Day 3 - Anchorage to Kahiltna Base Camp (2,200 mtrs)

I wake up early again (2am) presumably out of concern for my bags - not that there is anything that I can do about them now - and read until about 05:30 which is when the hotel gets its daily delivery of luggage from the airport! I found this out when I arrived at 2am and was too exhausted to ask any more about it. I head downstairs to ask at reception and unfortunately encountered someone equally confused as to why there might be a daily delivery of luggage from the airport. Just before this gets farcical / Pythonesque I manage to persuade her to have a quick look behind reception just in case there are any large bags there. I  am not sure if a shuffle can be sceptical but she certainly put her all into conveying that as she shuffled off to have a look. Lo and behold, and much to her surprise and my relief, there my bags were. I have never felt so pathetically grateful to a receptionist or an airline for such mediocre efforts but they managed to avert a pretty tricky situation for me!

After that it was a hasty sort through my things and a quick shower before heading out to Talkeetna from where we fly onto the glacier. On the way we popped into a supermarket to pick up some sandwiches. In addition to the deli counter for made to order, there was a selection of some that were already made. This included one that had to be almost 3 feet long and the width of a load of bread. As if that was not enough, you also got some fried chicken free if you bought one!

At Talkeetna we organise and weigh our bags and change into our mountain gear before getting into the small planes to fly to the glacier.

Getting organised at Talketna International Airport

 

Runway at TIA

Last pic of the team before setting off for the mountain

Taking off at TIA

The scenery is stunning on the flight in:

 

 

 

The scenery is stunning on the flight in and the landing amazingly smooth. The weather has been fantastic for a while and we have blue skies and sun for our first evening on the glacier. We organise our bags and prepare some of the various ropes and harnesses that we will need for the trip and have an early night ready to head off early in the morning. It tends to get coldish at night here which means the snow/ ice is crisp and hard in the morning which is the best to travel on. As the sun warms it up it can start to turn to slush which is much harder to push through.

 

 

Sorting our bags at Base Camp

 

 

An organised Base Camp

Food:
Hamburgers.