We are back at Rivertrees Country Inn, showered, well fed and celebrating our climb.  Waking at 10,000 ft in the forest this morning was relatively easy, but we all were thinking how much more comfortable we’d be off the mountain.  The trail down to 6000 ft was a tricky one.  There were steep and muddy sections, despite the fact that we were doing it in perfectly dry weather.  There were several hundred porters flying down the track at flank speed.  Every step required concentration.  But there were some pretty vistas, some beautiful trees and we were lucky enough to see colobus monkeys.  We reached the end of the hike at 11:30 and then had to check out of the National Park.  We then sat down to a farewell lunch with our 51 Barking Zebra mountain staff.  After which there was singing and dancing and a brief tip ceremony in which we tried to express our gratitude to our local guides, chefs, waiters, camp staff and porters.  They did a fabulous job and treated us as old friends. 

We then boarded the bus and headed for the showers.  We prepared for Safari, had a mountain climbing victory dinner this evening and said goodbye to Tim who will be heading home. 

Our journey continues. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli & Team