- The team made it to 17k camp late at night on the 29th.
- Heavy loads, -20F temps, and winds made for a rough night at high camp.
- Chris' right pinky remembers the conditions particularly well as it now recovers from frostbite.
- The team made the decision to move back to 14k camp the following day due to extended forecasts of high winds and low temps.
- After returning to 14k, the team then decided to depart the following night with the hopes of reaching Kahiltna Base Camp early Friday morning.
- The hike out provided the unique Denali experience of being 'inside a ping pong ball' as we made our way down through white-out conditions.
- Wands are good and nice.
- Ben, Jason, and Chris experienced the joys of punching through a crevase on Squirrel and Motorcycle Hill.
- Snow was heaviest when the team reached 11k camp to grab our cache, falling at a rate of several inches an hour as Ben broke trail in over a foot of snow.
- Conditions cleared up below 7800 camp as we finished our slog to Kahiltna Base ending an 11 hr journey from the mountain.
- After returning, the team might have exhausted all known food supplies between Talkeetna and Anchorage.
- Napoleon Dynamite is funny. Niki deciphered Farmer Lile and we're all still humming 'The Promise' and ' Forever Young'.
- If you have the chance to drive from Anchorage to Seward, do it (and rent motorcycles from MotoQuest)
- If you make it to Seward stay at the Nauti Otter Hostel and drink adult beverages at the Yukon Bar.
- Faucets make getting water easy.
Stay tuned for the trip report, photos and video
I want to see some pics from the trip!
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