June 18 West Buttress Expedition – Move to Camp 3

After some breakfast of something like a Denali Sando, which is cream cheese and bacon on a bagel (sometimes jelly, too!), and some coffee everyone packed up at Camp 2 (3413m). Before heading out, the team dug a cache at their camp to stash anything they no longer need such as trash, snowshoes, and most of their sleds and duffel bags. They cover this 5-6 foot deep hole with a mound of snow and mark it with wands so they can find it on their return journey. They put on their crampons, tied in to their rope teams, and with ice axes in hand and a full backpack marched out of camp. Immediately out of camp, the mountain rises above them as a slope known as Motorcycle Hill. Straight up they will climb to a bench at the top where they can take a short break and enjoy the views of the Peter Glacier below on one side, and camp below them on the other side. After Motorcycle Hill they climb up Squirrel Hill onto the Polo Field where they make their way to Windy Corner. Today, this team will pick up their cache on their way to Camp 3 which is located just past Windy Corner. After picking up their cache, everything is even heavier, but luckily it’s only an hour or so up to Camp 3!

On a clear day you can see the Alaska Range stretched out in front of you, staring down on mountain tops and glaciers, for miles and miles out to the lush river plains below. Temps are a bit colder, and as you look up you can really visualize some of the final steps to the summit. The team is really in it now!

Here they are with the update:

Audio Recording

A beautiful day at 14-Camp.

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