Alaska, Mt. Hunter. During April of 1966, Dr. J. C. Duenwald was hospitalized for three days with a viral pneumonia after which there was a period of almost a month during which his physical activity was severely limited. Thus he had a great deal of difficulty training properly for the climbing season. To begin the climbing trip they drove the Alcan highway with its dust, etc., in three days from Pullman, Washington. Immediately on arrival in Talkeetna they were flown in to 9,000 feet on the Tokositna Glacier.

Almost on arrival at the glacier (in mid June) he began to experience difficulty in breathing. Upon exercise his heart rate also became elevated. During the first night on the glacier he was unable to sleep and breathing became a full-time job. It was during the second day that he began to feel worse and the climbing party decided he should be flown out. Don Sheldon flew him to Anchorage which took four hours. At that time a radiograph was taken which showed a small area of congestion around the hilus of the left lung.

During the flight out from the mountains he felt progressively better as they went lower. He was weak for several weeks after the trip.

Source: J. C. Duenwald

Analysis: I am not sure what the problem was and neither was the physician I saw in Anchorage. However, we both felt that it was a slight dust pneumonia and pulmonary edema caused primarily by high altitude and debilitation.