The crew awoke early this morning and were picked up by the guide team, along with their chauffeur for the day, Todd Rutledge. We drove north to the interesting town of Wasilla, Alaska for coffee and sandwiches, before continuing north to Talkeetna. Caroline was slightly disappointed as we drove north, because she had set her heart on looking over at Russia from Wasilla, as she had heard you could look right at it…
We stopped at an overlook just before dropping into Talkeetna and had a nice view of the Alaska Range:
The May 16th Team: Brian, Rob, Alan, Nungshi, Yoshiko, Tashi, Caroline and Alan. (I hope I got the twins’ names right!)
We then stopped by the National Park Service office, where we were greeted by our friends at the NPS Robert and Missy. They helped our team complete the registration process and veteran Climbing Ranger Joe Reichart gave our team the obligatory orientation provided to all Denali climbers. It was informative and educational, and Joe’s decades of experience on the mountain gave depth to the presentation.
We then drove over to the Talkeetna Air Taxi office, where we finalized preparations for the flight to the glacier. After loading the two planes needed for the team of nine, the crew taxied down the tarmac and flew the amazingly beautiful flight into Base Camp.
Brian and Alan put the finishing touches on the load of equipment.
The team in front of the Otter airplane that flew them onto the Kahiltna, courtesy of Talkeetna Air Taxi.
Caroline boarding the Otter.
Rob and Alan flew in a smaller, Cessna 185
The team is now on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier! They had a nice big dinner and are trying to sleep in the light of the midnight sun.
