Denali Journal, Day 12: Camp IV to High Cache at 16,200 ft; Hike to the Edge of the World

Above: Me at the Edge of the World.

Above: Dan in "anchor position" en route to the Headwall from Camp IV.


Above: A quick video shot of our approach to the Headwall.

Above: Approaching the Headwall at about 15,500 ft.

Above: A video glimpse into our Headwall approach, with lots of heavy breathing!

Above: Dan, the Photo Nerd (but we love him for it!).

Above: Fede's rope team arriving on the ridge at 16,200 ft, above the Headwall.

Above: Video of another happy climber on the ridge.

Above: Curtis with his back to a great view from the ridge.

Above: Billy's team arriving on the ridge at 16,200 ft, above the Headwall.
I opted out of the group hot drinks tonight in the mess tent in order to have some hot tea with solitude and finish today's log entry.  Sometimes group talk can degenerate into useless banter, while the sun dips further below the ridge, sending the temperature plunging--by then, you have to write all bundled up and with liner gloves on or your hands will loose all writing dexterity.  

It was day twelve today!  Talkeetna seems so long ago!  My makeshift beard is becoming annoying and I miss my alone time, my friends, my bed, good beer, a movie... you get the idea!  Long outings are good for the soul though, giving you time to think, reflect, experience, push your boundaries, enjoy the smallest of life's little pleasures, and shut the door on the rat race of the big money economy that has stolen so much of our free time and given so little in return!

We woke up this morning to a frigid but clear and cloudless morning.  The wind-polished white caps of Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter were clearly visible as well as the lower Alaska Range and the Kahiltna.  Wes woke up to about a half inch of pure icy fuzz on his sleeping bag.  

We were all roped up and ready to go by about 11:00 a.m., with our ascenders, poles, avalanche transceivers, a backup sling with a carabiner, and our cache loads.  Mike had given us a refresher yesterday on what to do on the Headwall, a 500 ft, 50 degree wall of hard ice.  Your ascender is clipped to the rope on  your left hand side, and your backup sling is clipped below the ascender (the ascender grips the rope in the downward direction but allows upward movement).  Your partners are short-roped to you and that rope should be taught or nearly taught since it is your backup to the fixed line system.  The leader is the guide.  

Going down is a different story.  You wrap your left arm around the rope, clip your sling behind your arm, and pigeon-walk slowly with small steps, keeping your weight forward and directly over your crampons.  The guide is last and uses a backup ascender for safety.

So, at around 11:00 a.m., we headed up the 30-40 degree snow slopes that lead up 1,500 ft. towards the bergschrund, where the Headwall starts.  It was a hot and sunny day and there was a slight breeze.  Once we got to the headwall, we dropped our poles and loaded up on the fixed lines to start our ascent up the 500 ft. wall.  It was hard work and often it felt like a push-pull motion: "push" in that you would push your ascender forward and then take a step up and "pull" in that your partner below would keep (by necessity) his short rope taught such that your right leg would run into it while taking a step up and you felt like you were lending a bit of a hoist to the person below.  The pace was hard but we would get short breather points at the anchors while each of us was getting around them.  The ice below our crampons was brittle and hard but there were small ledges (about 2" deep) kicked out in most places, which made the footing a bit more stable than I expected.

At the top, Walter anchored us to a picket, told us to be careful not to drop anything, and after the rest of the teams arrived, he had a "huddle" with Billie and Fede to decide if we should cache at the top of the fixed lines or go further, possibly to Washburn's Thumb.  The decision was to cache at the fixed lines.  We hung out there for about 30 minutes and enjoyed the awesome view from 16,200 ft. while Fede, Billy, and Walter dug the cache.  

The previous RMI guide from the first expedition had left a can of fuel for us at the RMI cache site.  One of the Mountain Trips guides, who was a total ass, almost stole it from us.  He would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for Walter intervening.  I've heard more bad stories about these Mountain Trips jokers on this trip to know that I'll never use them!

Coming down was uneventful and easier than it sounded--except when Yury sat down for some reason (he was on another rope team).  The guides just coached him up and everyone made it down without incident.  

Total Time: 5 hrs, 45 min.

Total Gain: 2000 ft.

Total Loss: 2000 ft.

After we came down and had a 30 min. rest, we roped up again to traverse the crevasse field to the east to the "Edge of the World," a rock platform that hangs 6000 ft. over the Kahiltna Glacier and the Valley of Death with near vertical exposure.  You could see for miles!  We took a great group photo with Dan's camera . 

Dinner was turkey and stuffing with mashed potatoes!  Tomorrow is a rest day and hopefully I will kick this cough.  I also polished off my first novel today!  Time for bed!