Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Yet another nice day. A bit breezy as we approached our high point of the trip so far. Altitude records for most, than a couple thousand feet descent into
Barranco Camp home for the night. The team continues to do just what they should to move smooth and efficient. We pulled into camp nice and early, so much so that we even took a short hike to a waterfall and the base of the Barranco Wall, the first part of our climb tomorrow. Mixed in the team is a couple of families; fathers, daughters and sons, even an uncle. Great to see them out in the hills and having a gas. A few clouds have moved in obscuring a view of the upper mountain but we may get lucky in the next hour to get a few photos of the peak in the beautiful alpine glow condition we can be rewarded with for such an effort put forth.
RMI Guide
Mark Tucker & Team
The
Four Day Summit Climbs Teams led by
RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Mike Haugen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Seth reported clear skies, no winds and a super nice day for climbing.
The teams were starting their descent from the crater rim just after 7 am today. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing down to Paradise. We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
RMI Guide
Mike Walter and Team reached the summit of
Forbidden Peak. The team is leaving the Boston Basin area after a successful week of climbing.
Congratulations Team!
Greetings,
We had a good first night at
Camp 1. Everyone is doing great and feeling strong.
We did sleep in a little this morning and woke up to a beautiful cloudless day. A welcome treat after the last few mornings of rain. After breakfast we headed downhill to pick up our cache that we left two days ago. It was a quick roundtrip and we were back in camp by lunch. Since it was a rest day, we fired up the stoves and had quesadillas for lunch and lounged around camp.
Starting tomorrow, we will be on the glacier for the rest of the climb. We wanted to get a little review in, so we went out on the glacier to practice some cramponing and ice ax arrest. We are all ready for tomorrow!
Now we are back at camp hydrating and trying to make a dent in our pile of snack food.
Dinner will come soon enough and we enjoying the late afternoon sun and the constantly changing colors on the upper mountain. What a view.
All the best,
RMI Guides Jeff Martin, Pete Van Deventer, and team
On The Map
After a peaceful night at the Kikoti Lodge just East of the
Tarangire National Park boundary, we had breakfast and ducked back into the park. As experienced safari aficionados, we no longer stopped the vehicles for common zebras and wildebeest. But we were happy to pull over to watch a monitor lizard cross the road. And seeing a lion guarding his fresh kill got our attention. The king of the savannah also got the attention of about twenty elephants on their way to the water. They trumpeted and snorted when they sensed his presence and -giving him some space, took a detour to reach the water. We saw a few thousand other animals and birds, baobab trees and acacias on our way back out to the main park exit. Then it was Tanzanian highway driving with a few stops for tourism and sightseeing on the way back to Arusha and the Dik Dik Hotel. All that remains now is a dinner together and a few shuttles to the airport over the next 24 hours as we split up and begin to circle the globe toward home.
It has been a chock full couple of weeks in Africa. Thank you for keeping track of our team!
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Shira Camp is our new home for the night. At 12,500 ft it is nice to still see bushes and grasses. Don't let life forms other than humans fool you, it is a very harsh place to be. Unlike places like
Alaska where the latitude away from the Equator keeps plant life well below here.
It was nice to see the whole team at breakfast this morning healthy and happy . For some, it was was a new experience spending the night in a tent at 10,000 ft. Before we turned in, a discussion about strategy for the night and talk of what we can do to help adjust to the altitude paid off. Another day of perfect weather for the climb and it couldn't have gone smoother. Incorporating the same techniques used on all these big hills went very well with a team of strong climbers arriving at Camp 2 right on schedule.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
At 7:32 a.m. the
RMI Mt. Rainier Four-Day Summit Climb teams began their descent from the crater rim.
RMI Guides Eric Frank and Geoff Schellens reported light winds, a marine layer and cold temperatures.
We look forward to congratulating them at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon!
Another day, another incredible Tanzanian National Park. Today we visited
Tarangire... A system of rivers, swamps and savannas that host a mind-blowing number of elephants, zebras, wildebeest, gazelles, giraffes and just about every other East African animal you can think of. We were particularly interested in the big cats today. As luck would have it, we spied a cheetah, a lioness up a tree, and finally a big and beautiful leopard in an Acacia tree at sunset. The elephants of Tarangire were everywhere and their signs of passage were everywhere else. We could see where they'd been scraping bark from the giant baobab trees in search of moisture, and flat out destroying smaller trees in other places. In terms of bird-life, we saw everything from an African Fish Eagle (eerily similar to an American Bald Eagle) to the ubiquitous superb starlings with their incandescent colors. It was just getting dark when Joseph and Clement brought our Landcruisers in to Kikoti, a hotel of screened in cabins with a luxurious and open-planned center dining room and bar just to one side of the national park. This will be our last evening together and our last out in the wild, but we look forward to a final day's journey back through the park and "home" to Arusha.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
What a great day in the mountains. The team was like clock work getting out of the lowlands. A pleasant drive to the Machame Gate where our climb began. Not too hot or cold, no rain just some broken clouds as we moved up the mountain in great style and all arriving at Camp 1 in fine shape. The usual perfect support by our fabulous outfitter the Dik Dik, best outfitter for a climb of
Killimanjaro. We worked a lot on technique, and talked about strategy for the future throughout the day. We are all fed and down for the night. Awesome moon above and the summit clear and calling. How many times can I climb this beast and still get such a thrill. It's crazy, you have to make the time to do this one for sure!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Hello,
After two great nights at Basecamp, it was time to move out and establish a new camp higher up on Mt. Elbrus.
We were really lucky again today with the weather. It was still raining when we first woke up, but just about the time we were taking down the tents, it stopped and has been dry ever since.
The trail was still challenging today, but everybody did great. We made good time all the way back up to our cache site at 11,200'. We grabbed a few items from the cache that we would need for the night, and continued on our way. The last stretch into camp climbs up a very rocky moraine and is some of the most trickiest walking on the whole mountain, especially with some heavy packs. We worked our way up the faint climber's trail, dealing with lots of loose scree and some very awkward steps, but finally being rewarded as we crested over the top of the ridge and arrived at
Camp 1.
The weather has not been that good the last several days, and as a result, there is a fair amount of climbers still waiting at Camp 1 for their summit attempt. Tent sites were at a premium, but after a little searching, we found some good spots and started building our camp. We are now all settled into what will be our home for the next three nights.
We have been in the clouds most of the day, but the upper mountain has made a few brief appearances this afternoon. Our hope is that this improving weather trend will continue for us.
Right now there are many climbers in camp getting ready to climb tonight. We, on the other hand, are going to bed and looking forward to sleeping in the morning.
All the best,
RMI Guides Jeff Martin, Pete Van Deventer and the team
On The Map
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I hope everyone is able to get to the top of that mountain!!! Go climbers!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love you Connor and Dad! <3
Posted by: Judy on 8/11/2014 at 9:28 am
Way to Go! Good to hear all is going well.
Enjoy and Stay Safe! Love, Grandpa/Dad & Babooshka/Cindy
Posted by: Carl and Cindy on 8/9/2014 at 6:38 pm
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