Final Thoughts and Misc. PostScripts

Katie and I are indeed a little disappointed that we lacked the energy or motivation to climb that West Summit. We clearly could have done so. Gaining the true summit of Logan was probably beyond us, given the complexity of the terrain and the nature of our group. Nevertheless, the trip had so many high points that we all cannot help but count it as a great success and superb adventure. And this is not just words. Whether one is happy or not about a trip is a gut feeling that cannot be faked. I'm happy.

   * The team got along well the whole time.
   
   * The main logistical issues -- food and gear -- were all handled very well. We had what we needed, and we ate very well.
   
   * We had no great difficulty with the minus-40 temperatures.
   
   * A couple of the days had perfect weather and amazing scenery, both local and distant. The weather generally was good.
   
   * We handled the heavy packs and high altitude quite well.
   
   * Our fitness gave us a speed that was the envy of the other parties, several of whom commented on how fast we were.
   
In a report on Mt Forbes last summer I said: "Sometime you win, sometimes you lose." I think this time it was a draw.


THINGS TO DO DIFFERENTLY
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Plan food carefully: we had too much.
Research the route as thoroughly as humanly possible.


JOKE OF THE TRIP
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Susie: "Did you know that the word 'gullible' is not in the dictionary?"


SAD POSTSCRIPT
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At the lodge after our trip (Tuesday) we saw a duffel bag of David Paisley, Colorado Springs. He was a guide leading two clients on Mt. Bona. On Wednesday he fell into a crevasse on Mt. Bona (16421 feet) and died, buried by the debris that was knocked off.


HIGHEST PEAKS IN NORTH AMERICA
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Gerry Roach just climbed St. Elias, giving him ascents of the ten highest peaks in North America. Here is the list. We saw many of these from Logan: Logan, King, St. Elias, Lucania, and Steele, and we probably saw Bona from the air.

  1. Denali 20320
  2. Logan 19540
  3. Orizaba 18700
  4. St. Elias 18008
  5. Popocatepetl 17887
  6. Foraker 17400
  7. Ixtacihuatl 17343
  8. Lucania 17147
  9. King 16973
10. Steele 16644
11. Bona 16421

I just heard from Susie who saw Ruedi Beglinger at the Anchorage airport. One client from his group had the flu (and a doctor's note approving his participation), and he infected all of the others. So they did not push for Logan, but did get a minor peak adjacent to Prospector Col (AINA peak), gaining it from Camp 3. Deb DeCrausaz from Vail, was so ill that she had to be flown out early. And (Deb just called me with the facts) the rest of the group came out only a few days later.

Susie's toe is still a little black, but she is not too concerned as the spot is small and healing. Leslie and Katie also both report very slight loss of feeling (now healing) in some toes. I don't think I had any post-trip problems of that sort.

Ha! Four weeks later: Severe kidney stone problems. Two visits to the E.R. with intense pain. I finally passed a small sliver of a crystal of some sort: very sharp, and very small. This might have been caused by dehydration on Logan.