We got up at 0630am and it had been snowing all night.  We we up early before the others and already getting ready - as was our custom.
I felt so not ready to climb and carry extra group gear, so I carried one big 10-15lb bag of group food, but I asked Paula to carry [...]

We got up at around 0630am. Ate some light breakfast and started to get ready and had trouble with my snowshoes Again. I noted that I had a good poopy this morning - though problems would develop later.
We went down to 9700′ to get our cache, and it was still very snowy. [...]

We started fiddling around 2am and started moving from camp around 4am. I had a bagel that was heated in butter - tasty and full of calories!
We had to take down the tent and everything, this is just laborious and time consuming to get all of our stuff and group gear in the pack [...]

From my journal - the top competing injuries:
1. Sprained ankle/ligament
2. Calf pull and Charlie Horse
3. Shoulder/Back spasms
4. Shoulder pain
Top injuries before climbing:
1. Toothache/sensitivity
2. Knee pain
3. Calf pain

We got up at 130am, I was cold, freezing and stiff already. Our goal was to carry to 9700′ and drop off a cache of food, group gear and other stuff on our sleds.

The pace was WAY TOO FAST to start. I added one extra layer on top and bottom and was soon [...]

So we get up at 12 midnight and its still very light outside. We get all of our stuff ready and we leave around 0230am. It’s freezing outside but clear. I was worried all night about gear and I already had a charlie horse and some muscle spasms in the back and [...]

After not being able to land on Kahiltna Glacier yesterday, we returned back last night and found places to stay, I chose the Denali cabin at the Chinook Winds kind of complex. A fitting name, with a nice porch and just about a 100 yards or so from the AMS offices.

We got to AMS [...]

Here in Talkeetna, doing last gear checks. Weather is poor but hopefully better tomorrow so we can fly out to glacier. Had a good burger and fries for “last meal”, met the other clients today and just kind of wandered through town taking it easy. Lots of tourists here and really a [...]

I am leaving soon for Anchorage, Alaska and on to Talkeetna and then to the glacier to start climbing Mt. Denali. We expect to summit around July 6-8th, weather dependent. You can follow progress on http://alaskamountaineeringschool.blogspot.com/. I have trained well, brought the right equipment, have the right fellow climbers and guides hopefully [...]

1. Training - have done 101 workouts or runs in past 20 weeks since last big mountain - Aconcagua. A good mix of running (about 400 miles total), weight and strength training, rowing, stationary biking and carrying a pack on treadmill with 60lbs at 15% incline.
2. Gear - Have gone through packing list dozens [...]