Well the weather hasn’t gotten bad yet. We made it up to
High Camp in yet another day of splendid blue skies. The highlight of my day
(and possibly my trip) came as we broached the top of Washburn’s Thumb, a giant
rock that you have to climb around using a second set of fixed lines. It is
about half way between the top of the fixed lines and High Camp along the
ridge. We had just started up after taking a break when I heard the
unmistakable noise of a plane moving at high speed. Planes, though not an
uncommon sight to see (or sound to hear) on Denali, are not usually that
loud…or close. I looked behind me and sure enough, there was a formation of
F-22 fighter jets practicing. We had all noticed, and stopped to watch them.
Joe began jumping up and down and waving his hands like a little kid. I have to
admit, it was really exciting. Then one of the planes broke formation and
circled around so he was flying straight at us. He shot right over our heads
and I swear he was doing it for us. (Though small, we do stand out on the ridge
due to the contrast between the bright hues of our clothing and the monotonous
white and rock of the slope.) It was like this pilot had just saluted us, and
wished us good luck for the remainder of our climb. I couldn’t believe what had
just happened.
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| Climbing around 14k Camp with Mt. Hunter in the background. |
We then continued to High Camp—only an hour or so distant at
that point—without incident. We were all pretty tired by the time we reached
17,200ft (the altitude at High Camp), both because of the thin air and also the
exertion of the day’s climb. Though we made good time going up the Headwall,
the second half of the day—climbing the 16,200ft Knife-edge Ridge—was
surprisingly difficult and tiring. We were going very slowly the whole way, our
progress inhibited by the constant stopping to clip through the fixed
protection lining the ridge. We were all just happy to make it to High Camp and
to set up our tents in good weather.
On another note, the June 15th Mountain Trip team
summited today! I am so, so proud of them. They are all great, hard-working
people and they definitely deserve this summit. We hope we will be able to
repeat their success in a couple days when we make our summit bid.
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