18 May 2013 Fortuitous Final Day on Glacier and Riding Shot Gun

My final day on Denali's Kahiltna GlacierA mass of ice that persists for many years and notably deforms and flows under the influence of gravity., Saturday, was chock-full of surprises with a very cool icing on the cake at the end of the day.

I had told Lisa, the Base Camp manager, yesterday to put me on the flight out list and at about ten o”clock this morning she yelled, “Everyone flying out today needs to get ready.” There was lots of motion and pretty soon five or six teams and a few individuals were lined up along the edge of Base Camp waiting for various flights. The weather was breaking, but the situation was indeed marginal as the two day storm was slow to dissipate.

http://youtu.be/k8GzmVv2gZ0

Sometime late morning about four planes made it to Camp in a mad rush, one with Erich and Liz, along with a final arrival which was to be my ride out. Gear was loaded....and now for the delay. Weather held up the last two flights and during the wait a man came into Base Camp and informed the manager and pilots that a satellite call to him earlier in the day had brought the sad news of a death in his family. We unloaded my gear as I happily offered my seat in order to get him off the mountain. He had been guiding a group of British Wounded Warriors and they all decided that family indeed comes first and they insisted that he attend to family needs. They all came down to Base Camp. His flight was able to leave and there were no planes left on the ground.

By this time I had hugged the team good-bye and when I showed up back at the cook tent there was some good natured teasing about the Ice CoreA cylindrical section of ice removed from a glacier or an ice sheet using a specialized type of hollow drill. Enter the definition here. Team actually not getting rid of me. At about 5:00ish Lisa informed me that Paul from Talkeetna Air Taxi was heading in and that they would try and get the two final flyers out of Base Camp. Now for the icing on the cake.

I rode shotgun, right next to Paul and the next hour turned out to be one more thrill of a lifetime. After take off Paul mentioned that we would be heading to two more glaciers to pick up additional climbers and skiers. First stop Pica GlacierA mass of ice that persists for many years and notably deforms and flows under the influence of gravity.. Flying in, especially riding next to the pilot was amazing. This was a “hot landing” or “hot stop” which means the plane ran while two skiers loaded. The take off was right out of the movies. After getting air born Paul banked hard gaining elevation while circling and the mountains seemed to join me right in my seat. Quite indescribable.

http://youtu.be/AVm00ZaD_bs

Paul maneuvered us over the second pick-up site and tilted the plane over a few times so he could get a good look at conditions out of his window. He made the determination that visibility on the ground was poor which meant that the folks wanting a ride out would need to sit tight for another night on the glacier. We climbed above the mountains and headed toward Talkeetna.

Graduate school friends have property in Talkeetna and I was planning on staying in their cabin, but a shower was in order (it had been at least two weeks...yuck) so I walked from the airstrip to town and inquired at the Road House. This was where Seth and I stayed before heading into Denali and they had one room left....the cancellation from the group that Paul could not get off the second glacier. So, not only did I get the ride of my life, but I got a hot shower and a room to myself. Just in case all the fortuitousness up to this point wasn’t enough, I met the guy who I had given up my seat to while dealing with my gear at the airstrip. We chatted for a bit, exchanged names and some stories and had a great handshake. He will take the train north tomorrow in order to get back to family. I’m glad that he was able to get off the mountain and I’m even happier that we crossed paths again this evening.

I’ve gone on long enough. There will be more posts from my end, but I’m off the mountain, Seth and Karl are on Mount Hunter and the drilling is now set to start as soon as the helicopter can deliver loads. Let the science begin.