Arthur gears up in the darkness.
Dave led the upward effort with liberal axe usage.
We met the steepest part of the climb in the black of night.
Dawn approaches the mountain as
Arthur surmounts the glacier.
It took us awhile to realize that the phantom peak on the horizon was the shadow of the mountain.
Arthur crests the chute that passes through the Red Banks - the steepest part of the ascent.
"Misery Hill, at last."
Dave,
Arthur, Misery Hill.
The last leg of the journey awaits.
The terrain near the summit is dominated by wind. So are we.
Dave with the summit in sight.
The summit ascent begins.
Some maginificant ice formations.
The summit at last.
Arthur eagerly records the feat in his diary.
Nearing three miles high, any rest is a godsend.
...
The BBC expedition, recorded in the summit log.
Arthur dedicates his climb.
Dave savors the view from the peak.
Celebration.
Libation.
Arthur, knowing that every step we've taken we have to take again.
The cloud thought it could get higher than us. We threw stones.
Return across the ice field.
Down Misery Hill.
Endless switchbacks to navigate the soft rock. Stop scrolling so fast, it took us forever.
Dave and
Arthur stop for water as we approach the Red Banks.
The trail to the Notch was not fun.
So that's the vocanic part?
Approaching the Notch...
... along a windswept ridge...
... where the clouds did some pretty crazy gymnastics.
Looking up the mountain from the Notch along the length of Misery Hill.
Dave kept reading the punchlines before
Arthur finished the joke. To avoid another ice axe fight, I told him to play 'spot the rock.'
Arthur checks to see if the Notch is in this edition of Found Porn.
Dave avoids the copious falling rocks as
Arthur descends the hardest part of the Red Banks.
Finally done with that section, we reflect on how glad we are that we didn't ascend that way.
Glissading was most excellent. Luckily David decided to dress in warm clothes that day, opting to wear (comparatively) warm, dry jeans instead of a grass skirt.
Dave: So lovely weather we're having...
... Yep. Pristine...
Arthur |
(Axe flailing) I'm coming in hot!
|
Epilogue
We broke camp and made the long hike with packs back down from Lake Helen. There was some tiredness.
