After 4 months of training and preparations, I traveled to Alaska to make an attempt on Denali (Mt. McKinley, 20320 feet) with 2 friends. One partner acquired a knee injury that stopped his progress at 14000 feet, where he patiently waited for several days while the other partner and I moved up to Denali’s high camp at 17200 feet. On what was supposed to be our summit day, my partner complained of irregular breathing and fatique, so we made the tough decision to come down without the summit. While heartbreaking to have to turn around a half day’s away from our goal, the trip was a success in that we spent 16 beautiful days in the Alaska range and all returned safely. I then spent a few days on my own, visiting Fairbanks and the area around the Stampede Trail (near where Chris McCandless spent his last days), driving 100 miles of dirt road on the Denali Highway, seeing wildlife (including a grizzly bear!), the Alaska pipeline, and walking on the Matanuska Glacier.