The May 14th team had a productive day on the mountain, back-carrying their cache from just below 14 Camp and bringing all their supplies safely back to camp. With those loads now reunited at 14 Camp, the team has consolidated their position and everything they need is in one place.

Back-carry days have their own rhythm on a Denali expedition. The team heads down to the cache site, digs the supplies out of the snow, repacks them into sleds and packs, and hauls everything back up to camp. While the loads are heavy on the return leg, the route is familiar ground the team has already covered, which makes the day feel more manageable than a brand-new push higher. There’s also something quietly satisfying about reclaiming gear stashed days earlier. It’s a tangible reminder that the slow, methodical approach to expedition-style climbing is working, and that the team is steadily moving a mountain’s worth of supplies up the route.

With all their gear consolidated at 14 Camp, the team is now well-positioned to look ahead to the next phase of the expedition. 14 Camp sits at 14,200 feet and serves as the staging ground for the upper mountain. From here, the focus shifts to acclimatizing to the new altitude, scouting the route higher up, and waiting for the right window to start working toward high camp and beyond.

For now, the May 14th team is settling back in at 14 with another solid day of work behind them. Each day like this builds the foundation for what comes next, and the team is in a great spot heading into the upper mountain phase of the climb.

Here are some photos from the May 14th team so far.

May 14 team in the cook tent

Bathroom construction

May 14 Team moving around Windy Corner

May 14 team at Camp 2

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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.