Denali 2019

Boarded TAT air taxi, but last minute called off - bad weather at the Base, can't fly. Car camped outside TAT dormitory - great - can take shower and boil water. Climbers from all over the world. Two young guys from Peru plan to climb Denali in one day from the Base. Went to buy Deli food in nearby store. Nobody so far summitted: saw some frustrated Polish and some skiers. "How high did you guys climb?"  "Not high". Summit temperature: -30°C, so we are not in great hurry to get there, in fact hope weather still bad for a few days. In the afternoon, met a solo climber from Japan. Vera asked him: "Wow! You climb alone! But what if you drop into a crevasse? There will be nobody to save you". The answer was: "Then I will die". Certainly, percent of insane people is high over here.We never saw him again.

After driving 3,532 km, we arrived in Talkeetna! Took mandatory orientation at Ranger's Station. Got three CMCs. Checked in our stuff with Talkeetna Air Taxi: 260lbs of gear, food and fuel. Vera suggested to rent an extra sled, and we did, although originally planned to pull only one. Adding extra sled was critical - not so sure if I could pull all our stuff in one sled - first it's too heavy, secondly, center of gravity would be too high making sled overturn as we would see it on Squirrel Hill on return. Very thankful to Vera's insight!

In Palmer, AK. Raining. Stayed in Pioneer Motel - pretty neat. Went out to eat, had some of the most horrible pizzas in my life - not sure how they run business like that, felt like chewng pants' belt. Otherwise, we are in good moods.Vera keeps knitting good stuff.

Drove 1,216km, total 3,085km from home. Crossed Yukon border, then US border. Car camp in Rest Area . Vera finished knitting socks (will be super useful on the expedtition).

Took Hwy 37 recommended by Google Maps and not recommended by car GPS. The choice turned to be not as good as Alaska Highway . Car camped at  Beaver Dam Rest Area . Vera, when not driving, was busy knitting..

LET'S GO! Left home 7:30 a.m., drove 899km, car camp at Dry Williams Lake Rest Area .

Summit weather forecast for May 10-12 A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sun afternoon. Extremely cold (max -27°C on Fri morning, min -37°C on Sat afternoon). Winds decreasing (near gales from the SSE on Fri afternoon, calm by Sun morning). Summit day of the first commercial guided team is May 16th, ours is May 22nd.