Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Brent Okita, Josh McDowell
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Summit!
Mt. Rainier received some new snow over the last week filling in the route but today's climb was able to persevere and make tracks to the top. We have had some teams as well as route workers chip away at it when weather and conditions warranted, which helped tremendously. Thank you to all of them and congratulations to today's summit climbers!
RMI Guides Brent Okita & Josh McDowell
After waiting all morning for the rain to stop and the clouds to lift we made our summit attempt. The clouds towered around us as we climbed up the glacier in the sun, getting a good look at Mt. Shuksan's snow-covered summit pyramid. Mother Nature had other plans for us as we approached 7,600’ the clouds closed in around us creating white-out conditions and forcing us to follow our footsteps back to camp.
RMI Guide Alex Halliday
Jambo everyone back home.
Well we’ve finally arrived at our high camp, after a good night's rest and a short hike up to 15,000ft. It has been mostly sunny all day with great views of Kilimanjaro and our route for tomorrow. Everyone is doing well and feeling good at this new altitude which is a good sign for things ahead.
The team just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what what we’ll be wearing and what will be in the pack as well as the schedule.
Our game plan will be to wake at 11pm and have a quick breakfast at 11:30, then hopefully hit the trail right at midnight. Normally we try to leave a touch later, but there are quite a few climbers here tonight so we’re going to try and get a jump start on most of them.
I’m expecting the team to reach the summit in 7 to 8 hours (12:00 pm to 1:00 pm PST) if things go according to plan.
That’s all for now. And keep your fingers crossed for us!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew
On The Map
Good luck and wishes for clear skies/sunrise. We summited a month ago, but whiteout w snow.
Jambo
Posted by: Lin Moore on 9/22/2019 at 5:33 pm
Hello again everyone,
We had a slower start today to allow the many porters to hit the ever-narrowing trail. Right out of camp we were faced with the only real technical obstacle on the climb. This hurdle is the great Barranco Wall, which rises about 1,000ft and looks as intimidating as it sounds. Thankfully there is a nice goat trail that weaves its way up and through the wall and all the way to the top. Most of it feels more like steep hiking, but there are a few places that require the use of our hands to help us climb up.
The team did a good job of moving steady and allowing a few porters through with their loads precariously balanced on their heads. Which was astonishing to see!
After reaching the top we took a nice break and enjoyed the amazing views of the ice-ladened south face and valleys below. The team continued our hike for a few more hours up and down through a few valleys before reaching camp.
All in all, it took only about four hours for us to reach our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks and the peanuts that are grown far below in the valley.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Molly! I’ve been sending the blog to everybody! We are all cheering you on and praying for your health and a successful summit. I know in my heart you will succeed! I love you and miss you!
Posted by: Christopher Nagy on 9/21/2019 at 4:19 am
We are back at our Mt. Shuksan camp after a successful day of training on the slopes near our camp. The clouds have settled back in around us and we are having a round of hot drinks to keep morale up before dinner.
RMI Guide Alex Halliday
All is well here on Kilimanjaro!
Once again we woke to beautifully clear skies with even better views of Kilimanjaro and clouds obscuring the valleys below. Our morning ritual has been waking around 6:30 and getting everything in our tents packed up before heading into our very spacious dinning tent for quite the feast. It was a bit chilly this morning, but soon enough the sun had us hiking in just our light layers.
We hit the trail once again around 8am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 15min break, then back on the trail for another hour. All total today we hiked for just over 6hrs before reaching camp which is set up and ready for us. Eventually the clouds rolled in an obscured the mountain for the final few hours.
Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000' setting new altitude records for some of the team. Everyone enjoyed the day and there was plenty of good conversations among the crew.
All in all it was a really nice day!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Keep going team. I can’t wait to meet you at the gate on Monday!!! You are all super heros to me!!!!!!
Posted by: Amy on 9/21/2019 at 1:50 am
Woohoo! Go Molly! I’m so excited for you! I hope you are enjoying every minute!!
Posted by: Lisa A on 9/20/2019 at 6:39 pm
After morning gear checks, a commute to the trail head, and four and half hours of hiking we are settled into our camp at the toe of the Sulphide Glacier. The rain held off for most of the day, only spitting on us occasionally. Looking forward to a better forecast for tomorrow and a good day of training tomorrow.
RMI Guide Alex Halliday
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 - 9:54 AM PT
Greetings Everyone
The team woke feeling very well rested after about 10hrs in our tent last night. We had a beautiful day on Kilimanjaro today, with sunshine nearly all day and only a few clouds after we reached camp.
We started the day waking at 6:30 to start packing up before moving into our dinning tent for a nice breakfast with porridge, fried eggs, toast, avocado and even some fresh fruit, and most importantly plenty of hot coffee.
We hit the trail shortly after 8am and slowly made our way up the rocky trail that leads out of camp. The trail climbs up a ridge and eventually out of the trees and normally allows for some truly spectacular views of the valley below, but today it was a bit limited. The team hiked for about 4.5 hours before reaching our next camp that sits on Shira plateau, which is an ancient lava flow just above tree-line. Once at camp we were treated to a wonderful warm meal and then hopped into our tents to relax.
The evening was full of great stories and another amazing meal prepared by our gracious staff.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew
On The Map
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - 8:51 PM PT
Jambo Everyone
The team got off to a moderately early start this morning leaving behind our beautiful lodge and have headed to Kilimanjaro.
We left around 8 am and drove along the rural country side and small villages for two hours to reach the park entrance. Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for banana and coffee production as well as a variety of other agriculture needs, but there are still some areas that have been untouched and resemble more of a savannah that Tanzania is known for. The base of Kilimanjaro is more forested and looks more jungle like and is called a cloud forest.
Once we arrived at the gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our 37 porters and other staff to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order we started our climb slowly making our way up the winding trail that ascends continuously through the think forest. The canopy is quite dense thankfully, which provided some cover from the rain that arrive around midday.
The team hiked for a little over 6 hours and managed to not get too wet before we reached our camp for the night that sits around 10’000ft.
After settling into camp and get situated the team was served a nice warm meal for dinner consisting of soup, rice, potatoes and steak.
Everyone is doing well and looking forward to a good nights rest.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Kili crew
On The Map
Hope you are starting down that mountain and “thou shall go for it,” Amy and Molly. It’s the am of Thursday, here in EST, and I have the summit on my calendar for tomorrow. Sending so much good vibes to all your crew and leader. You got this! Dig deep, and look up - I can not wait to hear what the views look like, at sunrise.
Ps. Thank you, Kevin for all your blog.
Posted by: Ginny Bryan on 9/19/2019 at 6:38 am
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
With a very unfavorable weather forecast ahead of us, we decided to stay inside on the 15th and have a skills session with knots, hitches, carabiners, and other climbing gear. The 16th brought a better chance of climbable weather so we set off from the Lake Ann Trailhead armed with lightweight daypacks. We were able to approach the climb and reach our goal of climbing to the top of the Fisher Chimneys. We experienced wet-to-very wet trail and rock conditions, and only got rained on for a few sections of our climb. We then reversed our route and made it back to the trailhead just before the heavy rain started falling. It was a solid 12-hour day of climbing and hiking and we were happy to be back in time to beat the rain. And also in time for a late pizza dinner! The final push up the summit pyramid wasn’t in the cards with the hand we were dealt by the weather, but we were able to climb the bulk of the route and maximize the use of our time in the mountains.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
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Thankful to have been a part of this Team and can’t thank the amazing RMI guides like Brent and Josh enough!! The entire RMI Team is top notch!!
Posted by: Brian Hodges on 9/22/2019 at 9:18 pm
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