Climbing team two. Which one of us does not drive a limo as their primary vehicle. Two thumbs point towards me. Turns out it is a perfect vehicle for transporting tones of gear and a few humans.
We arrived at Talkeetna Air Taxi just in time for the evening scenic flight out out to the Pica Glacier where we would be staying for the the next 3 nights with hopes of climbing the middle troll. With Mike’s limo in the background, ATV pick up out gear (and us) to weight in prior to our flight.
We are allowed 125 lbs each without paying a fee. Mike’s haul-bag weighing in at under 100 lbs. We did have to pay a bit extra to haul in a gallon of milk for him. Holy Toledo!
Leigh Falley, Badass pilot at TAT, tells us to keep our head and arms inside the vehicle at all times. Oh, and don’t scratch the window with your camera lenses!
Flying close to the mountains, this is one of an endless number of likely unnamed peaks.
Beautiful blue melt pools on glacier.
View of Denali through the cockpit window.
Team name for the next adventure. Mike and Adam with the south face of the middle troll in the background. *Note Mike’s lack of sun glasses.
Summit of the Middle Troll, Looking forward to sitting on the diving board feature.
Our approach to the Middle Troll began at Noon on Saturday. Weather was warm and wind free. Couldn’t ask for better weather.
Around the time Mike reached the summit at midnight a whiteout with light snow moved in. On Rappel!
Weather continued to be a bit lame for the remainder of the decent. Thankfully no wind.
Found this comfy ledge. Me arriving to the next rappel anchore: “Hey Mike, are you watching football?” Mike: “No, football is the reason I left Dallas, I watching a move I downloaded from Amazon Prime. Me: “Go Hawks.”
Mike rappelling the entire route in wool socks to keeps his feet warm. Thumbs up back at you Mike.
Lovely evening for a Glacierita. *Note that now it is dark and snowing Mike has decided it is time for the sunglasses.
Kelly from the other site kindly brought us lemon bars after the climb and shared in Glacierita’s.
Camp packed up. Good time to read in the sun and wait for TAT to arrive.
Just about to land in Talkeetna.
Plane unloaded successfully. Time to pack the limo and head home. Mike “It’s all about the protein brol”