(Featured photo: our home in the mountains, a Mountain Hardwear Trango 4 tent. Officially for 4 people, but just enough space for the 3 of us and that’s with our backpack sleeping in the snow outside and our big boots in the vestibule!)

Elevation 4400m

Sunny and cold

Rest Day to recover from the past 5 days. Xav and I spend a while in the kitchen tent chatting about the expedition logistics and communication. We regret the lack of communication with Marc. He has been struggling since the beginning of the expedition but never really shared his situation with us. As a result, we don’t know how he feels about the challenges of the expedition so far. What’s next? how are we going to make it to camp 4 or the summit?

On this clear day, a helicopter lands at camp 3 multiple times to replenish the rangers that are stationed here all summer. These are the only ‘mechanised’ transports authorised within the wilderness boundary of the park, the most protected ‘label’ for a national park in the USA. Only for rescue and setting up rangers camps for the summer month, and bringing equipment for weather stations.

View from our tent on Mount Foraker, the second tallest mountain of the Alaska range after Denali. May 17, the Camp 3 is not very busy, but in the coming days it will start to bustle with life, more tents, more people from all corners of the globe waiting at camp 3 for a summit window, enabling them a move to camp 4 and a chance to try to reach the top.