The June 15th team back-carried from below 14 Camp today, bringing the rest of their supplies up the route and consolidating their gear at camp. With everything now in one place, the team is set up well to focus on the next phase of the climb.

Back-carrying is a familiar rhythm on Denali by this point in an expedition. The team heads down to where the cache was buried, digs out the supplies, repacks them into sleds and packs, and hauls everything back up to camp. The loads are heavy on the return leg, but the route is familiar ground at this point, which makes the day feel more manageable than a brand-new push higher.

This back-and-forth pattern of caching and back-carrying is the foundation of how teams safely move a mountain’s worth of gear up Denali. It can feel repetitive at times, but every trip strengthens the team’s familiarity with the route, supports steady acclimatization, and advances their supplies up the mountain. With their gear now consolidated at 14 Camp, the team is set up to look ahead to the upper mountain.

For now, the June 15th team is settled in at 14 Camp with another solid day behind them. The team is climbing well and continuing to make steady progress up the route.

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Interested in more information about conditions and happenings on Denali? Be sure to also check out the Denali National Park’s Denali Dispatches Blog where they post weekly Field Reports.