Entries from Expedition Dispatches

"Star Mountain"

Mountains allure us

Mexico we traveled to

Together we climb.

RMI Climber Jesse McEntire

Hello one last time from Chile!

It has been quite the adventure down here for us, and today we hiked the final few miles back to the trailhead to complete the O Trek.

Thankfully the weather held out one more day to allow for spectacular views in all directions and comfortable temps. We made our way on what we are calling Chilean Flat, but you back home would call rolling terrain. More ups and downs than just easy strolling. It took us about 5 hours to reach the park gate and connect with our van for our return to Puerto Natales for our last night here. The team will head to Punta Arenas tomorrow and catch flights home.

It’s been an incredible journey here with some of the most enjoyable friends we could all have. Full of great stories, laughter, nicknames, and all sorts of joking along the way, for 8 days and over 80 miles.

I asked each team member to pick just one work that best describes their experience, and in no particular order here they are.

Undulating
Gratitude
Puma
Resolve
Friendship
Rocks
Extraordinary
Thankful
Grit
Perseverance

A special thanks to our amazing local guides Mauricio and Hector for sharing their beautiful country with us.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the best team!

Good morning from Mexico City!!!

What a beautiful place. After a wonderful plate of tacos for dinner, a good night of rest, and a relaxing breakfast, we are packed, mingled, and ready to roll. We are off to the cabins at La Malintzi. Today will be an easy day of acclimitization, but tomorrow will be our first true test to reach the top of Malinche at 4,461 meters. (14,636 feet) Dormant for the last 3,100 years, Malinche's original name was Matlalcueitl, meaning "lady of the blue skirt," a goddess of rain and song. Hopefully the goddess helps keep the rain away so we can reach the top to sing our song tomorrow. 

RMI Guide Ben Luedtke & Team

The weather continues to be kind to us. 

After a pretty windy evening that rattled tents all night, the morning was calm and far less breezy. 

The team had breakfast and hit the trail about 8:00 heading west along the W trek passing many trekkers and stunning turquoise lakes .

Around 3 hours into our hike we opted for a moderate side trip hike high up into what’s called the French Valley to see the backside of the towers of Torres Del Paine. This 2.5 hr hike took us into a massive cirque with hanging glaciers that we could not only hear, but could often see them cascading down the mountains.

After descending the team finished off the final 3 hours into camp, took hot showers, had a few cold beverages and then sat down to dinner with our whole team including our 8 very important porters.  

One more night here on the Trek! 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the whole crew

It was another day full of adventure here in Patagonia! 

After a much needed nights rest the team woke to a beautiful morning, and not wanting to miss an opportunity we hopped aboard a boat and headed over to explore the Grey Glacier located nearby. 

We did a quick refresher of crampons and harnesses before our glacier guides took us out on the ice to explore. Where we walked around many cravasses, took pictures, learned a little about how the glaciers have receded significantly in the last few years and move down slope roughly 80 meters a year. 

We returned to camp after about 4 hours to have lunch and prepare for the 4 hour hike to our next camp. Along the way we watched several condors soar close by and just enjoyed the stunning scenery. 

Everyone is going great and throughly enjoying each day. Although I can tell the fatigue of hiking so many days is starting to build. But this team is tough and have been on many adventures together, so I’m sure they’ll easily rally for the last few days we have here. 

We have officially left the O portion of the trek and have joined many many other trekkers on what’s call the W part. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team!

What a day we had here in Chile! 

While technically there isn’t a “summit” day on this trek, today was officially our big day. 

The forecast had us slightly concerned we were going to be hiking all day in rain, but the weather gods were very good to us. We left camp in the dark at 5:40am and made relatively good time up to John Gardner Pass, our high point. Then descend slowly and steeply back down to the elevation of the surrounding lakes. All in all it took the team just under 11hr with breaks to finally arrive in camp for the night. 

To say the views were amazing would be an understatement, and it’s difficult to put into words how truly beautiful this part of the world is with all the mountains, huge glaciers, turquoise lakes, and peaceful forest that we’ve experienced thus far. 

We have just wrapped up another delicious meal and I’m happy to say the whole team is freshly showered too! 

RMI Guide Casey and Team

Greetings from Torres del Paine! 

We had another beautiful day here in Patagonia! 

Today the team woke to clear skies and astounding views after an evening of rain that certainly had us worried as to what morning would bring. 

We left camp and once again made our way through dense and majestic forest, with surrounding views of glaciers off in the distance. It’s incredibly beautiful and we are slowly leaning why this place is so special. 

We have just arrived in our new camp for the night after about 5 hours on the trail. Our timing was perfect today as we hardly encountered anyone else on the trail, which is rare as there are about 50+ other hikers making the same journey as us. We’ve met many kind people from all over the world here in camp, where at any point you can hear 4 or 5 different languages being spoken. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team!

One final hola from Argentina,

We’ve had a lovely couple days recuperating in Mendoza. Enjoying the calm pace of life, being tourists in a town of sunshine, and yes — exploring a gorgeous winery, Casa Vigil.

While enjoying one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time, a quote showed up on the wine bottle:“Final del camino sólo recuerdas una batalla, la que libraste contigo mismo, el verdadero enemigo; la que te hizo único.”

“At the end of the road you only remember one battle — the one you fought with yourself, the true enemy; the one that made you unique.”

It stuck with all of us. Because after a trip like this, you realize pretty quickly it’s not about the summit, the altitude reached, or proving anything to anyone else.

It’s the quiet negotiations you had with yourself.

Getting out of the sleeping bag.

Turning around when you needed to.

Trying again the next day anyway.

And now, learning how much gelato counts as recovery.

Those are the moments that stay.

Most of us are heading home now, and I think we’ll all keep chewing on this experience for a long time.

Thank you, team (heeeeeyyyy you!) for trusting Leandro and me, for showing up every day, and for making this such a good chapter to be part of.

Would happily walk into (or against) the wind with you again.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel

Hola amigos, 

All is well here in Patagonia. 

We had a very special visitor last night and this morning before hitting the trail. 

A adolescent Puma decided to show up and walked right through camp and then again this morning we saw her again hunting in the adjacent field next to camp. Nothing to worry about though, as these cats are NOT interested in humans. They primarily hunt rabbits (which she was chasing this morning) and they hunt guanacos, a close, but smaller relative of the llama found here in Patagonia. Regardless, it was spectacular to see one in the wild. 

Today the team hiked about 7 hours with breaks through small forests, some wetlands, and open country to reach camp. The weather was very pleasant all day, allowing beautiful views very with little rain and a nice breeze to keep the temperature perfect for hiking. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the crew

Hello again Everyone. 

The team is doing great here in Patagonia. 

Today we thankfully had a relaxed start with breakfast just after 8 and then packed up our things, met our porters and hit the trail shortly after 10am. 

It was hot starting out in the sunshine, but luckily the Patagonian weather and wind arrived to help keep us cool for nearly the entire day. 

We had a few passing light showers that kept us guessing if we should be wearing our Gore-Tex or not, but that’s pretty standard here. It only took about 5 hours hiking with breaks to reach our next home for the night, called Seron.  We quickly settled into camp, took showers and before we knew it, our two amazing Chilean guides (Mauricio and Hector) had a huge charcuterie board laid out for us. Clearly we are being well taken care of and the team is doing great great! 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team