Entries By 10/2026

We called it a rest day, but there wasn’t much rest. It was the perfect morning for acclimatizing though, and so we hiked to the top of town for a grand view of Mt Everest and Lhotse and Ama Dablam, to say nothing of Tawoche and Thamserku and Kwangde.  We went a bit higher to around 12,600 ft for tea in a relaxing yard in the strong sunshine.  Then it was down to Namche to rest.  But still nobody actually rested.  It was too much fun strolling the “streets” of Namche and shopping. 

Tomorrow it is back to work, we’ll be moving on.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

With excitement to return to the comforts of our homes and the companionship of our loved ones back home, we leave this expedition behind. Our final day in Tanzania began at an eco lodge, where we were greeted by watching the sun rise in bed and listening to the birds chirp through the walls of our tents. One final game drive yielded an elusive cheetah sighting (which cost me $35 on the spot, a long story about an excellent safari guide) before heading back towards Arusha and eventually the airport.

We have all had some time to reflect along the way, but perhaps the magnitude of it all may set in later. We often had little time to catch our breath, proverbially and perhaps a bit literally. Journaling fell behind and books remain unfinished, a telltale sign of an action-packed adventure. 

This entire group deserves recognition for sticking with it through the challenging times and reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro. It would have been easy enough to let all of the difficulties add up and have thrown in the towel, but nobody did that. Give them a congratulations yourself the next time you see them!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Seven and a half hours of good walking got us all the way up to Namche Bazaar.  Phakding was a wonderful place to spend the night.   The roar of the river made for perfect “white noise” and team members reported progress in dealing with jet lag. Despite the great night and a fine breakfast we were excited to get walking along the Dhudh Kosi and toward the high country.  The steep steep sides to the valley we were hiking in allowed tantalizing views of 20,000 ft snow covered summits to motivate us.  We crossed into the Sagarmatha National Park and made our way to the fabled Namche Hill.  We’d already done a fair bit of climbing when we crossed a high swinging bridge to set foot on the actual hill.  Then it was a pretty steady gain of 2000 vertical feet to get us into Namche.  We were able to sneak a brief view of the very top of Mt Everest off in the distance at one turn of the trail. 
The entire team did an excellent job on what turned out to be a hot day for climbing.  The comfort we found waiting at Camp de Base -our Namche home for the next two nights- seemed like the perfect reward.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn