It was not an easy three hours up here. We are now at about 17,500 feet. That is higher than high camp on the highest mountain in North America. And Terri has made it in good form. I am so terribly proud of her, she has accomplished something that most Americans would never even attempt. With very little previous experience she jumped into the Olympics of hiking with this arguably being the highest most difficult hike in the world. She has entertained the team and been one of the hits on the mountain. Some one observed that all that extreme shopping had paid off. At times I questioned the wisdom of this but it has worked out wonderfully. She will take back memories for a lifetime, as will I. This is truly an indescribable place. We are camped on a rugged glacial morraine, which is a clever way of saying a rock covered ice river. Our main base camp staff have been here two weeks leveling tent platforms from the rocks and ice. At night the glacier creeps and moans as it goes through immense freeze thaw cycles. In place boulders as big as busses lie on top of small mounds of ice. The balance has melted away leaving this precarious monument. The ones in close proximity to our camp we will chop out the ice bases until they collapse harmlessly. We are surrounded on three sides by gigantic mountains. Massive hanging glaciers periodically let go with thunderous roars. Occasionally they are so big that the ice crystals and the wind generated by them blow through camp. We are sufficiently far away from the shear walls to safe from their impact but not from their awe. Walking anywhere here is a challenge. All the rocks are apt to twist or flip. Underneath this unstable layer of rocks is a black ice, which will deposit you on your butt before you know what happened. In front of my tent is a frozen pond that in the next month or so will melt necessitating my finding a longer route to the mess tent and the privy. In fact base camp is an ongoing work. As the season progresses tents will need to be relocated or straightened our paths that we are laboring so hard to build will need shoring. It just pays to remember where you are. It is not a place God meant people to live. With enough effort we can temporarily eke out an existence but there is no doubt that in a few months the cold will drive human habitation from these environs.