June 7 Team Stands on the Summit!!
I eat my last dehydrated meal pack my bag with the lightest load of the entire climb. I have a 10 hour summit window a it never gets dark so we climb around the sun and forecast. We choose to leave at 8am 20 mph wind -15 temp which are good conditions. We start on a three man rope passing anchor points that we clip our safety line tied to our harness. This is new to me and with heavy arctic mitts it takes more time clipping and unclipping.
Beautiful day so far. Apart to communicate and only a few breaks I stare and the next step I don’t want to think about it. Is this the end of the autobahn, is this the football field is this ???. I know from long summit days that it is taken one step at a time. Looking too far ahead can destroy your confidence and concentration. One step at a time is something I tell my kids our young folks I work with.
We enter the summit ridge and the summit comes into view now I look up. The Mountain that has eluded me for 4 years that I could only see in my dreams or visualized is in view and I get excited I know I will be standing there soon. As I approach the marker I take a few photos. Another tricky part Jessy calls in a dispatch and hands me the phone and I cant say anything. I cry like a baby instead. All of the years working for the seven summits is now happening and every emotion I possess comes out at the same time. Recorded and posted on my dispatch. I am constantly telling my grandkids to quit crying be tough. I guess there is nothing wrong with crying. I get the pictures of the marker and my hip bone that I have been carrying for the last 3 years in my backpack. I was told I couldn’t leave it up there it would be littering and I have gotten attached to it and I decided to carry it home so the grandkids one day can take it to show and tell.
The next day was a death march. If I could stay on my feet and single push I will make the ski plane out and land just before Mal has the baby. I have to get to the flats by midnight to cross the glacier and climb heartbreak hill. I miss the deadline by three hours plus I was trashed not thinking and getting sloppy. We stopped 5 miles from the ski plane set up a tent and crashed. Jessy the young leader made the call for me and it was the right call. The next morning or midnight I walked off the mountain enjoying every step to the plane and my first grand daughter Sunday was born while I was loading up to fly home.
Dispatch: Yesterday evening our June 7 team was able to stand on the tallest point in North America!! Congratulations to this team for their huge effort to make this happen. It wasn’t easy–it never is. But I am sure they all feel it was worth it, and we were so excited to hear they had made it. We wish them safe travels on the way down.
Jesse calls in to update from 20,310′ (6190m). Hi to Jesse’s mom and dad and Carly! Gary joins in too! But he was cut off before we could hear much:
Lesson to Sunday:
Form Denali 2.0.
Self motivation is best.
Do hard things.
Keep moving.
Let it go.
