Entries from Expedition Dispatches

Ngorongoro Crater was worth getting up early for. We were on the road by 6:30 AM. It was cloudy and as we climbed up to the rim of the old collapsed volcano, we were in thick fog.  This did not prevent us from seeing a handful of elephants in the forest up there though.

Our first hours in the “crater” were actually a little cool and drizzly, but we were seeing abundant wildlife and so we didn’t really care.  We saw everything from Cape Buffalo to Jackals. The giant herds of Zebra and Wildebeest were a big hit. During the course of the day, we crisscrossed the valley floor and saw eight lions (beating yesterday’s total). We got to see a number of happy hippopotamus pile-ups in the mud and shallow waters. 

By mid-afternoon we were climbing out of the bowl to visit a Maasai village on the crater rim. We danced with the villagers, and they showed us some of their traditional methods for building fires and living in the wild.  The team got back to the Plantation Lodge in time for a sunset swim in the pool before dinner.

Tarangire tomorrow!

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

100% of Team on Top!

RMI Guide Mike Walter and team reach the Summit of Mt. Baker at 7:11 am today. The team had great climbing and warm weather. They are on the descent and will be back at the traihead later this afernoon. 

Congratulations Team!

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Leif Bergstrom made it to the top of Disappointment Cleaver today. Route conditions and warm weather made it unsafe for our larger team to continue onto the upper mountain.  The Team is back at Camp Muir and will be descending to Paradise soon.

Congratulations Team! 

What a difference a day makes!  No more camping and no more climbing.  Today we woke to rainy skies in Usa River, but we woke in comfy hotel beds and got into nice, dry Toyota Land Cruisers.  Our Safari guides: Jakob and Ng’orongo took us west through Arusha and out of the rain into the Maasai country beyond.  We made it to Lake Manyara National Park by midday.  Things started out slowly… a few baboons.  A bird or two.  The odd bushbuck.  At our picnic lunch, the mountain guide on the team suggested there was nothing much remaining to be seen and that we should call it a day and head for the hotel swimming pool.  Nobody listened.  Our safari guides then found a lion asleep under a tree.  Which turned into seven lions when we looked a little closer.  Which turned into seven hungry, hyper, and hunting lions when a cheerful, clueless zebra came strolling along.  Our guides kept us alongside a protracted hunt as the zebra got smart and began to move away along the lakeshore.  The lions - actually five lionesses and two lions - finally pulled the trigger and sprang after the zebra.  We couldn’t quite see that but somehow, they switched prey in the middle of the attack, coming away with a couple of warthogs in their jaws.  The mountain guide on our team admitted that the swimming pool idea had been a poor one and that in ten years of visiting Manyara he hadn’t seen one lion let alone seven making multiple kills.  To drive home the point, we then saw Cape Buffalo, giraffes, and elephants at close quarters and in quick succession.  And THEN we went to the pool.  We were at the Plantation Lodge for sunset and an excellent dinner.  Safari Day One, in the books and exceeding all expectations. 

Best Regards,

Dave

The Four-Day climb led by Casey Grom and Abby Westling enjoyed the sunrise from Muir Peak this morning. After extreme temperatures in the forecast and a very warm night, RMI guide, Casey grom reported that the team was already starting to bake in th sun at around 7am this morning. The team is currently on their descent and return to Basecamp this afternoon.

Nice work team!

At breakfast this morning there were plenty of our team singing the praises of Mweka Camp and 10,000 ft living. The sleep was sooooo much better than at 15,000 ft. Food went down easier as well, and we put away plenty of it before hitting the trail at 8 AM. Within a few minutes of walking, we entered the rain forest. The day was dry and clear but as we descended, the trail was wetter and more muddy. We had to drop 4000 ft without slipping. This was made a bit more exciting by the hundreds of porters from various teams trying to get down the slippery track with big loads at high speed. We finished the journey at 10:30am and signed our names in the National Park registry at the Mweka Gate. We then enjoyed a final lunch with our staff, after which we were treated to a spirited song and dance session with all 46 of the men who helped us. We expressed our gratitude with tips for all and then shook hands to seal the deal…and to bid farewell.

We loaded onto the bus and made the two-hour ride back to the Rivertrees hotel. It was then a comfortable afternoon of showers and gear sorting. The adventure continues tomorrow with safari, but we took the time this evening to eat and drink together in celebration of our successful climb of Kilimanjaro. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Four Day Climb August 11 - 14 led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Jess Wedel reached the summit of Mt. Rainier just before 5 am today.  Andy reported a beautiful morning climbing in base layers with no winds and meteors filling the sky as they climbed toward the summit. 

Congratulations to the team!

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise August 8 - 13 team met last Tuesday at Rainier BaseCamp for their first day of Technical Skills training.  On Wednesday, led by RMI Guides Ben Luedtke, Jackson Breen and Joey Manship they headed to Paradise and hiked to their first camp.  The team spent the next several days learning and practicing glacier travel skills, crevasse rescue and expedition style climbing.  Yesterday they bumped camp to 10,080' Camp Muir and with an alpine start this morning they reached the summit of Mt. Rainier.  The team is safely back at Camp Muir where they will have a short break to repack and re-fuel for the remaining 4,500' down to Paradise.  They will conclude their program with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.

Congratulations to the team!

The Four Day Climb August 10 - 13 led by RMI Guide Hannah Smith reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  The team reported sunny skies with a light breeze and a very nice morning. The teams started their descent from the crater rim around 6:15 am.  Once back at Camp Muir, they will repack and continue their descent to Paradise.

Nice work today team!

Sunday, August 13, 2023 - 7:24 am PT

We had an extremely nice day for going to the top of Africa. Waking at 11 last night it was dead calm and when we unzipped the tents and looked out, the lights of Moshi and a hundred other towns and villages in Tanzania were winking up at us.  The ever-present cloud deck wasn't present. Overhead, the Milky Way dazzled us.  We ate a quick "breakfast" and got climbing by midnight. The cold temps were a challenge, but less so without wind. We marched up through the night, taking quick hourly breaks in the lava, gravel and pumice.  We were at Stella Point on the crater rim when the sun rose at 6:35 and magically it was still calm on the mountaintop.  It was a beautiful walk in the morning light over to Uhuru, the summit of Kilimanjaro.  We celebrated up top and took plenty of pictures. We'd just begun walking down when one of the remaining summit glaciers calved with a thunderous crash into a pool of meltwater. We were stunned by the action, but also by the fact that a sizable pool of unfrozen water existed at 19,000 ft. We slid down the rock scree of our ascent route, reaching high camp just after 10 AM. Our staff sang and danced to give us a memorable and fun welcome. We finished the day with a rugged hike down to Mweka Camp at 10,000 ft, arriving at 3:30 PM under sunny skies. The team is getting set for a final night on the mountain. Our team did well, placing seven of nine climbers on top and crucially nine of nine safely down afterward. Our support team blew our minds with the quality and quantity of help they provided as we pursued our dream summit. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Sunday, August 13, 2023 - 1:10 AM PT

A quick check in from RMI Guide Dave Hahn with the photo above to let us know the team reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro at 7:15 am local time.  The team has safely descended back to High Camp, Barafu, as of 10:15 am local time.  They will continue their descent to Mweka Camp, their final mountain camp of the trip.

Congratulations team!