Episode 6: Denali (20,310 ft) w/Mikayla DeMers

Welcome to Episode 6 of the Bagging Alaska Peaks Podcast, the Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Journey of Mountaineering. Today I sit down with a fellow service member and discuss her experience in climbing the highest peak in North America. Mikayla, and Active Duty maintenance officer in the United States Air Force, shares her journey in preparing for a Denali expedition and how dog food (out of all things) was her best friend when it came to weighted sled pulls during her training process. Additionally, Mikayla and I discuss some spiritual and mental roadblocks during the climb and how journaling became a very powerful tool her and the success of the expedition. In fact, Mikayala reflects on one of her entries that described the environment she lived in for 19 days and I quote “This place is so cold, I wonder if hell exists”. // Host: Sean Kortus Instagram @wkndview (https://www.instagram.com/wkndview/) /Music: Emberloom