What a wonderful adventure we have had here in Ecuador.
We woke last night to a beautifully clear and warm night. With all of the weather we have been having we were quite surprised to see a sky full of stars. We had our standard morning breakfast of not so delicious oatmeal and washed it down with some nice coffee. We left the hut with many other teams trying to take advantage of the exceptional weather.
The route from the Refugio (climbers hut) was full of surprises nearly the whole way to the summit. With crevasse crossings, steep slopes, and even a snow/ice tunnel to negotiate, the most exciting part for the team was climbing down into and then back out of a crevasse in order to continue on the route. Even with all of these obstacles, the route took us just over 6 hours and we stood on top of Cotopaxi around 7:15am with barely a breath of wind. It was so clear we could see all 10 of the 15,000' mountains in Ecuador. Having no wind and warm temperatures allowed us to linger on top for nearly an hour without getting chilled. Then it was back down to the hut to pack up and leave before the daily hail/thunderstorm moved in. We arrived back in Quito and have just finished up our last supper and have said goodbye to our team mates.
Thanks for following and we'll see you next time.
Team Ecuador
We have finished the final trek from Kilimanjaro's Mweka Camp down to the Mweka Gate with a three hour descent where we met our drivers from the Dik Dik Hotel. Team “Simba”, as we are calling ourselves, did a great job and we had a fantastic climb of Kilimanjaro. After signing out and having lunch at the gate, it was off to the Dik Dik for showers and celebration dinner.
We just finished a briefing about the safari that will start tomorrow. We are looking forward to exploring more of Tanzania with visits to Lake Manyara, Tarangire and Ngorongoro Crater National Parks.
We will check in again soon and let you know about all of the beautiful African animals we are seeing.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Casey called this morning from the hut after a successful summit of Cotopaxi! The team is packing their gear and will be back in Quito today.
Congratulations to the team after successful summits of Cayambe and Cotopaxi!
The Four Day Summit Climb July 29 - 1 August, 2011 has reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team was led by Leon Davis who reported sunny skies, light wind and cold temperatures on the mountain today. The team was beginning their descent from the crater rim at 7:00 a.m. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise this afternoon.
Jambo from Barafu Camp,
Our fifth day on Kilimanjaro and we again have a bluebird day. There are clouds in the valleys and plains below us and nothing but blue skies above.
We did not rush out of camp this morning as it was a relatively short day for our climb to Barafu Camp. We have been walking really well all week long, and today was no exception. The team is feeling strong and is ready for the summit.
There is a lot of activity in camp this afternoon as the descending climbers are busy packing up to head down to Mweka Camp and the ascending climbers are organizing their gear for the climb tomorrow. We will have an early dinner tonight and try and be in the tents by 6:00 pm in anticipation of our 11:45 pm wake up time. The hope is to be walking by 12:30 am and standing on the Roof of Africa by 7:30 am. We will try to get a satellite phone call out when we are on the summit.
Thanks to those who have made blog comments. We appreciate the encouragement.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin & The Kili Team
Oh, you’re so close to the Uruhu peak. So cool! Just read that Kilimanjaro “...is an inactive stratovolcano”. Sounds nasty. Be careful, Natasha. I love you.
PS
Can’t find washing machine manual. Where is it?
Posted by: Anatoly, Moscow on 8/2/2011 at 3:59 am
As I post this you will all have made it to the roof of Africa.I was very busy and could not post you all today, but you were all in my thoughts.I “bragged to complete strangers how my friends were nearing the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro with Jeff Martin.Why the hell not! you are all amazing for achieving this amazing feat. I really hope everybody’s in good shape and safe.I’m looking forward to the images and stories.
God Bless you all. Cant wait for the Sara arms in the air picture. Go Sara! woooo hooooo Rusty!
Gummi Worm Man (at sea level)
Hola from Ecuador,
We woke up to a beautiful morning with beautiful views of Cotopaxi. We hung out at the Hacienda Chilcabamba, enjoying the breakfast and the sun. We began the drive up to the parking lot, running in to a crazy hailstorm, thunder and lightning, and TONS of people. The National Park is only an hour from Quito and is a popular weekend getaway for the locals. Our driver, Victor, worked his magic with the bus and got us all the way up to the parking lot in the snow. We then had dinner and hung out in the hut this afternoon.
Everyone is settling in to go to bed now. The team is psyched to get up and climb in the morning and is psyched to have guide Jaime Avila come climb with as well. We will be climbing tonight and hope to be checking in from the summit tomorrow!
RMI Guide Maile Wade
Hello,
This is Mark Tucker checking in from Kilimanjaro. A group of happy climbers are crawling into their tents as I write this dispatch. It has been a long day, we have ascended more than 4,000', descended over 9,000' and stood as a team of nine climbers on the "Roof of Africa". Just another day in the office!
We left our High Camp, Barranco Camp, at 12:15 a.m. and were standing on top of Kilimanjaro, Uhuru Peak, 7:05 a.m. It was a great team effort and everyone did a good job.
Conditions on the mountain were perfect: light wind, clear skies and a team hungry for the top. All of the months of training and the good techniques learned over our many days of climbing were put to good use.
I am very proud of this team and am looking forward to more adventures with them.
For now, all we can think about is three more hours downhill tomorrow to reach the Mweka Gate and the drive to our hotel to a hot shower.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Jambo from Karanga Camp,
The great weather continues and we woke up to another cloudless day on Kilimanjaro. Barranco Camp can be a little cold in the morning so we decided to sleep in an extra 1/2 hour to make sure that the sun was hitting our camp by breakfast time. We all slept well and were excited to start climbing the Barranco Wall. You would guess from most people's description of the Barranco Wall that it is a vertical climb of almost 800 feet. Fortunately, this is not the case and it definitely proved to be a highlight of the trip for everyone. Bibiana dedicated this section to Gabriel.
This is the shortest day of hiking on our trip, and once we reached the top of the Barranco Wall, we continued traversing below the south face of Kilimanjaro. The Heim, Kersten, and Decken glaciers were glistening in the sun above us as we approached Karanga Camp. We had a big pasta lunch waiting for us as we walked into camp. After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying our new camp.
Tomorrow we make our move to Barafu Camp, our highest camp on the mountain. We will then be in position to make our summit attempt the following day.
We will check in tomorrow from 15,200 feet.
- The Kili Team (July 25 - 8 August, 2011)
Congratulations on all that you have accomplished thus far. You should all be very proud of yourselves. You are truly on an adventure of a life time. If even just half of what Sarah has told me is true I have no doubt your summit attempt will be successful. I hear you have an outstanding team and the best dam guide in all of Africa!!! Good luck team. Go with a clear mind and a strong heart.
To Sarah aka (THE HONEY BADGER)
Sarah you are the most extraordinary, beautiful, strong, intelligent and determined person I have ever had the pleasure and honor of knowing. Words can not even begin to describe how proud I am of you. I love you with every fiber of my heart. I am the luckiest guy in the world. I’m really starting to doubt you’re so called time line. I might need to speed that up a bit. Take care of your dad…. I hope you haven’t had to pull out the short rope yet….Only kidding Mr. Griner. I know that as long as he has breath in his lungs Rusty Griner will be on the roof of Africa smiling down. Go get it Dick Bass… I am so fortunate and blessed to have you both in my life. I look forward to some amazing pictures and incredible stories…..
-Sean
Posted by: Sean on 8/1/2011 at 12:51 am
So the Barranco wall was a highlight and not an obstacle? You are all definitely in the right frame of mind. Glaciers, I cant wait for those photos Rusty. 15,000ft…...Oh Yeah. I,m sure the rush from the beauty of the mountain alone is energy to push forward. Stay strong, stay happy. Good luck everybody. Once in a lifetime Rusty and Sara.
Gummi Worm Man
The Four Day Summit Climb July 28 - 31 led by Jason Thompson along with the Five Day Summit Climb July 28 - 1 August led by Linden Mallory reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today! The teams reported windy and cold conditions from the summit with a slight cloud cap descending on the mountain. They began their descent from the summit at 7:00 a.m. en route to Camp Muir and then will continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Hey, this is Mark Tucker on the summit of Kilimanjaro the 31st of July 7:10 a.m. I'm here with a bunch of my buddies. They would all like to say hi.
Bryce Adams from Houston, Texas.
Vincent Graffagnino from Durham, North Carolina.
James Brennan from Houston, Texas. Ethan and Kimberly, I love you very much. I can't wait to see you.
John Fletcher from Greenville, North Carolina. Hey, I have got to tell you that this has to be the most beautiful mountain in the world.
Paul Stanford from Louisville, Kentucky. Sherry I love you. I can't wait to see you when I get home.
Joey Graffagnino from Durham, North Carolina, this is the best sunrise of the year.
[Mark Tucker] Hey it’s me again. Let’s pass it around.
Carmen Graffagnino Durham, North Carolina. Love you Sharon.
Edward Graffagnino from Durham North Carolina. You rock.
Monica Garhart, Boise, Idaho – Wahoo!!
Everyone did a great job getting up here. We got a wonderful day, couldn't be any better. These guys were great, they performed well. We are going to sign off and start heading down. We still have a bit of time on the mountain today. Thanks to you all for checking in. We will write you up something when we get down to Mweka Camp.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker and the Kilimanjaro Summit Team!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & team call from the summit of Kilimanjaro!
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Oh, you’re so close to the Uruhu peak. So cool! Just read that Kilimanjaro “...is an inactive stratovolcano”. Sounds nasty. Be careful, Natasha. I love you.
PS
Can’t find washing machine manual. Where is it?
Posted by: Anatoly, Moscow on 8/2/2011 at 3:59 am
As I post this you will all have made it to the roof of Africa.I was very busy and could not post you all today, but you were all in my thoughts.I “bragged to complete strangers how my friends were nearing the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro with Jeff Martin.Why the hell not! you are all amazing for achieving this amazing feat. I really hope everybody’s in good shape and safe.I’m looking forward to the images and stories.
God Bless you all. Cant wait for the Sara arms in the air picture. Go Sara! woooo hooooo Rusty!
Gummi Worm Man (at sea level)
Posted by: gummi Worm Man on 8/1/2011 at 11:22 pm
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