Repeat Performance to Camp I
The expedition was obviously excited to be making the decisive push for the summit. Spirits were high and climbing strategies applied. Canadian Dan took the Kilimanjaro approach of focusing on the two feet in front and simply letting the mountain pass by. There will be plenty of times for vistas at breaks and the end after reaching Camp I. The added benefit of this strategy was that we had already climbed the route two days prior.
I adopted the same strategy and grew to know every dimple of the back of Stewart's boots.
Yet, still, it was a long haul up the loose slide rock.
A pause to take a snap shot of some of the "one boot wide" cliff trails was worth the effort. (Its hard to judge scale without reference point, so trust me, that's a long steep way down.)
New trails seemed to be designed for added challenge. It is hard to know when the guides are "pushing us" for our own good.
Typically, clouds haven't developed over the summit until 4:45 pm each day, but this morning they were starting well before noon (just over the Polish Glacier).
It seemed fitting to take a picture of our Polish contingent with his country-sake glacier behind.
The same ice bridge Stewart had posed upon two days ago was obviously starting to collapse.
Yep, the pile of gravel to Camp I didn't look anymore fun today than previously.
Knowing what was ahead, everyone took full advantage of the lunch break by resting, fueling up, and completing a visual pre-climb of the slope.
This slide rock is a real auditory experience when it roars loose. On the traverse a rock broke free and was unimpeded by my calf muscle. It had a whipping affect on my leg and left its marbled fleshly remark.
The softer, cloud filtered light, allowed for our first glimpses of "blue ice" in the penitentes.
By the time we hit the final approach, everything was on autopilot and we simply rolled over the precipice.
Now the task of "camp making" was at hand. Many of us had already shredded our glove liners by picking up and dropping the course stones, while making protective wind walls, so today would be a repeat sans woven finger tips.
As soon as the tents were up, the afternoon downhill breeze dropped any moisture from the air by condensing a foggy frozen mist.
Tomorrow the expedition pushes up to supply Camp II, so the hope was for the applicability of the old maritime weather adage "Red sky at night, sailors delight."
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