Broken Thumb (Couloir)

After my mom's maladies this past year, we decided to go out and get a "Broken Thumb". Okay, that's not really fair to my wonderful mother, but I thought it would be a fun play on words. the Broken Thumb we sought out is a couloir (steep, narrow gully) on the north side of a peak call 25-Short in Grand Teton National Park, so named because it is 25-ft short of 10,000 feet in elevation (9975-ft above sea level). I've had my eye on this line since the first time I heard about it: relatively easy access, not extremely committing (I suppose this is relative, but you have to admit that it is in the shadow of the South, Middle, and Grand Tetons...), and not extremely high in elevation. I saw it as a great warm-up to Teton ski mountaineering and since the snow isn't great anywhere and avalanche concerns are low, President's Day weekend was the time to give it a shot.


Alli and I, along with our friend Tom, struck out Monday morning from the Bradley-Taggart trailhead. After a short stint of loosing the skin track at the beginning, we reached the top in a little over 3 hours. It was beautiful outside. The sun was shining, it was warm, we were in high spirits. We geared up and set off for the couloir. I have to stop and admit here that it gives me a feeling of studly-ness when you put on a harness with gear on the top of a snowy mountain, amid many taller peaks, about to put skies on your feet. Go out and try it sometime!



The descent to the "squeeze" of the gully was really wonderful snow. The three of us leap-frogged down through the trees and into the throat of the gully. The section immediately above the "choke" or crux of the route, is a no-fall zone above a cliff, so our skiing slowed as we descended to the rappel anchor. We set up our rope (70 meters) and one by one walked back over into the unknown. Okay, it wasn't that dramatic, but it sure sounds good, eh?

Snow at the bottom of the rappel was steep and stiff, keeping us on our toes for another 500 feet or so until it opened up to an apron of softer snow. Then we rode the icy luge track out of the draw, across Taggart Lake and back to the car. What a fun line to grab under blue skies and sunshine in the middle of February. Happy Valentine's Day and Presidents Day all wrapped into one. Click on any of the pictures to see them larger.

Traveling to Nepal

I'll be the first to admit that traveling halfway around the world is a marathon and isn't for the weak at heart. We began our trip on Sunday May 5th by driving to Billings for the night since we had to be at the airport by about 4 am on Monday morning. Monday definitely started early, but checking our bags went rather smoothly. It was a pretty routine flight to Seattle and then we settled in for a 7 hour layover for our flight to Tokyo. We filled our time with scavenger hunts, pushup contests, and shuttle-train rides.

Hanging in the Seattle airport. If you've been to the SEA-TAC airport you know the giant double-curved glass window that is on the right.

The flight to Tokyo was our longest at about 10 hours. I watched a couple of movies and had a nap. Our food seemed good for plane fare: curried chicken and rice for dinner then a fruit cup and egg english muffin sandwich for a pre-arrival meal. It was two hour stop in Tokyo before flying to Bangkok (7 hour flight). Airports in countries other than the US are very funny: you have to go through security when you get off the plane before you enter the airport, then you have to get your bags checked again right before you get on the plane. I feel bad for people that try and buy duty-free items and then have to throw them away before getting on their next flight.

Scott modeling some Japanese candies in the airport.

Sleeping in the airport. Our group just kind of took over...

We then slept in the Bangkok airport on various cushions, couches, and chairs, having taken blankets and pillows from our last flight. Some of us had our backpacking sleeping pads with us to sleep on too. Then it was off to Nepal, another long flight of 4+ hours. So what does one do? Well, you write in your journal, you read a little of your Bible, and you watch another movie. Oh, and did I mention gawk at Everest out the window? We all had seats on the right (north) side of the aircraft and got to see the Himalayas as we came into Kathmandu. After all that we were very happy to be on the ground in another country again rather than in the limbo of an airport.

The airport architecture was really interesting. I think it's the largest single terminal airport in the world (by area). 

Easter Son-rise Service

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The LIGHT shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

He has risen! He has risen indeed! 

Good morning!  One week ago, Easter Sunday, Alli and I along with a couple of other friends got up before the sun and rode the lift halfway up Bridger Bowl ski area for a Sunrise service. We sang several songs of worship together with maybe 100 other people and listened to a message about faith: how it influences our decisions about whether or not we should ski as well as how faith is an integral part of living.

It was so amazing to be out in God's cathedral, in the heart of his beautiful creation celebrating the greatest moment in the history of the world: Christ Jesus rising from the dead, going to be with the Father forever, and be in relationship with us, living in our hearts and guiding us to love more and more every day!

My favorite part was the leader read from John 1: 4-5, and turned around and pointed at the ridge behind him to the east and the sun popped over the top. God, how radiant you are!

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his GLORY, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:9-14)

Engaged

Skiing at Big Mountain for Easter weekend.

Well, it happened. I met the girl of my dreams and she knocked me off my feet. So I decided that I'm going to marry her. I proposed on June 25th with a ring pop after sending Alli on a scavenger hunt around Bozeman and then hiking up Bridger Bowl ski area. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day: the weather was wonderful and the views of the Bridger valley and the Bangtails were outstanding. I don't have any pictures from up high because I forgot my camera at the trailhead...oops. 

Fishing on the Madison a couple of weeks ago. 

But then we finished with a sushi picnic dinner and tied nylon cord engagement rings. We are very excited and happy for this next adventure in life. If you are reading this blog and you are able to come to Montana in November, please do. Come have loads of fun at our wedding ceremony and reception on the 10th! I'll try to post more details as they are determined and will likely be directing people to another website specifically for the wedding. 

At our picnic. Alli showing off her rose and giant rock of a ring.

Twin ring pops. A little excited? A little happy? Why, yes!

Performing a Wedding

About a month and a half ago, my roommate and his girlfriend asked me to perform their wedding. After I got over the initial shock of the unexpectedness of that request, I happily accepted the honor. Just so you know, I have the ability to perform weddings now in several states (at least Wyoming and Montana) and would happily offer my services should the need arise. My specialty: eloping with parents to beautiful mountainous landscapes. 

It was quite the experience and I learned a lot. Matt, Sacha, and I did some pre-marital counseling (thanks for the advice Walter!) and worked together to plan their ceremony including vows, ring exchange, and message. The ceremony itself was held in Grand Teton National Park among the old buildings and barns of Mormon Row. Attendees of the service included Matt's parents, Sacha's parents, two bride's maids, a best man, and bride and groom. With me it totaled ten people! Very personal and special. 

And photogenic! We had a couple of days of amazing weather, the first for a camping trip and a hike and the second for the wedding itself. The Tetons practically begged to have pictures taken of them and I hardly put up a fight. Some of the best are shown below.

The wonderful couple out on our hike the day before their wedding. The Grand Teton in the background.

Wedding party (minus Matt's bro) photo at the top of Inspiration Point overlooking Jenny Lake.

The Treager family, up from Georgia, loving the mountains.

It was a little cold for Sacha's home-made wedding dress. The thoughtful groom came through!

Bride and her attendees, accented by the Tetons.

Kiss pose...go!

Weddings are a great excuse to bring people together to celebrate life and love and happiness. In the past couple of weeks, at first Tim's then Matt's weddings, I've gotten to meet a bunch of really cool people. And in the preparation of the wedding I looked a lot at what love and commitment is: how Christ shows us the way to service, submission, and love in all our relationships, but in marriage especially. I feel like more marriages would last if each individual tried to out serve their spouse. For those of you married folks out there (and those of you thinking about getting married) it's never too late. This is my charge to you: to serve each other more than the day before and try to outdo one another in service, submission, and love.

End of Summer Hiking in Glacier

Since this is really the only place that I post pictures (unless specifically requested by friends...) I feel the need to do some "back-posting" now that I have some free time away from school work. 

Eagle Ribs and Mt. Despair
After the weekend of my Lookout to Lookout run, Dad and I drove over to the Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park to climb with fellow members of the Glacier Mountaineering Society. The climb, led by our good friend Dell, was to summit both Eagle Ribs and Mt. Despair. Both names led to puns aplenty, let me assure you. 

Fellow climbers in the foreground, Eagle Ribs in the
background on the right. 

We set off early from the Two Medicine parking area, with high hopes of summitting two peaks by the end of the day. About a third of the trip was on maintained trail with the rest following goat trails, not trail, or snow. Our first objective was soon in sight and the summit gained easily. Then we faced a difficult route-finding mission between the two peaks, scrambling among several cliff bands and avoiding steep patches of snow as much as possible. Making our way around the summit block of Eagle Ribs was likely the "crux" of the day and many times we thought we'd have to turn around. Thankfully the feelings of the group was always "try one more approach", "go around the next corner", and "let's see how far we can get".

Scrambling around while route-finding. 

We finally made it through the saddle and onto the snow field our group which had been cause for concern since we had first seen it earlier that morning. The route turned out to be fairly straight forward and the snow not nearly as steep as initially anticipated. We summitted the peak with ease, despairing no more that we would not achieve our two mountain objective.

Summit photo on Despair, our crew no longer despairing
yet still mindful of the long trek back to the vehicles.

We merely reversed our tracks out the way we had come, moving much faster through the saddle and around the summit block of Eagle Ribs than we had that morning. The weather held wonderfully and we made it back to our vehicles right as it got dark to be welcomed back to civilization with chips and salsa! Our leader, Dell, was keeping track of vertical and mileage and it was over 7000 feet gained over 20+ miles if I remember correctly; the second weekend in a row of big miles and lots of vert for me.

Descending the largest snowfield on the return from
Despair. Remember this is July 30th, and we're using
crampons and ice axes.

Mad Wolf Circuit
Gordan Edwards book A Climbers Guide to Glacier National Park has several descriptions of traverses, circuits, and peak link-ups that are worthy challenges for the aspiring mountaineer. In the Cut Bank drainage on the East side of Glacier Park, the Mad Wolf circuit summits three peaks within view of the campground starting point: Mad Wolf, Eagle Plume, and Bad Marriage. The climb begins along the Triple Divide pass trail before jumping off and crossing the Cut Bank Creek along an old Park trail that is no longer maintained (it does happen to be on most topo maps of the area however). We left our sandals in a tree to avoid varmints using them for some mid-morning munchies and bucked the brush periodically while following the old trail. We were rewarded as we left the treeline with a sighting of a group of wild horses mentioned in Edwards climbing guide and a small bull moose! The route to the summit of Mad Wolf was a straight forward scramble and beautiful ridge walk. Though the sun was shining it didn't take long for everyone to pull out their jackets due to the strong winds as can be seen in the summit photo below.

Summit photo with climbing crew on Mad Wolf. 

Our climbing crew, then walked the ridge toward Eagle Plume, ascending the class three scramble to the top in short order. It always amazes me how much ground you can cover by keeping a solid pace, putting one foot in front of the other; particularly surprising on a gorgeous day where you can see for miles and miles. Dropping off the back side of Eagle Plume was not the most enjoyable decent I've ever experienced: a shallow layer of scree on rocks isn't conducive to speed or comfort. We followed a sort of climber's/goat trail once reaching the rock field below that led us to the summit of Bad Marriage. We relaxed on the top for a while enjoying the sunshine and the success of the trip thus far.

Third peak of the day! Lounging in the sunshine on
Bad Marriage. 

The crux of this circuit follows the enjoyable views of ridge walking and peak bagging. We traversed along the cliffs and scree fields on the east face of Bad Marriage and made our way to the stream at the bottom of the cirque. Topographic maps indicate a water fall at the edge of the cirque, thus we knew we'd have to negotiate some cliffs to get back to the trail we came in on. We stopped at a picturesque pool between between some of the falls to filter some water for the rest of the trip.

Filtering water near a beautiful water fall, Eagle Plume
in the distance. 

There is really only one way through the cliff band and down to the valley below. If you cross the stream at a narrow point right above the biggest falls, angle up and to the right heading toward what appears to be the only way around the steep cliffs. If I remember correctly we had to skirt some small trees and scramble down some wet rocks and soil. Don't split up your group without being able to contact each other via radio or cell phone. We got separated and one member of our group did a lot more climbing and walking than necessary. It was also very helpful to have a GPS to log the route on the way in: we followed it's direction and hit the trail again fairly easily.

Ever seen a sandal tree?

We found our sandals again, waded across the creek, and stumbled back to the truck tired from the day but feeling elated and fortunate. The trek was beautiful and a challenge worth facing. The Summit Post article on the climb discourages climbers from attempting the whole three peak circuit because the views from Bad Marriage are the same as Eagle Plume and the trip off Bad Marriage was hairy enough for him not to get back to his vehicle until 1:30 in the morning. Thankfully this was not our experience. I feel like the third peak was well worth the extra effort and with the help of maps and a GPS, route finding back to the campground wasn't extremely difficult.

Alpenglow on the completed circuit. 

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!

Difficulty Leaving Base Camp

Journal Entry No. 2

Location: Base Camp

I am writing the day after flew in. We didn't leave Base Camp earlier that morning and you'll hear about why in the entry.

Scrambling to get sunscreen on, and wowed by the scenery.

June 17--Our adventure continues here at Kahiltna Base Camp as our hopes, dreams, and fears all mix together, churned like clothes in a washing machine.

We arrived yesterday around 12:30-1pm and setup camp for the day. After checking in, pitching our two tents, melting snow for drinking water, and eating some bean and rice burritos with guacamole (yum!), we set ourselves to the task of rigging our sleds and packing some of our gear. This took much longer than I expected and we didn't stop to crawl into our sleeping bags for a nap until close to 11 pm. As we were closing our eyes, one team was packing to leave.

We got up at 2:30 and pounded some granola with mild (and nuts and raisins for me). Coffee would have been nice but it was nicer not to have to think about heating water. By a quarter to 5 we were entirely packed up and ready to leave when Dad said he didn't think he could do it. He was struggling with anxiety over the stories we had been hearing about travel on the lower glacier, especially since we were a party of only two.

View of the Moonlight Buttress with several climbers chatting in front of the Park Rangers' tent.

I can't quite express the struggle within myself over my love for my Dad and frustration at not being able to travel to the next camp. I feel as though the snow was re-frozen well enough and we should take advantage of the good weather. After waffling for probably half an hour as two large guided teams packed and left we made the decision to stay, “resting” one more day, making sure our system was bomber, and leaving a little before midnight tonight. We setup the Allak tent again and slept for another couple of hours until being driven outside by heat and the need to relieve ourselves.

Lunch, then, was a solid batch of potato soup with reindeer sausage. We did some busy--work thinking about getting the sleds ready for whenever we decide to travel, and now we've laid around the tent for a long time. (We did try to learn how to play Casino, but we'll have to work through the rules small chunks at a time.)

To say that I was frustrated to not be moving camp would be an understatement. I don't think I handled the situation very well and struggled to maintain composure while sorting out the decision with Dad. He has said something to the effect of "Colter was freaking out, that I was freaking out." To be handed a "bomb" like that was totally unexpected. In the future, I need to remember sooner that group decisions are made while mountaineering based on the comfort level of any one of the team; an individual decision becomes the group decision in a hurry, and is usually the best choice. I forgave my Dad for the choice to stay put relatively quickly, and totally forgot about it when we were able to travel the following day. I hope that my attitude and body language reflected that. 

Our camp in the little tent 'town' they call Base Camp. Notice our guard-Poutingos.  

I've been asked several times recently (by strangers, mind you) about Why I decided to climb Denali. This will most likely be a subject revisited several times in the course of this journal. For now, I've come to the conclusion that I see Denali as a test of myself as a mountaineer. Sure, it would be a climbing resume builder and I wouldn't mind being able to tell people that I've climbed the highest point in North America. However it is more accurate, as well as “admirable,” to say I'm using the mountain as a training-testing ground. Perhaps that's why I like all outdoor sports: there is a certain amount of preparation that goes into it beforehand and the actual event tells you how well you prepared. (Cool metaphor of life maybe: every event and every adventure is a preparation for the next.)

Now I'm in the best shape of my life for mountaineering and I want to see if it's good enough to summit Denali. And, unfortunately I might not get to find out, since the weather isn't really cooperating. Mentally it would be okay to accept being prevented from the summit by storms, but it's a struggle to contemplate not making it off the South East Fork of the Kahiltna! I need to eat some humble pie...

Not exactly 'Humble Pie': enjoying a good breakfast on the East Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. To keep things in perspective: the views alone of the surrounding rock, ice, and peaks made the trip worth it. And at this point things are only going to get better!

*Note to self: I want to make sure and look up the Father/Son climbing team that put up a new route in the area as well as the Japanese pair that came in today. Rubbing elbows with famous climbers? More like breathing the same air...

I looked up some information from this past year's climbing season. I couldn't really pick out an oriental team that would have come back to Base Camp around the time we did, but I'm pretty sure that the Schmidt's were the father/son team that I overheard talking to the Ranger in Talkeetna and subsequently mentioned in my journal. It's pretty inspiring for an up-and-coming father/son climbing team like Team Poutine... The text below is taken from a summary of new routes done in the Alaska Range during the 2011 climbing season on Teton.Outerlocal.com--

Windy Corner/West Rim Wall, major new spur climbed

Marty and Denali Schmidt

June, 2011

Climbs the prominent buttress immediately to the left of the West Rim route (Morrow, Ehmann, 1977) and joins the West Buttress route on the glacier just above Windy Corner. Team descended to Basecamp at that point. The Schmidts- father and son- also summitted Denali by the west buttress, and Mount Foraker by the Sultana Ridge, and were the only team to reach the summit of Mount Foraker this season.

Difficulty: WI5, 5.10, A2

Source: basecamp ranger conversation with Schmidt

Denali Journal: The Beginning of the Journey

Chillin' in front of the Beaver, our ride onto Denali.

 My goal in this is to share the story of Team Poutine's Climbing Expedition to climb Denali in the summer of 2011. I am using what I wrote in my journal as a frame-work upon which to build other thoughts and commentary. These entries will be posted on my blog with pictures to help illustrate the tale. I hope to use what I write here to prepare a book to share with friends and family and potentially write a “script” or “screen play” that I can compile our video footage and pictures from the climb into a homemade movie. I've got big dreams, but I guess it takes work to be a Renaissance Man.

Although I have been unable to help myself in editing some of the words in the journal, my attempt has been to type everything as I wrote it in my journal along the trip. I don't want to leave anything out as the journal really chronicles what I was going through mentally and emotionally through the climb.

The regular text comes directly from the journal, while italics indicates commentary that I have added while putting this together, several months removed from the expedition.

____________________________________________________________________

Our carry-on luggage in the GPI airport. We got surprisingly more comments about getting on a plane in June with our ski boots than about our Poutingos...

Journal Entry No. 1

Location: Talkeetna Air Taxi “alternate” bunkhouse (they have a bunkhouse with a shower and a kitchen more in the town of Talkeetna, but we chose to stay closer to the airport where we wouldn't have to put up with climbers just coming off the mountain potentially celebrating into the night)

Organizing our gear in the Corwins' living room. They were very considerate to let us invade their home with our 'tons' of expedition gear.

June 15--We flew out of Kalispell yesterday afternoon following a frantic packing session/cleaning-the-house attempt/gear decision/friend-phone-calling morning. This in itself was riding on the tails of an all day gear-fest, prep day on Monday. I was raterh weary of making decisions about what shirt to bring, whether, or not to take an extra gadget or how in the world we were going to pack everything for the plane to Anchorage, then the drive to Talkeetna, the flight to the glacier, and finally our travels up the mountain.

Good friends and good food at the Moose's Tooth.

Regardless of all that we had a great trip up to Alaska, complete with a complimentary beer from the airline and the smiling faces of Ben and Katie Corwin greeting us at the Fred Stevens airport. The four of us , along with over 200 pounds of gear in four giant bags, crammed into the Corwins' jeep and set off for their apartment located in the “Baroness.” It was so much fun to see their humble abode! I hadn't seen either of them in a bout a year and a half. Both of them are awesome people, great friends, and fierce lovers of God. It is always inspiring to be around them. After dropping off the gear we cruised over to the Moose's Tooth restaurant for some local pizza and brews, both of which were fantastic.

Chatting with Matt, our shuttle driver to Talkeetna. Dad is going through a food bag with him. What you see is a five-day pile of grub, and a whole lot of grub it is as we find out later. 

I have a side note in my journal about how much I've flown this spring. This might be an understatement as I probably was in a flying contraption more this spring than I have been the last five years of my life. We rode in a helicopter to Fairy Meadows, I flew to Dallas for a wedding, flew to Denver for another, to Alaska on a jet, and then on and off the Kahiltna glacier in turboprops.

Last night I couldn't sleep. Not because of the futon I was sleeping on, or the close quarters to my dad, but because I was anxious about the upcoming trip onto Denali.

This was also my first experience with 24 hours of daylight. We were able to close the shades enough that it wasn't a problem to sleep but it was still startling when we came out of the restaurant around 10 in what seemed to me to be full daylight. We were even more amazed by this “Northern Phenomenon” while on the mountain, but more about that later.

Organizing gear at the airstrip in Talkeetna. We had to package everything in bags less than 80 pounds. I think this is the third time we've re-packed our stuff in the last two days!

The past couple of weeks have been a crazy roller coaster of emotions. You worry and fret over one aspect of the climb, get it settled in your mind, and then your confidence grows again...until you start worrying about another facet of the adventure. Crevasses? Yes. Altitude? You bet. Steep ice? Death on the Mountain? Small pack? Warm clothes with -30 degree weather? Everything.

Today was no different. Talking with Ben, to a drive with pseudo-guide and food delivery guy Matt to Talkeetna, to the Ranger briefing, to conversations with climbers fresh off the mountain has left my heart and mind dazed and confused.

It sounds like the lower glacier doesn't have very good conditions. Many climbers are falling in crevasses. I was braced and ready to be denied the summit by inclement weater up high but was not prepared to think about being turned away by the first segment. Still, I don't want to die. I don't want to fall in a crevasse. And I want to be able to climb for years to come.

Dad doing his best "Vanna White" showing off the pile that will fly with us onto the glacier.

We will make our decision when we get there, hoping and praying for cold weather and frozen snow. Right now I look forward to a good night's sleep and a beautiful flight in the morning.

I got a good night's sleep in the TAT bunkhouse, but we didn't fly out to the glacier until mid-morning. The weather didn't cooperate early for flying so we sat in stand-by mode for several hours with nothing to do except play with my kendama, tape pink flamingos to our wands, and worry about crevasses. We had everything packed for the flight in so we were stuck wearing our ski boots and glacier travel clothes, not uncomfortable, but not ideal for walking around the airstrip.

Killing time with the Kendama. It was an anxious couple of hours.

Flying from Talkeetna to the airstrip at Base Camp was pretty incredible. The landscape changes from rivers to swampy tundra to barren foothills to the mountains and glaciers of the Alaskan Range. I was surprised to see so many houses below that didn't seem to have any form of road to get to them. It would be much easier to travel around during the winter I'm sure. But how do they get supplies in the summer months?

The plane was a Beaver, and the flight in was only the two of us and the pilot. 

What struck me was just how BIG everything seemed to be in the mountains of Alaska! The peaks were more rugged and the glaciers were more vast than anything I've ever encountered before. And I probably thought the same thing when we flew into Fairy Meadows in British Columbia earlier this year. Your experiences make everything relative I suppose.

Thumbs up and all smiles!

A side glacier we viewed while flying in. We didn't have to cross anything that gnarly thank goodness.

The pilot dropped us off under blue skies and a harsh sun. With all the snow around to reflect the sun's intensity, combined with the altitude, Dad and I scrambled to get covered up and put sunscreen on our faces. We then piled our stuff in the sleds we chose from the pile at the air strip and skied down into camp.

Showing the plane we just rode in on at the landing strip of Base Camp. Another crew is packing their stuff and getting ready to fly out. They looked exhausted!