Thanks Jim. Feels like a life time ago. Been wanting to get back into writing. Climbs have been far less spicy these days doing safer peaks with all the right gear and a lot of wisdom I found the hard way. It's been nice saying no to spicy trip offers. Denali threw a little spice but overall was very pleasant (I may have had the most fun?).
My pack on this trip was probably around 25lbs including full crevasse rescue setup. Tent weighted less than 2lbs which was split between Michael and I. I have dozens of tricks to save weight such as Gatorade bottles instead of Nalgenes which goes from a 50lb pack to a 25-30lb pack! Took a lot of research to pull off along with personal experiments. Now cozier than ever in the mountains averaging 7-8 hours of sleep.
Camera wear wise have you made the transition to mirrorless? For $250 I bought a Sony a5100 with a high quality OSS lens that includes touch screen and other bells/whistles. I did not bring a tripod on this trip but do for others. My trekking pole has a custom U shape mount that the lens rests on. Took a few hours of dremel work to make so that my Costco $15 carbon fiber trekking pole can hold the mount via a double screw. Wasn't needed on this trip but certainly handy in a lot of situations with a large telephoto lens/low light. It weights around 13oz's including the trekking pole which I use for balance on glaciers and boulders. Removable setup of course.
My spinal compression was a big barrier. But I've learned never to give up on your dreams.
