Lead Guide Joe Butler called in from 7800′ on the broad Kahiltna Glacier to check in after a meal of chicken enchiladas.  The team carried loads of supplies and equipment up to an elevation of about 10,500′ this morning, where they buried their kit in a deep snow pit before turning back and hiking down to Camp 1.

This process is called “double Carrying” or “making a carry” by expedition climbers.  It enables the team to transport their mountain of supplies up the route more easily than carrying it all at one time (known as single carrying).  It also helps ease the climbers into each new elevation by essentially giving them a taste of a new height before committing to camping up higher.

Tomorrow, they will actually climb up past their cache of supplies and continue to a beautiful basin at an elevation of 11,200′, where they will establish Camp 2.  The following day will be an easy day when they drop down 700′ to grab their supplies anc carry them an hour or so back up to Camp.

Here’s Joe!