Mt. Denison - Day 2

Day 2. We ascended out of the valley transitioned to snow travel. It was also the only day we saw any of the legendary Katmai bears. Leaving the river and heading for the snowfields, we noticed several large grizzlies enjoying vegetarian diets on the newly thawed slopes. Fortunately, the bears wanted as little to do with us as we wanted to do with them and universally walked the other direction when we saw each other.

Richard Soaper scrambling up some of the newly thawed undergrowth at the snow's edge.

The team gained elevation quickly. Only a couple hours earlier we were traveling down the river in the background.

Taking a break! Can't believe the weather!!!

It's either a Rodent of Unusual Size or a very recent grizzly track...

As we went on, the weather got warmer and the sun more direct. We would soon be forced to break camp early because the snow conditions were too difficult (soft) to travel efficiently.

One of the most satisfying moments of the trip was finally achieving the ridge line between Hallo Bay and our southern valley. The bay on the left side of the image is Hallo Bay. We also filmed the entire expedition, camera generously on loan from www.everestgear.com

Dick McClenahan trying to soak in the moment and forget how much his feet hurt.

On top of the ridge separating the Hallo Glacier from our valley. For the next day, we would stay south of the glacier and traverse west, toward the upper reaches of the ice fields. One of the most compelling reasons to do this is visible behind Chris and Dick: the heavily crevassed 1000ft. ice fall.

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