May 18 - Upon arrival in Talkeetna, we started to sort our gear and Brian worked on improving our stove.
May 19 - We checked in with the National Parks Service (NPS) and then we were ready to fly. Our expedition name (required by NPS) was "Denali is for Lovers" which was thrown out as a joke during the trip planning but stuck with us.
View of Denali from the plane
Views of the Cassin Ridge from the plane.
KIA - Kahiltna International Airport
Digging a hole for our cache (a couple of cans of food) at the airport.
View of the Moonflower (north buttress) of Mount Hunter from the airstrip
View of Foraker from the airstrip
Denali, Foraker and Hunter are the three biggest mountains in the Alaska Range (20, 320; 17, 400 and 14, 570 feet respectively). The peaks were labled Denali, Sultana and Begguya (the High One, Woman or Wife of Denali and the High One's Child) by the Athabascan people that lived nearest the mountains. 
The 7800ft. camp is near the mouth of the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier aka The Valley of Death. The following are two photos of Denali from this camp. The massive crevasses in the photo are the reason for the nickname. 
View of Mt. Hunter from the 7800ft. Camp
May 20 - We left 7800ft camp and made it to the camp at 11,000ft that afternoon. The weather has been perfect. Quite warm actually with the sun reflecting off all of the snow.
Leaving 7800ft. Camp
Heading up Ski Hill
Nearing the 11,000ft. camp
Our camp at 11,000ft.
May 21 - 11,000ft camp to the 14,000ft. camp. When we awoke, camp was totally enveloped in cloud and a light snow. It was rumored to be nicer at 14k, so we continued on. At the top of Motorcycle Hill, the snow was heavier, the wind was howling, our sleds were continuously rolling, the packed trail was totally buried and our speed decreased significantly. We decided to bury half of our gear and continue on to 14k. We would retrieve what we left the next day.
Between Windy Corner and 14k Camp
View of Mt. Hunter from between Windy Corner and 14k Camp
View of West Rib Cutoff from between Windy Corner and 14k camp (This is the way we would eventually leave 14k to reach the summit)
May 22 - Prepping our campsite at 14k. Little did we know we'd be spending the next 23 days here. We were cutting blocks of snow in order to build walls to provide protection from wind and snow.
May 24 - Passing time at 14k; allowing our bodies to acclimatize. Brian built (dug, actually) us a back patio to our campsite with a table and benches. It was great for cooking and also came in handy for playing cards.
Seracs looming underneath the cutoff to the West Rib
NPS and Medical Tents at 14k Camp
Reading book #1 (of 5)
View of true West Buttress. We would later climb this wall for something to do while we waited for weather.
May 25 - Our plan was to descend the West Rib to get to the Cassin Ridge. Today, we went to the Rib via the West Rib cut-off to cache food, fuel and gear which we would need for our climb. It was a beautiful day. We were feeling good and now just waiting for a high pressure system to come to the mountain bringing 3-4 days of good weather for our climb.
The Lama coming to whisk away a sick person (1/3 helicopter evacuated while we were there).
View of the smaller peaks of the Alaska Range
Looking back to the 14k camp
Resting past the crevasse danger (Foraker in background)
Approaching the West Rib (the rocks on the skyline)
Views from our cache location on the Upper West Rib (approx 15, 600ft)
May 26 - And, the real waiting began...
May 28 - And the waiting continued...
Our coldest card game (about 12F)
Jon and Billy, two guides from Seattle
Louis and Jean-Philippe, from Quebec, who were at 14k with us almost the entire time
More cards on the back patio with Louis and Jean-Philippe
And then a game of chess
Keira, Jean-Philippe, Louis and Mark (from Calgary)
May 31 - Getting the same forecast: Partly cloudy, chance of snow. Winds 30-40mph. It has been seemingly decent from where we've been hanging out. How bad could it really be? Brian, having finished his book, built a snow cave which we could use as storage if we got to climb.
Lenticular cloud cap over Foraker. One indication of bad weather coming.
June 1 - We decided the night prior that we would go for the Cassin today. We got a bit of a late start but walked up to the West Rib. It took a little bit longer than the previous time because we were breaking trail through knee-thigh deep snow.
As we got to the Rib, the winds were howling, the clouds had rolled in and visibility was less than ideal. We stood there for a few moments and decided to go back to 14k. The weather just wasn't good enough (which I'd say we knew before we left but tried anyway out of desperation - it was our 12th day at 14k). Before we headed back, we left our packs at our cache and dropped down the Rib a few hundred feet to try to assess conditions of our descent route. There was quite a bit more blue ice than we had hoped for but it seemed as though it would be fine if we ever got a weather window. Dejected, we headed back to set camp back up at 14k.
June 2 - Yesterday on our failed attempt to approach the Cassin, we did bring back the gear portion of our cache (axes, helmets, ice screws, rock pro). Today, we climbed the ice/rock wall that we've been staring at for however many days. It leads up to the true West Buttress. We climbed the wall to the top of the ridge, walked across the ridge and then descended the fixed lines on the West Buttress route back to camp. It was pretty fun and more involved than we had anticipated. Louis and Jean-Philippe were waiting for us with hot chocolate when we returned which was super!
The wall that we climbed
Brian leading the way
June 5 - The weather turned worse and we were actually getting a continuous snow fall at camp for the past day or two. We awoke this morning needing to dig out our tent. One of our walls was totally buried as was our back patio. Brian must have finished another book as he decided to build an igloo and got Louis and Jean-Philippe to help out.
Former back patio
Igloo building
June 6 - Day 17 at 14k. Previous night was quite windy shaking the tent for the whole night. As we were procrastinating getting out of the tent, we heard Greg (a guide that we became friends with) and his guiding partner, Sam, capping the igloo. It remained windy throughout the day and we hung out in the igloo.
June 7 - We had planned to attempt the summit via the West Buttress today. However, we awoke to thick clouds and howling wind. So, we went back to bed for awhile. As the day went on, the clouds cleared and the winds died down. It looked beautiful up high. We decided to revive our summit plan and left camp at 4:00pm. We figured it would be wicked cold but if it was calm that it would be manageable.
We made it to the 17,200 camp in good time, winds were calm and we were feeling ok. As we headed for Denali Pass, we started post-holing up to our thighs and our speed decreased significantly. The traverse to Denali Pass had not been crossed in 5 or 6 days and looked potentially avalanche prone as well. So, we turned back. It was a beautiful part of the West Buttress route and we were practically the only ones up there (everyone that had been at 17k camp was taking advantage of this break in weather to descend to 14k). Upon getting back to camp, we found a thermos of hot water and hot cocoa packets that John and Evan had left for us. Super sweet!
Approaching the top of the fixed lines (~16,200ft.) - Keira in blue; John, another Cassin hopeful, in yellow
17k Camp (actually 17, 200ft)
On the descent back to 14k
June 9 - If we were going to climb the Cassin, this was the absolute last day that we could leave in order to make our plane back to Colorado. 20 days at 14k and not one weather window. We were disappointed to say the least.
We borrowed some skis from Colin and a gentleman from Norway to retrieve our Cassin cache from the West Rib. Skis made it a much quicker process and probably quite entertaining for those at 14k as we're not good skiers in climbing boots and matching bindings.
The following were taken from our camp at 14k.
The Alaska Range between Hunter and Foraker
Our igloo from the outside
Our friend, Chad, from Colorado arrived with the group he was guiding
June 10 - Day 21 at 14k. Today we summited via the Upper West Rib. It took us 14 hours roundtrip from the 14k camp. We went with Louis and Jean-Philippe. The day started out beautiful but by the time we crested to the Football Field, the winds were howling. They were probably 40-50mph on the summit ridge. As we were descending, the clouds were rolling in and it had begun to snow. When we arrived back at 14k, Geordy was waiting for us with coffee and hot water for our freeze dried meals. Heading up the West Rib Cut-Off
Looking back at 14k camp
Starting up the West Rib
Taking a break
Views of Hunter and Foraker
Louis, Jean-Philippe and Keira on the Football Field with Archdeacon's Tower in the background
Summit Ridge. The wispy clouds just above are actually the wind blowing snow. It was blowing 40-50mph, I'd guess.
View of the summit from the summit ridge
On the summit of Denali, 20, 320 feet; the highest peak in North America
June 11 - We spent today rehydrating and making our rounds to our friends to say goodbye. We left 14k at 10pm to descend to the airstrip. We left at night to minimize crevasse danger. It began as a beautiful evening with amazing alpenglow. Shortly after we picked up our skis at 11k, we entered a low, dense cloud and snow. Visibility was minimal. We arrived at the airstrip at 6am.
Photos from our descent to the airstrip
We sat at the airstrip for the next two days waiting for the clouds to lift. In the meantime, we played more cards, read more books and also got to pack out the runway with our skis so that the planes had a more solid landing surface.
June 14- We finally flew out to Talkeetna this morning. A shower was our first order of business then it was off to the Roadhouse for our first real meal since May 18. Mmmm....it was delicious!
