The team showed up in Talkeetna under dismal skies and expectations of waiting out the clouds at the local brewery, but fortunately lead guide Jared Vilhauer knows enough to get everything ready to go no matter what the weather looks to be doing, as there are many miles between Talkeetna and the southeast fork of the Kahiltna glacier.  So the gear was all weighed and valuables stashed in the air service’s safe and street clothes were exchanged for mountain clothes, and they waited.  Guides call this the ‘hurry up and wait’ program.  There was a team ahead of them on the flight plan but they weren’t ready to fly, so Jared got his expedition on the other team’s plane and made it into basecamp in a narrow weather window.  Which proves again that if you are on your game, you can get more things done in the mountains.

The team is ready to fly in a De Havilland Otter with Talkeetna Air Taxi