A Final Post from Chris

Hello,
This last blog entry is being written from my cozy warm house after a beautiful day spent with my family in Olympic National Park in Washington State. One way such a state of bliss is achieved is by looking at life through a different lens for a time. This is a good thing to do sometimes; 11 friends and I recently had the good fortune to have Denali be the focus of our reality for nineteen days.

Denali challenged us early (patience) by not allowing us to fly onto its flanks for the first five days of our trip. Once we arrived, almost half of our team became inflicted by a serious sinus infection. This we lost Kate to. Things were not looking good.

To the patient and persistent climber good things can happen. First, one nice weather day, then two, three, four. Light loads and good meals. Great camaraderie, a little bit of luck and the next thing we knew, high camp was home. The altitude finally dug its wicked claws into two of our team members here; it was a strong effort to get to this point on the mountain. The remaining eight of us were lucky enough to climb to the top the next day. Regardless of each climbers “’high point”, Denali had left an impression on each of us and, hopefully, you who were following our adventure on this blog.

Thanks for the support.
Chris