Bargo Brothers Live Adventure Volume 2 June 19-25
Branndon Bargo / 24.07.2006
June 19 ,2006 Day 1Now that you know we made the summit if you are interested in the details as to how we made, here you go: Just to let you know we had some survival situations, and near amputee moments.
We left Talkeetna at 4:45 p.m. on a small Cessna airplane equipped to land on the glacier. We flew with two other climbers from New York and New Jersey who were going to an area called Little Switzerland. We dropped them off first, and the pilot said we were lucky most people don\'t get to go glacier hopping. After flying in between mountain peaks which seemed like the wingtips would touch the rock we landed on the Kahiltna glacier at 5:30 p.m. We picked up our fuel, sleds, and got settled in to the 24 hour daylight and glacier living for the next three weeks.
June 20, 2006 Day 2
We were anxious to get going, but thought it would be better to get acclimatized. We practiced two-man crevasse rescue. The crevasses are worse this time of year because the warmer weather starts to expose the immense cracks in the snow. It is very dangerous, and one of the most important things we can practice before we go any higher. The first few days we will travel at night to avoid the warm weather.
June 21, 2006 Day 3
We slept a few hours and woke at 8 p.m. Mountaineering is a very detailed sport and requires lots of organization. It takes a long time to break camp, eat, and rope up. This is the first of many times we will be doing this. Today it took us about 4 hours. We left at 12:15 a.m. It is amazing what a 60 pound pack, and 50 pound sled feels like. The first time I tried to move, I went backwards. It made me laugh! The next camp was at 7800 feet. We had to descend 500 feet and then back up. So the actual elevation gain was about 1100 feet. The hike was through huge crevasses and seracs and was about 5.5 miles. We arrived in four and a half hours. The ranger told us many people quit on the first day, including people who have climbed Everest. We were told many times on the mountain, that this is the most physically demanding mountain in the world. We will soon find out!
