sampling the local flavor of Bozeman: Colombo's Pizza and Pickle Barrel ice cream. On Monday, we made an excursion down to Yellowstone National Park to view animals, play in the snow, experience some of the thermal features, and bathe in the Boiling River hot springs. The hot springs were something else! I have never experienced something like that before and I will surely do it again it was so wonderful. Our evening time was filled with a game Nathan and Sarah brought called Cosmic Encounters. Many a boisterous guffaw were spent and friendly grudges kept in a Risk-like game of alliances, devious strategies, and the mysterious powers of strange alien races.

An attempt at being artsy, BW photo of Mammoth Terraces.

Is that excitement or terror on their faces? Can't tell.
Nathan and Sarah pre-dip at the Boiling River. 

A little capt'n in all of us eh? Here is the group after a
wonderful soak in the Boiling River. 

I cannot express the ecstasy and the love and joy that filled my heart with their visit. I feel fortunate to have such amazing friends and my hope is that we will have many more such memories in the future!

Father's Day on the Mountain

A beautiful sunrise on the upper Kahiltna.

Journal Entry No. 4

Location: 9500 foot Camp, writing after our cache-and-carry day up to this elevation. It was a big day to haul all of our gear up here, even stashing some of it around 10,000 feet. In the rest of the journal I'm going to talk a lot about food. We bought our food through a service called Exposure Alaska and they put together 20 days worth of food packaged in five-day bags. They have been providing their service for quite a while now and through the feedback they get from clients have dialed in their quantities and a variety of meals that are easy to prepare and are pretty tasty. I was excited about going through them to get a “taste” of what expedition food is like and know in the future what to prepare and how much of it. My family has never really enjoyed “gourmet” food while even car camping let alone while backpacking or climbing. The preparation is certainly more than boiling water and pouring into a freeze dried meal bag, but it's almost a nice chore to get to do other than sitting around in the tent waiting for the next morning. Even at home I like to cook and preparing good food while out on a glacier is a particular pleasure. Thankfully Dad is a willing guinea pig and will pretty much eat anything that I put in front of him. He's also a great sous chef and is more than helpful in our kitchen.

Hauling loads in our sleds for the second trip up to
9500 feet. 

June 19th—Happy Father's Day!

Since the last time I wrote we've eaten a lot of food, and because I wanted to document the meals that we've eaten on this expedition I'll try to catch up.

Dinner Saturday: Salmon Carbonari Pasta

Dessert: Reese's Stix

Breakfast Sunday (at 9500 ft camp): Power Oatmeal! (3 packets, powdered milk, nuts, raisins, granola, butter...)

Dinner Sunday: Pasta w/ soup mix, cream cheese and cracker apps

Dessert: chocolate pudding

Today was a big day. We got up early and shuttle half our food and some gear up to about 9800 ft. Our intention was to cache it at our camp location but we misjudged the distance and blew by it. We'll just have that weight that much further along for tomorrow. After the cache, Dad and I skied roped-up back down to our tent at Camp 1. It was the most amazing ski run of my life. Not because the snow was incredible (it was hard and stiff but relatively easy) but the exposure and the view for miles and miles down the Kahiltna Glacier was breath-taking! Just that ski run (down “Ski Hill” mind you...) made the whole trip worthwhile, and we still have a possible two weeks more!

Dad is all smiles at 9500 feet!

After that, shaking and giddy with excitement, we broke camp and hauled the rest of our gear up to 9500' “Camp 2.” We've had a really nice exchange with a guided group through RMI. Mike, lead guide, is the friendliest guide we've run into yet. The whole group is interested in chatting and learning names and exchanging jokes. Our camp is right next to theirs tonight and I am pleased. It will be fun climbing the rest of the mountain with them.

Posing with our mascots while enjoying the amazing views
of the Kahiltna Glacier, snaking its way for miles into the
valley below.

Speaking of food...we have so much! We've gorged ourselves today and are still finding food and drink mixes in our first food bag. It's good though: we need the calories to stay strong for the rest of the climb. And...it's fun to cook. We're already scheming about a cheesecake to celebrate the Summer Solstice!

I have two favorite memories from this camp. First, I was trying to film a “tour” of our camp for documentation and 'K', one of the RMI climbers came over and literally demanded that I film him. While I was frustrated at the time that he in effect ruined my tour video clip, what he said regarding Father's Day and being able to spend an expedition like that with my dad still rings in my ears. It is an incredible honor to be sharing a tent on a glacier on North America's highest peak with my best friend, who also happens to be my dad.

Second memory: the sky was clear all day and the sun was particularly brutal. At some point, I think I was whipping up the pudding for dessert, I heard Dad say something about being hot. The next time I turned around he was gone, nowhere to be found, until I spotted him stripped to his scivys sprawled out in the tent. Temperature management was a difficult thing to deal with the whole trip. We were warned by some friends too, but it's different experiencing it first hand: when the sun is out you can stand around in 5 degree weather in a light shirt, but when it goes behind a cloud it gets frigid and we have to scramble to get another layer on.

Dinner is served!

Heading Home

I left Yreka, CA behind after a joy-filled good bye with my auntie and headed North toward Salem, OR. Thankfully my headlights held tough while I drove through some pretty nasty, rainy weather. After driving around town several times due to my inaccurate interpretation of my friend Kim's directions, I finally made it to her house. We hung out with her roommates for a bit that evening and then talked fairly late, catching up on life and sharing our hopes for the future. it would be fair to say that Kim is going to go far in life because of her encouraging nature, commitment to others, and love for the people around her. I awoke that next morning for breakfast among new friends and headed off toward home on the final stretch of my journey.

The weather was holding well and I was on the home stretch. Minus the fact that I couldn't listen to the radio because the roar of my "hole-y" muffler was so loud, it was a good drive. I was initially worried about getting over the pass into Montana, but I got through early enough that the road surface hadn't froze yet. My final stop before making it back to Kalispell was in St. Regis, where I filled up on fuel, sunflower seeds, and my usual gas station coffee laced with hot chocolate. Unfortunately, my headlights would not turn on when I started my pickup and no amount of jiggling of wires, whispered coaxing words, or yelling harsh insults would get them to light my way home. Thus I spent my last night on the road sleeping in the back of my truck in the parking lot of the Travel Center listening to country music blaring from the loud speaker. Home was so close I could feel it, and all I could do was wait for the light of the morning.

I woke up before sunrise the next morning and drowned my disappointment in some huckleberry pancakes. Then I made the final slog home. And what a Home-Coming! The valley had gotten some early season snow and I was able to head up to the ski resort after Dad got off work to hike the mountain with some friends and get in the first turns of the season. If my trip around the West had been a giant sundae, then skiing the day I got home was a giant cherry on top!

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As I sit here and write this final post almost a year since I made the journey, I can't help but reflect on how amazing this experience it was. I feel extremely lucky to have been able to take the time off of work and school to visit beautiful natural sights and wonders that I had been curious about for some time. I drove a lot of miles to hike in deep canyons, ponder big trees, scale beautiful granite rock, and ride technical slickrock. It has proved to be a sort of "sampler trip:" I hit the hot spots and didn't spend too much time in any one particular area, but I know places that I want to travel back to and spend a longer period of time exploring.

As fun as hiking, running, climbing, and riding is beautiful places is, I don't think it would have been the same without all the special people that I was able to visit along the way. It has reminded me of the importance of involving other people in my adventures and to use life experiences to build lasting relationships with those whom with I travel through life. My hope is to grow from this great adventure; to let the miles of  this road trip work on me and mold me into a better person.

Green Wine Country, Deep Blue Ocean, and White Mountains: Adventures in Northern California

Ocean in view: Oh the Joy!

The morning after arriving at my Aunt and Uncle's house continued to be special. I was treated like a prince and it was as if my arrival made the world stand still and should have been called a national holiday! We had a wonderful breakfast, Luke skipped his first class at the High School , and I went with the four of them to drop both Luke and Hope off at school. Then I spent the morning with Craig fiddling with the lights on my pickup before scooting further north to see a good friend from College.

Lil' Champ and I rolled into Potter Valley feeling somewhat out of place. I  immediately felt like this sleepy little town was a place you could go to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life, which might be a good description of what my friend Amanda had done. We met up at her house and scurried off to the foothills to ramble among the green grasses and damp earth of autumn in California. We followed truck trails, cow trails, deer trails, and no trails, climbing up to a gorgeous viewpoint of the town below, all the while having the kind of warm, friendly, and open conversation that I have come to crave from my friends. Amanda jumps up on this boulder at one point and declares to me and the world that she had planted a meadow full of wild flowers and hoped to see them sprout in the coming spring. She's so fun! After the "ramble," the rest of the evening with filled with lab puppies, wonderful homemade food and wine with Amanda's sister, and even deeper conversation.

The next morning, after some not-quite-tearful goodbyes, I continued my journey around the West by driving west to the coast. I wandered up the coastal highway through amazingly beautiful country, eventually finding my way to the Redwoods National Park (RNP), the 12th National Park of my trip. Earlier, in Southern California, I stopped by the Sequoia National Park and saw the biggest trees of my life. It is my understanding that Sequoias are an inland variation of the Coastal Redwoods found in Northern California in Humboldt State Park and the RNP. If the Sequoias are the largest trees in the world by shear bulk, the Redwoods certainly give any other species a run for their money in a "tallest tree" contest.

National Park number 12 of my trip: the Redwoods.

The woods of the RNP are almost rainforest-like compared to the forests back home in Montana. Green is the primary color with life exploding all around you in the form of grass, moss, ferns, and the like. And I even got to see wildlife. This trip coming on the tails of a somewhat frustrating archery season chasing elk, I have a mix of emotions seeing the wily wapiti in the Yellowstone and Grand Teton areas, and now in the Redwoods. It is a remarkably freeing feeling when I can witness elk in their native habitat and appreciate them for what they are: a beautiful creature of the forest, strong and powerful, and masters of survival, without the pressure of the harvest that hunting usually brings. It is definitely a different enjoyment, but one that I could come to appreciate.

That's me, and yes, I'm hugging a tree. A really big tree.

Evidently the elk are rather ferocious in Northern
California...and they know it! The sign says "Wild Elk:
Do not approach or Feed."

Epic self-timer photo. Took me a couple of takes. But
isn't that sunset beautiful?

If you continue through the Park toward Crescent City, you'll come to the ocean and I happened to do just that as the sun was setting. It was gorgeous! Being a mountain boy from land-locked Montana I don't get to see the ocean very much, which made this that much more enjoyable. There is something about the sea that sparks the imagination and gives joy to the spirit; a view to the horizon, a salty breeze, and foamy waves crashing on the shore makes one believe they can do anything.

I enjoyed the sunset until the light no longer painted the sky with color and drove North through Crescent City, "around the horn" through Grants Pass, Medford, and back down to visit my Auntie Ingrid and Uncle Mike. Once again, I cannot express the gratitude that I  have for such a wonderful loving family scattered across the country. My aunt and uncle welcomed me into their home with some great food and even better conversation. The only thing that ended our time together that first night was my "glazed look." I had been on the road all day and was falling asleep in my chair. I hope that Uncle Mike will find a way to forgive me; it was because I was tired and not because of his pontifications that were making my eyes droopy.

Looking up the standard climbers' route of Shasta with
the alpine climbers' cabin in the foreground. 

Yet another coincidence on my trip increased the enjoyment factor exponentially: Ingrid happened to have the day off of work the next day. She took me on a tour to see Mt. Shasta and hike around at its base. There was a lot of snow around and we had some fun route finding among the fresh smelling pine trees in the crisp autumn air of the volcanic highlands. There is something about fresh air, hiking and snacky-food that stimulates the mind, body, and spirit, but then again I just love being outside. She sent me off alone at one point to go see the climbers' cabin and race around the woods in the snow, then I met her back at the parking lot. We then went to a late lunch at a wonderful little cafe that was even on a little on the ritzy side. I felt honored to have such a treat, especially when the two of us just sauntered in dressed in our boots and hiking clothing!

Inside the climbers' cabin. It's something like Craig and
Luke's favorite vacation spot and a local to which I want
to return.

Photo with my wonderful Auntie Ingrid in front of
Mt. Shasts.

From girls to future goals and dreams our conversations covered a lot of miles. We also had a great time defining a new term: phisching (pronounced fish-king). A blending of the words phishing and scheming, it's a tool in the "scheming process", all about gathering information/data about other people's interests and schedules upon which to formulate a plan for an adventure involving said people. Among certain circles of friends I've come to be known as the "Scheming Monster," a title of which I am proud.  However, I was surprised to find how much of a Scheming Monster Ingrid is in her own right. Perhaps these tendencies in ourselves can be traced to influential people in both our lives, people with names like Ron, Ann, Tabitha, and Duane. I am proud of my heritage for sure.

I don't know if I had ever spent one-on-one time like that with my favorite Hansen auntie, and I will remember our time together forever.

Journey to Camp 1: Hauling Sleds on the Lower Kahiltna

Traveling in God's country and loving every minute of it.

Journal Entry No. 3

Location: Camp 1 at 7800' elevation, the base of “Ski Hill”. We single-hauled gear in packs and sleds to the first camp, crossed the extreme lower glacier without crevasse trouble, and set up camp before sunrise. Thankfully the glacier froze two nights in a row and we never punched through with our skis on. I was extremely relieved when I realized that climbing Denali was a “doable” thing, and I wouldn't get stuck in Base Camp.

Dad on the morning of our move. Glad to be traveling safely.

When we transitioned from skiing to skinning, we stopped at a not-so-smart location next to a Japanese team that didn't really seem like they knew what they were doing. When Dad stepped off his skies, I remember him looking back at a me with a weird look in his eyes saying something like, “We're right on top of a crevasse!” Apparently his foot punched a little deeper into the snow bridge than he was prepared for. Breakfast was fantastic but we're once again reminded that the sun is pretty brutal.

It's a big load between the pack and the sled...

June 18—We traveled today! The alarm went off in my head (well, my watch was in my hat after all...) at midnight. We checked the snow conditions and they looked stiff and favorable. We slept for another hour though and then dressed, broke camp, and skated down “heart break hill,” none too gracefully. I had both brakes on my sled so I was skating downhill and still only making progress with the pull from Dad's rope. Then it was a glorious skin/tour to Camp 1, passing a team and a guided group along the way. After camp was set-up we whipped up some gourmet hash browns and eggs for a late breakfast and commenced napping/resting in the shade of the tent. Dad beat me in our first ever scored game of Cassino :( Score: Dad-21, Colter-12

We are scheming of how to do a double carry to Camp 2 but in the same morning. We'll see if the weather holds out. Here's praying.

Gotta love those Bekos! Dad and I are hanging out in the shade of our cook tent.

Later...

Ps. 147:10-11 “He does not delight in the strength of horses; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in His mercy.”

Ps. 144:1 “Blessed be the Lord my Rock who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.”

How does one reconcile two verses like these? God gives strength for battle but doesn't take pleasure in that strength?

I took a small 'New Testament and Psalms' Bible with me on the trip and had a chance to read a bit that day. I still can't figure out the two opposing trains of thought in the 147^th and 144^th chapters of Psalms. All I know is that I felt like I leaned on God a lot during our expedition, even being in a situation where I was trying prove myself worthy of climbing big mountains. He gave me strength for my “battle” against the elements and helped Dad and I on our journey, but imparted little nuggets of wisdom along the way that gently reminds me summitting mountains is nothing when compared with a life with God. There are very few things in life that I love more than climbing, but God takes greater pleasure when I use the joy and energy mountains give me to fill those around me with love and happiness.

What a glorious morning on the Kahiltna!

During our camp at the Base of Ski Hill we witnessed a huge avalanche across the valley caused by a serac fall. It was pretty impressive and we felt a gust of wind from it from a mile or two away. We stayed in the shade of our tents during the heat of the day, napping, eating, and drinking to pass the time. There was a lot of down time on Denali, balanced with some pretty hard pushes: it was an interesting mix. At this point with two nights on the glacier under our belts, we've got a pretty good snow camping system going. It's still pretty early in our three week stint on the 'High One' and we continue to get more comfortable with the gear, packing and unpacking, melting snow and cooking big meals.

Today, just about the time when the shade hit us (remember there isn't really any darkness, only a large period of time when you aren't getting direct sunlight and thus feels like a night), we saw our friend 'Hans' madly double-poling back down the glacier to his tent at Base Camp. Hans was a Swiss ski guide that we met in Base Camp and had several funny conversations with. He talked about the Kahiltna like it didn't have any glaciers: “If you want to see glaciers, go to the Alps,” he said in a very thick German accent. This guy was a beast: he had legs like a horse and skied like a mad man. The morning that we left Base Camp, he blew by us going down Heart Break Hill, transitioned to skinning and flew up the glacier. We never saw him until that night skiing back through Camp 1. I have no idea how far he went, possibly to Basin Camp at 14,000 feet in an attempt to acclimatize. We were amazed to say the least. 

Home sweet home at the base of Ski Hill.

Another rope team getting into camp after us. We saw a lot of other people on our trip, seeing as how it is the most popular route on the highest peak in North America.

A food preparation photo: cream cheese crackers for an appetizer, freshly chopped garlic, and dry hash browns ready to be fried up.

An avalanche a hop, skip, and a jump away from our camp. Pretty humbling.

Nap time!