Peter Stanley Mt. McKinley

(Trudging) It's now twenty minutes after the last recording. Stuart just stepped into a crevasse. He did not fall through, fortunately. It may be a much bigger crevasse, and we all have to walk over it.   (We spent the night at Camp I, 6,860 ft.)

(Trudging) Well, it is now the next morning... Saturday (June 29) and I am trudging up a hill pulling a sled and toting a pack. We're on two roped heading up the hill. McKinley's summit is very much in evidence. This seems too easy somehow. I'm packing maybe a seventy-pound pack and pulling a sled with probably the same weight on it. It's a little windy and maybe 25 or 30 degrees... maybe a little colder than that. But this is just gorgeous! How could this be fun? (laughing) This is just great right now... first rays of sun are just peaking over. It's about 6:00 a.m... we got up at four... like to travel in the cool of the day and then Eric like to... I just let my rope get caught under my sled which will foul Matt up ahead. The problem that I have is trying to hold back and not go too fast. Because if I go too fast then there is slack in the rope, and if he falls into a crevasse I can't arrest his fall. By the same token, if I fall into a crevasse I've got another twenty feet or so to fall before I get caught. Here comes that sun. The burn is pretty incredible and it really will fry you up here. It's probably worse than the desert or the beach. In any event things are going awfully well!

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