Day 5

Crossing a crevasse on Motorcycle Hill - the picture is deceiving, this crevasse is about two feet wide and maybe fifty feet deep

The 11,000' camp from the top of Motorcycle Hill

We packed up our cache and headed up Motorcycle Hill. It was a brilliant, gorgeous day. And we were hot once we started moving uphill. We stepped across a couple of deep crevasses, but the snow bridges were very solid. Things were melting fast though. It wouldn’t be long before the trail would be cutting farther right to avoid the crevasses. As the season wears on, the

Heading up to Squirrel Point

sun melts the snow and the crevasses grow. Then the trail starts winding left and right around them, making for slower progress and longer days. But go too early in the season and it’s dangerously cold. The window for Denali is short, and a bit unpredictable, since it depends on the snowfall and the number of sunny days. I think we had hit it just right. Summitting in the first half of June is the best time. And the time when the mountain is the most crowded.

At the top of Motorcycle Hill we finally got out of the valley. So far the scenery had been wonderful, but we had been in one valley or another. At the top of the hill we got our first view to the west and of the Peters Glacier below. Now it felt like we were on a mountain!

David at Squirrel Point

As we continued up past Squirrel Point, across the flats, then up to Windy Corner, the views just got better. And as you come around Windy Corner, the ridge to the summit of Denali comes into view, so you can see where you want to go. It lifted everybody’s mood. We were excited. Kyle and Punches wanted to continue the next mile and 700' up to the 14 camp, but we talked them out of it. Better to save our strength and try to get an early start tomorrow. We wanted to get into camp before the crowd so we could find a campsite we didn’t have to dig out. The experience at the 11,200' camp was quite enough of that, thank you.

We sat at Windy Corner and had lunch. Hardly a breath of wind, hardly a cloud in the sky. High summer in the mountains. A couple stopped and had lunch with us. The woman was from Scotland and the man from Freeport, Bahama. I would have loved to hear the story of how they got together, but I never did. He was 58 years old and planned to climb the seven summits (the highest point on each of the seven continents). He had been at Everest last year, made it to the Yellow Band (about 25,000’) but had an accident. A

Dove rounding Windy Corner

fixed rope broke and he fell. Dislocated his rotator cuff, broke some ribs, he was a mess. But here he was back at it again. And planning to return to Everest next year. I admired him, especially since he was 5 years older than me. The woman was much younger, but out of politeness I didn’t ask her age. They were tough cookies, judging by the pace they set. The Edinburgh-Freeport connection.

We had a quick lunch at the 3500 cache site, then headed back down. The wind had picked up a little, but it was blowing down the mountain and was at our backs. That makes such a difference. It wasn’t blowing hard enough to be a factor, maybe 20-30 knots. Ryan was looking a bit peeked today. I think his cold was getting to him. We got back to the tent about 5:30. Ryan came in and said he

Caching at 13,500' - the summit ridge is in the background

wasn’t feeling well, not sure he could go to 14 tomorrow. David and I said he could be on our rope team and we would go as slow as he wanted. And if he couldn’t go at all, he should say so, but it was his call. As it turned out it wasn’t.