Day 10 - ABC back carry

Today we are going to pick up our cache from Windy Corner that we stored a couple of days ago. Should only be about 20 mins down and 1.5 hours up - we actually descend at a decent pace, it is just the uphill that is so ridiculously slow.

That is all we have to do today so it is going to a pretty relaxed one. We are 'recovering' after the past couple of days and continuing our acclimatisation.

It is freezing first thing but at about 09:20 the sun comes out from behind the mountain and really warms the place up. The frozen condensation on my sleeping bag thaws in less than five minutes; the rest of the tent takes a bit longer to dry out.

Lovely conditions for our cache retrieval - again sun cream and sun hats are the key pieces of equipment.

There is some group training in the afternoon to ensure everyone knows what to do on the fixed ropes and supported areas. Early evening is organising our equipment for our cache tomorrow.

Then a sociable dinner - not as cold as yesterday. Mumple's Tiffin again makes a star appearance on a trip. This time, in amongst all the votes of thanks for her, I at least get a small mention for having carried the treats all this way!

Food:

Hash browns. Surprisingly good - just grated potato fried in a small amount of butter.
Quesadillas (snack lunch in camp as we were not moving today)
Pasta with kolbassa

Day 9 - Move to ABC (4,330 mtrs)

Up at a leisurely hour (7:30 am) and a leisurely preparation for our move up to Advance Base Camp, finally setting off at about 11:30!

There is fine weather again so our concern is sun burn rather than getting too cold. This is not my strong suit and rather predictably I do burn - will have to wait to see how bad it is.

The walk seems tougher than the move - we are carrying a bit more but not that much more but we seem to go significantly slower. Still this means that there is plenty of time to enjoy the view.

We get into camp at about 17:30 and I need to go for a brisk walk. The pace is just far too slow for me and my body never really gets going. My muscles are full of lactic acid and I walk for about 5 mins to really get the blog flowing to flush my system out - I do get a number if puzzled stares from others in the camp but I feel so much better after.
After that, relaxing in the tents and enjoying the views until dinner.

As we get higher up the mountain we are increasingly exposed to the weather (especially the wind) and so the protective snow walls are a key part of the camp. The next few days are acclimatising so should be pretty relaxing. We get our first real taste of the cold when the sun goes behind the mountain and within a matter of minutes the temperature plummets. We huddle in the mess tent for supper before bed.

Given the cold it is vital to keep some key things warm. So each night I pack my sleeping bag with all my electricals and batteries, socks, gloves, water bottles and inner boots. This is much the same as at the pole and it will take a night or two of getting used to again. Also expedition sleeping bags rather than polar bags are more of a mummy shape so there is much less room for all that paraphernalia. Still, no matter  how annoying at night, it is nothing to what would happen if any of them happen to be frozen just before an early start - they could potentially mean that you could not set off for the summit!

Food:
Pancakes (the thick US ones) and sausages.
Enchiladas (I think). Doritos with rice, beans and cheese.

Day 8 - Cache at Windy Corner (4,040 mtrs)

Medium start to the day as the move is a tough but not too long one. However the weather remains tricky - low cloud, snow and wind so we wait a bit to see if the weather improves. A lot of snow had fallen in the past few days and it would be good to let it settle a bit. Some groups have been here for a number of days waiting for an improvement as not only is not pleasant to walk in such conditions (although this can easily be overcome by having the right equipment) there is also an avalanche risk from all the new snow.

A couple of groups have headed off at about 09:30 and our plan (hopefully) is to head off soon and deal with the conditions. There is little point hanging round at this altitude unless we really have to. I take the opportunity to have a quick shave - no reason to let standards drop just because you are on a mountain!

At about 11am we head off - there is still low cloud and snow but the wind has dropped.

First we head up motorcycle hill - so named because it is so steep and some motorcyclists like to ride up ever steeper hills until they fall off backwards. However, we have reached the top of the slope before I have noticed any real steep section. The top of Motorcyle Hill is 3,600 and there we break through the cloud

and start to get stunning views and blue skies.

From there we walk across the Polo Field and round Windy Corner (which is surprisingly unwindy and instead we have more blue skies and sun) to our cache site. Quick turn around and a stunning return to camp with much of the low cloud now dissipating as well giving us wonderful views down the glacier.

 

Camp has grown significantly during the day and there are probably about 10 groups there now. Hopefully we will remain a day or two ahead of them and continue to walk in reasonably deserted slopes.

After supper the clouds clear and we are treated to wonderful views and many people stay up for a bit chatting and looking at the scenery that we can finally see!

 

Looking up to Motorcycle Hill

 

Then there is a bit of preparation for the move in the morning. I end up digging the cache hole - 5 feet deep and about the same in circumference. There is quite a bit of group as well as individual gear that we will not be using higher up the mountain so we will leave it here and pick it up when we come out.

Food
Freedom / French toast
Pad Thai and cheesecake.

Day 7 - Rest day at Motorcycle Hill Camp

Leisurely start to the day before heading off at 10:30 to retrieve the cache we have deposited a couple of days ago. There is now quite a bit of wind together with the low cloud and snow so it is a pretty miserable walk down and back.

For some reason we have a break in the way back up but this is foreshortened when pretty much everyone remains standing and with their packs on and we quickly begin the remaining 20 mins back to camp.

Then lunch and relaxing in the tents in the pm. There is talk of doing some technical training but given the weather and that half the group are experienced mountaineers and the other half have just been on a course run by the company, there is little appetite for it.

After a bit the weather improves slightly - the wind drops and the visibility improves and so we do some crampon and ice axe basics. This is another key difference between UK and US trips - a UK co would not take inexperienced people on such trips and so there is little training on them. US firms will basically take anyone and so have to do basic skills training on the mountains - personally not sure how safe taking totally inexperienced people is even if you are going to treat them as children on the trip itself.

Then dinner and bed.

Food:
Oatmeal
Toasted sandwiches (proper lunch as we are in camp rather than on the trail)
Burritos

Day 6 - Move to Motorcycle Hill Camp (3,350 mtrs)

The morning starts with a peek outside the tent to see what weather we are going to have to contend with. 

 Although there is low cloud and it is still snowing (about 6 inches had fallen over night) it looks okish for the day. We have a quick breakfast, strike camp as head off at 9am.

In fact there is little wind and the low cloud is keeping the heat in so I end up just walking in a shirt for most of the day.

The difficult part is tying to guess what the weather will be like for the next hour at each stop to make sure you do not get too hot or cold before the next chance to change at the next stop in an hours time.
By the time we get to camp we have walked above much of the low cloud and the sun comes out. The sun has in fact been doing a fair bit during the day and there are a few red faces and noses especially. Time to break out the nose guard - this is basically a small piece of foam that attaches to your sunglasses and covers your nose as the strong sun up here means that it will burn very quickly.

The afternoon is relaxing in the tents. We are now up on the serious part of the mountain and it can get seriously windy up here. To protect ourselves and the tents we camp within snow walls - quite luckily the good weather has really emptied the mountain and so there are plenty of spaces for us to much right in without having to do much building ourselves.

Protected tents

Another group from the same company is 'racing' down as it is first come first served at the airport to get off the glacier still and so they jump into our mess tent for a quick supper after we have finished at about 20:30 before carrying on down through the evening.

Food:
Oatmeal and bagels (quick and easy food for days when we are moving)
Pesto pasta and sausages

Day 5 - Cache at Kahiltna Pass (2,950 mtrs)

Up early again (5am although since I am still jet lagged this is still a lie in for me!) and we walk up the glacier to cache some of our gear, food and fuel. This is only about 3 miles but there are some reasonably steep sections.

We get there in about 5 hours compared to the expected range of 3-6 hours, and dig a deep hole for our stuff - there are heavy fines if this is not done properly and you make a mess on the mountain! 

We stick out sleds in our backpacks on the way down - it looks a little strange but it is actually much easier to walk like this rather than having the sleds slipping about on the slope and tangling your legs. 

On the way back the glorious sunshine we have had since arrival breaks and low cloud and snow arrive. This remains all afternoon and combined with the weather we get something approaching sleet.

We meet a group back at camp who it turns out were the lucky last group to make it onto the glacier as this low cloud has put a stop to flights for the past couple of days and it is not clear when it will lift - some reports say 5 or 6 days - so groups are currently backing up at the Talkeetna airport. Most trips have a few contingency days (usually about 4) so you have to feel sorry for people seeing these being used up before they even start their expedition - and how lucky we are getting out here the day before the weather arose!

The rest of the day is relaxing in the tents before supper. Supper is mountain pizza - cooked in a very interesting way. Bases are heated on a hot plate and then the toppings are placed directly onto the hot plate in reverse order - cheese then salami and then tomato sauce. The base is then put on top of this and the whole lot is flipped a bit like an omelette and served. It tastes pretty good!

Food:
Bacon and cream cheese baps
Pizzas

Day 4 - KBC to Ski Hill (2,375mtrs)

After a quick breakfast we pack our sleds and head off for the move to Camp 1 - about 5 miles with minimal vertical ascent. 

A cracking morning

This is hot work!

As we are moving on the glacier there is an ever present crevasse danger and as such we move roped up together and so have to move at the same speed - very slow but the views are great!

We get to camp at ski hill after about 4.5 hours. The expected time is 3-6 hours so not too bad but I would hope to be able to do it in about 2. The real issue here is that this is an uncomfortable pace for me to walk at as it is not fast enough for my heart or lungs to get going which causes a big build up of lactic acid in my muscles - for the chaps reading this, just think how tired you feel after following your darling wife / girlfriend round the shops for a few hours. You haven't done much but feel pretty tired at the end.

On arrival we set up the tents and then take some shade from the very strong afternoon sun. Another early dinner and bed - as the weather warms we are going to be travelling early in the morning pretty much every day.

Food:
Muffins and fruit cups
Rice with vegetable and lentil curries