Peter Stanley Mt. McKinley

We are now on the Kahiltna Glacier (about 6,900 ft.). The time is 11:38 a.m. on the 28th of June, Friday. Cliff Hudson and his son, Jay, flew us in. One of Cliff's words of warning was that we had best stay roped up in view of the fact that two people have already died this year as the result of falling into crevasses... just as a result of not being roped up. One was the leader of a (German) party. Looking approximately east, judging from the sun angle, I can see the summit of McKinley. I said to Sam that it doesn't look too far away. He commented that I should be sure to put that on tape. We hear falling snow... right now... (avalanche). I slept perfectly abysmally last night (in Talkeetna) as I tried to think through my gear which seemed to me to be terribly disorganized, and I concluded as I wrestled with the problems that I was probably mentally unfit for this trip. I didn't take a sleeping pill last night or the night before and neither night did I get much sleep at all. I think one of the problems is just being wired. Larry says he's really wired too.

(At rest stop) Well, we hooked up our gear and put it on sleds and roped up and headed down the hill a ways where we turn right to go up this vast... I would guess you'd call it the West Buttress amphitheater, maybe, with Mt. Foraker on one side.

Go back to Peter Stanley