[4:00 p.m., Entry for 5/17] If you are reading my journal, you'll notice that the entry from yesterday (5/17), was the move from Camp III to Camp IV, conspicuously missing. It was, for me, the hardest day so far. My pack, was big, bulky, and heavy (with stuff like the tent fly, group food, my food, parka, sleeping pads, -40 degree bag, 3 liters of water, and lots of other stuff that needed to be hauled up). Since we had done the carry to the cache site at 13, 700 ft yesterday, I had the leftovers of a small side ache still (from the pack position more than anything), but no headache or other unmanageable ailments; my cough was still around and bothering me a tad though but no big deal. It was promising to be very gusty, and that meant that it was possible that we would freeze our nuts off along with any outlying extremities, so I wasn't about to mess around--so I grabbed my big Mountain Hardware mits for upper Windy Corner and the lower part of the route ending at the 13,700 ft cache site, where we knew we would be stopping for a break. To the left, a lenticular cloud hangs over Kahiltna Dome, as seen from Camp IV. The hike up Motorcycle Hill from Camp III was very manageable and fun, and even the first part of Squirrel Hill to the first break point was pretty descent. We had a crystal clear view of the Peter's Glacier that was pretty stunning from our rest vantage point! From there, we stashed one ski pole and took out our ice axes for the steep and rather icy part of Squirrel Hill.
We slowly ascended that part, and then switched back to using both poles on the flatter part of the route leading to Windy Corner. At that point, I was really starting to feel worked to the upper edge of what I felt was a manageable pace for me (and I was wishing I'd left a ton more stuff that I really didn't need in the cache at Camp III!). I was in the "anchor position" on the rope (last in line, carrying the rope coil), and one thing that irritated me was when we would have these "surges," speed-ups that would mysteriously start on the upper parts of inclines when the lead climber would reach a flat spot, ripping me clear out of any rest step rhythm or any possibility of maintaining that, lest I be drug up the slope like a pack mule. A rest step pace, combined with some pressure breathing, is important to success. I could not maintain either, and that worried me a bit!
We stopped and rested below the final corner leading to Windy Corner, and after that, I felt completely recovered and ready to go, but damn it was frigid! I wore my parka during the rest period, and then donned my balaclava, mitts, and my helmet for Windy Corner. We headed up at a blistering pace--we even passed teams! I thought to myself "what, is this a race?" I couldn't understand the rationale behind it, nor the surges, and so once we were clear of a frigid and windy Windy Corner, where my eyelids wanted to freeze shut and where the exposure could send you to the Kahiltna via the "express route" should you fall, I mentioned my complain to Fede, our rope team leader. He agreed to work on a more steady pace for the hour or so left to Camp IV, but at this point, I already had a huge headache, a bad side ache, my shoulders wanted my beast removed, and my left hip bone was bruised from the pack strap. I could not believe I was falling apart like this! I sucked it up, got back on rope after the break, and the fast pace returned to my dismay, whereby we passed every team that we saw on the way to Camp IV. I just put myself in a 3 foot by 3 foot box and tuned out all unwanted misery by focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, matching speed with my rope mate John in front of me. No time to enjoy the crystal clear views of Mt. Foraker, Mt. Hunter, and Denali!
We arrived at Camp IV and all I could for a while was just to relax, unclip, breath, and make my headache go away. I really felt crappy for a while there. I did less than I had wanted when we were building camp. Wes and Dan were easy going about it, and really, they were rock stars getting everything in place! I really appreciated it!
Once I had a chance to "take it all in," I took some photos of Denali--you could see the rest of the climb from here! We also had clear views of Kahiltna Dome, Mt. Foraker, Mt. Hunter, and the lower Alaska Range. It was absolutely beautiful! Camp IV has a ranger station and a designated area to use as a helicopter landing pad. It also has two full latrines--a luxery, to be sure!
The NPS rangers are friendly guys. One stopped over to our camp today to tell us about a French climber who, because he wasn't taking care of himself, had to be flown out with frostbitten toes--he will likely loose both big toes; he had started the day dehydrated and with wet socks!
I caught Walter in the mess tent working on dinner and hots, and he asked me if I was feeling OK. So we chatted about my cough and about the pace. He wanted to make sure that I was communicating with him, especially if the cough got worse or started to degenerate into full-blown HAPE (heaven forbid that from happening!). He's a great lead guide!
Dinner was beef stew (still frozen in some spots, a total bummer!) and ramen with veggies! Ramen never tasted so good! Not since my college days!
Total Time for 5/17: 4 hrs, 45 min.
Total Gain for 5/17: 3,100 ft.
Total Loss for 5/17: 0 ft.
[8:45 p.m.] This morning, we got up late after a great sleep. I guess Wes was cold for most of the night and so was Dan (I luckily was in the middle sleeping bag slot, so I was generally always warm). I suggested pushing the sleeping bags closer together to the center of the tent and borrowing from Ed Viesture's spooing rules: spooning is allowed, but forking is not. We chuckled about that but really, why be cold when you have two warm bodies lying next to you on their own "islands"?
We headed out mid-morning with nearly empty packs and a partly cloudy sky to do a back-carry from our cache at 13,700 ft. to Camp IV. It took us a mere 16 minutes to get to the cache site and another hour or so to get back to Camp IV. Easy! Since it was our "active rest" day, everyone took it very easy going back to Camp IV.
I feel a ton better today! No headache! I'd say I'm on the up-and-up and looking forward to what comes next! Tomorrow, with the possibility of some pretty bad weather on Tuesday, we will probably climb the Headwall and get our high cache of supplies in place at 16,200 ft. or higher (even possibly to High Camp at 17,200 ft.). It would be nice to get one more rest day in, but we have to work around the bad weather forecast! Git 'er done!
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