SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 2008
Wes in Talkeetna!
Wes landed in Talkeetna about 30 minutes ago. Dan and Brian were on the same flight as Wes. Jerry and Billy are also in Talkeetna. They had the first flight out. Wes, Dan and Brian got the second flight out because they had helped carry Jerry's stuff. The rest of the team will also be coming off the mountain tonight. Everyone says that this team set a new RMI record of being on the mountain the longest - 25 days! Wes said that the first flight from Hudson Air that landed at Base Camp greeted the climbers with a case of Miller Lite. Tonight the team will get together for a celebratory dinner. They will stay the night at the Talkeetna Hotel otherwise known as T.P. The team will take the shuttle back to Anchorage in the morning. Wes found out that the people around there call Denali "Big Mac." He has already shed his mountaineering boots and is walking around in flip flops. He said it feels weird to be without his boots. Everything is really green and it is about 75 degrees right now. They went from minus 50 with the wind chill to 75 degrees in just a couple of days. Wes is planning on staying at the Historic Anchorage Hotel tomorrow night and will be home on Tuesday. He said he met a bunch of really great guys on this trip. A big thank you goes out to the guides - Mike, Billy and Federico. They really seemed to be motivated and interested in making sure their team succeeded in the climb - even though it meant staying on the mountain longer than expected and foraging for extra food. The most important thing is that they made sure the team got back safely. This was a much different experience in terms of guides for Wes than last year. Thanks to all who wrote comments - I know the guys appreciated getting hellos from home. Tune in next year to catch the blog on Wes' next adventure - will it be Aconcagua or Cho Oyu? Now on to Rainier!
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