Climbing To The Top of North America
Jay Van Huesen

The morning we set out from base camp was clear.  The air, dry, and conditions once again appear good for attempting the assault on Denali.  Three of our party of eight are back after trying the same climb nearly four years ago, when we were turned back by the mountain hours before the final ascent to the summit.  The weather for that climb was bad from the start, and
it only grew worse, until we knew that going further would be putting our lives at great risk. 

But on this day, Denali smiles. 

The Alaskan wilderness, like other wilderness
parks throughout America's west, is majestic
in its spartan beauty.  Here, at the foot of the
continent's highest peak, the landscape is
desolate and lonely.  However, after gazing
upon it for awhile, I've grown to see how much
this region serves as a natural habitat for an
abundance of species ranging from black bear
to caribou.  

We break camp at 8:45, and begin a trek of 12 miles along beaten paths that will eventually bring us to a point on the mountain where we will need the aid of our equipment.  We have a support team of nearly 20 individuals whom we've recruited from towns in the outlying areas
near Denali to help haul gear to the site.  They're a hodgepodge consisting of indiginous peoples, adventurists who came to Alaska years ago and never left, former pipeline workers who tell a similar story, and a bush pilot.  

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