Denali Journal, Day 9: Camp III to Windy Corner Cache at 13,700 ft.

[6:45 p.m.] We left Camp III after breakfast with descent sunny to partly cloudy skies to carry supplies to the cache site just beyond Windy Corner at 13,700 ft. We climbed up Motorcycle Hill, the twisty and steeper Squirrel Hill, and around Windy Corner where the cache site is located. We endured the cold up there with some significant layers since it was much colder than at Camp III at 11,200 ft. And it seemed to take forever up there to dig the cache, but that was understandable since our guides were doing all of the work and we were just sitting down roped up watching all of their efforts! 

Coming down was a sort of comedy at first and we laughed about it later. Billy (RMI) took off before I was even ready and yanked me all over the place and, on top of that, my fingers were so cold going around Windy Corner that I was concerned about frostbite (I should have had my big mitts!). Billy was also trying to catch up to Walter's group, but in the process we really flew down fast without much warning down and around Windy Corner and Squirrel Hill--I tripped twice in the deep snowpack that we were trampling down (it's usually easier on the knees to go in fresh snow down the mountain), so that was a little disconcerting! But we got down really fast and did indeed catch up to the rest of the group. We got from the cache site to Camp III in less than an hour! It felt good to move though, and hopefully we can get to Camp IV tomorrow and have clear skies to enjoy the view this time!

Total Time: 4 hrs. 20 min.
Total Gain: 2,500 ft.
Total Loss: 2,500 ft.