Camp 3! That Didn’t Take Long!

Wow.  I take one day away from writing and a LOT happens! (sorry to all my fans, I am in Mendocino with very limited cell services!)

On the 24th, we did not hear from PB+J until late in the day…. And when we heard from them, it was from their new Gear Cache around 13,300 feet!  So much for a rest day.  The heavy snow was originally leading them towards a rest day, but they must have cleared and they decided to push forth.

To get to where the cached, they had to go up a bunch of steep terrain. The topped out of Motorcycle Hill, Squirrel Hill, and went around Windy Corner. It was right after Windy Corner that they cached gear. They elevation gain was about 2,100 feet for this day!

After caching gear, they headed back down to Camp 2 for the night.

Yesterday (May 25th), seeing as they skipped their rest day and had good weather, they pushed up to Camp 3! It took about 6 hours, was 2.6 miles,  and they gained 3,200 feet in elevation. That is over 1,200 feet gained per miles, which is STEEP!

Travel on the mountain typically requires all climbers to be roped together, with their sleds in between them. They are far enough apart that if one person falls the other two climbers can make sure that person does not get too far. It requires some extra awareness because you need to have a pace that all climbers can handle.

Arriving at Camp 3, PB+J were able to take over an old abandoned campsite!  This is great news because it means rather than flattening a spot and building

walls, they typically just need to fortify and move any new snow. The messages received said they had Amazing views!!!  Rangers and medical teams are stationed at Camp 3, and current weather is excellent.  Current reports are saying the route is in excellent condition.

Today they will likely retrieve their cache down near Windy Corner, on an “active rest day”.