Anis Tabka called in a very nice post, with a special message!
The team is camped on a broad glacier, with spectacular views of Denali, soaring 12,500′ above them. They traveled about five miles up glacier from Base Camp to reach this site and today they began employing a strategy called “double carrying,” which is designed to help them move their mountain of supplies and equipment, as well as aid their acclimatization.
Double carrying means that they basically load up half of their total “stuff” (food, fuel, extra clothing, equipment that they won’t need immediately, etc) and carry it up to, or near, their next camp. They dig a deep hole in the snow and bury the equipment and supplies, making a cache that they will later retrieve. We bury our caches to protect them from the very determined raves that have learned to enjoy the food of lazy climbers! After making their cache, they dropped back down to camp at 7,800′ for the night. This process of climbing high and sleeping low helps their bodies ease into the higher elevation of their next camp.
The plan is to move up to a beautiful basin at 11,200′ tomorrow and set up camp. This is a long, hard day of about 4.5 miles and 3,400′ of elevation gain. They will spend at least three nights at the next camp.
Here is Anis:
