Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Greetings from Karanga Camp. We'll be spending the night at the same elevation as Wheeler Peak -at 13,161 ft, the highest point in New Mexico (which most of us call home). The day began back in the cold and shady Barranco Valley. We were at the upper edge of the clouds this morning and we got swallowed up by them shortly after our 9 AM departure. There was plenty of anticipation and perhaps a little trepidation at the chance to come to grips with the great Barranco Wall. The team handled the rough and rocky "trail" well, moving safely from ledge to ledge while dodging hundreds of heavily laden, hard charging porters. We spent a fair bit of time simply standing and waiting in line at the various bottlenecks that developed around the dicier moves. But our gang was patient and sure-footed... The perfect mix of traits and talents for getting through the day. We were cloaked in thick fog for our entire walk beyond the wall. The team never saw the Karanga Valley itself -our last encounter with Lobelias and Senecios. We just knew we were in it by the steep descent and just as steep ascent out the opposite side. And that put us in a fog shrouded camp at 2 PM where our tents were already up and the table was set for lunch. The afternoon was spent resting. Some enjoyed the quiet of their tents while others played a laugh-filled Uno tournament with the local guides and waiters. Just before sunset, the clouds dropped away to reveal unreal views of Kibo bathed in golden light. It was one of those magical times when we didn't know whether to focus on the setting sun, the rising moon or the glowing glaciers above. It all added up to another great day on a mountainside in Africa.
Today's shoutouts... TG loves MV... and a long distance happy birthday to my brother Hal.
Best Regards,
Dave Hahn
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
With yesterday's preview of the terrain between Base Camp and Camp 1, today's move uphill felt significantly easier to everybody. Everyone commented that it felt like we were walking more slowly, but were covering more ground and trimming time. In short, we were the best looking team on the hill today, in fashion and in climbing style.
Once at Camp 1 we found that available tent sites weren't as plentiful a we had hoped, with a fair number of climbers here since it is high season. We managed a few spots in our outfitter's camp, before the guides broke out the rock bar to move a couple big boulders to clear one more. Everyone was excited to see the cook hut and celebrated our successful move with some gluvine. We are psyched to be up above the clouds with some great views. Tomorrow, we will take a rest day after two big days in a row. We'll refresh some climbing skills and enjoy our new home before focusing on moving higher once again.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team
It was good to hear you all were the best looking team on the hill; since, it is the first rule of mountain climbing, or so I’ve been told. Glad the team is feeling strong. Thanks so much for the updates, the best part of my days! Keep the father/son team in check, they can be a handful. Praying for safety, good health, and great weather.
Posted by: Christy Cunningham on 8/6/2017 at 2:41 pm
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Geoff Schellens and JM Gorum were walking onto Columbia Crest, the very top of Mt. Rainier at 6:10am this morning. The team reported warm temperatures, calm winds, and clear skies above the smoke layer that is currently covering the lower elevations of Western Washington.
Congratulations to today's team!
Congratulations team!! Proud of you….
Posted by: Rajan on 8/6/2017 at 8:50 am
Awesome job Ben! Oli and I love you!!
Posted by: Rachel on 8/6/2017 at 7:54 am
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
First, and most importantly, we'd like to wish Kathey Uchal a very happy birthday. We hope it is a great one!
We fell asleep listening to the bass tones of the nearby river last night and woke to sun early. The sun rises at 4:30 or 5:00 up here, and once out there's not much sense trying to sleep, so we crawled out, fired up coffee and breakfast, and got set for the day.
With packs full of food, fuel, a spare tent and some other odds and ends, as well as our personal gear and food, we headed uphill towards camp one, in a moraine at the base of the glacier around 12,000'. Early on, the sun made its presence felt, instantly heating everyone to a rolling boil. As we climbed higher though, we made it into a nice breeze that kept things pleasant. After many hours of laboring under our loads, we arrived at Camp 1 and stashed all of our stuff. With the bulk of the work done, we turned back downhill. Mt. Elbrus wasn't done with us yet though. Half an hour into our descent, the first piece of hail fell in the rocks somewhere, probably not that near us. But then the skies opened up and it was like being brutally outmatched in a paintball game. We threw our hard shells on and beat foot downhill, running at times to escape the pelting. The hail finally let up, yielding a rainbow a few hundred yards in front of us, but no matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find the pot of gold.
Back in camp, folks ducked into tents, eager to snack and recover, but then one of the Russian cooks of our outfitter came looking for Josh, wanting someone to play volleyball with. Mike and Pete couldn't resist, and joined the match too, and soon we had a decent game going. Now dinner is done, and we're back in tents eager for the deep sleep that follows a hard day of work. We'll do it again tomorrow, moving our camp to Camp 1 and continuing forward progress. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
On The Map
Hey Lisa and Robin - The whole gym is routing for you!
Lifting 250 or pushing 300 seems like nothing compared to what you guys are doing - best to you and all your comrades (no pun intended) - enjoy!
Cheers - Liz
Posted by: Liz on 8/8/2017 at 9:06 am
Hi Sonam
Hope you’re having the time of your life!
Everyone from Seattle says Hi!
Have a great climb!!
Mayank
Posted by: Mayank on 8/7/2017 at 4:28 pm
A wind started up in Shira Camp last night, rattling the tents and nerves but not knocking down anything vital in the process. Once we were up and about in the cool morning air, we knew a little steady breeze wouldn't stop us from our day's mission. We were on the move at 8:20 and before long we're stripping off hats and gloves and superfluous clothing layers. The walking was much easier than on the last two days, even if it was at progressively higher elevations. We all found the rock and vegetation surrounding us to be remarkably similar to the sagebrush mesas of Northern New Mexico -home to the majority of the team. Once again, we were above a sea of cloud and once again Kibo was free of cloud and shining in the distance. This time though, the distance was steadily reduced as we walked directly toward Kilimanjaro's central peak and hanging glaciers. After just two hours, we'd managed to surpass all altitude records within the group, save one. Alexis had been higher in Peru. All others were breaking new ground as we hit 15,200 ft at the Lava Tower. We had a great lunch in the sun up there, checking out the formidable slopes of the Western Breach and the giant frozen waterfalls below the remnant glaciers. And then we got cruising downhill toward Barranco Camp and its lush gardens of Lobelias and Senecios. We dove back into cloud to hit camp at 13,000 ft. but were granted a stupendous evening look at our surroundings as the clouds broke at sunset and a giant moon rose over the fabled Barranco Wall -tomorrow's first goal.
A big shout out from the team to Grandma Yoohoo! All is well in Tanzania tonight.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Watching Sunset on the Sandias, remembering Peru, and thinking of you all on this long, challenging and beautiful journey. Savor every moment! Love, Z’s Gramma Jude
Posted by: Judith Roderick on 8/6/2017 at 7:20 pm
Good luck Sarah Sauce on the Barranco wall tomorrow, you can do it!
Posted by: Deon on 8/6/2017 at 11:11 am
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led by Eric Frank and Andy Bond, reached the summit at 6:15 a.m. With good weather and light winds, they are on their way back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!
Wow!! Looks amazing, Scott. You are my hero!!
Posted by: Sandy Isham on 8/5/2017 at 10:54 am
Congratulations to Scott and the rest of team!! So proud of you Scott!!
Laurie
Posted by: Laurie on 8/5/2017 at 10:48 am
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
The loop is complete. We are back at the Arumeru Lodge after a whirlwind Safari. We had a fine night in the bush of Tanzania. In those remote tented camps with all of their creature comforts prepared us well for our last safari. A delectable breakfast started our way back out through the park. Cloud cover did not lend to animal cover since we once again were overwhelmed by the abundance of game to be seen. A whole pride of lions doing some snacking was a wonderful touch to send us on our way. Took about three hours of us having to put up with nice smooth pavement to get us here. Repacking, showers, and of course more food has the team in good shape for travels abroad tonight.
The new stories from trips like these last a lifetime and we are all excited to get home and share them.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
After the bustle of Moscow and several days of traveling, it's a bit of a relief to finally be at Mt. Elbrus Base Camp! We had a pretty relaxed departure from Kislovodsk this morning, stopping at our outfitter' s home to leave some city cloths, before climbing into our driver Alexi's tricked out four wheel drive sprinter van knockoff and heading for Base Camp. We started putting our tents up as the first drops began to fall. Before long things ramped up and we were in a small thunder squall. Once the rain let up, we headed out for a quick hike to a gorgeous earthen bridge crossing the river, far below. Then dinner and off to bed to get ready for a big effort tomorrow. We'll carry a load of food and fuel to Camp 1 tomorrow, before returning to Base Camp. We'll let you know how it goes.
Best,
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
On The Map
The clouds blanketed Machame Camp for much of the night and we even had brief periods of rain... all of which made it feel wonderful to wake to crystal clear skies in the morning. We were just on top of thick layers of cloud, but finally we had unobstructed views of Kibo (Kilimanjaro's main peak) above.
We ate breakfast and marched out of camp at 8:20, immediately encountering a steep and rocky trail up through a forest of giant heather. There were large numbers of porters -ours and those of neighboring teams- balancing loads on their heads as they wove through the straight up stream of morning traffic. The clouds rose up and swallowed us again for several hours as we steadily gained altitude. Up around 12,000 ft we broke free again and had a better look at the exotic giant scenecios among the heather. 16,000 ft Mount Meru became visible to the west as another island in the cloud sea. We began a traverse along shelves of lava with the boys keeping a sharp eye out for crystals among the ancient flows. The gang easily handled a few steeper steps and we reached a high point of 12,800 ft before dropping down into Shira Camp at 12,500 ft. Then it was an easy and peaceful afternoon of eating napping eating and eating some more. We were treated to a magical evening as the
sun dropped into the clouds out beyond the Shira Plateau and the moon and stars took over at entertaining us.
Everybody is happy and healthy tonight and getting easily into the rhythms of camp and climbing life.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Fascinated with your journey through an area that I have long found to be very interesting. Safe and enjoyable trip to you all!
Hal
Posted by: Hal H. on 8/4/2017 at 11:35 pm
Wonderful trekking along with Super Team Taos.
Posted by: Yolanda Deveaux on 8/4/2017 at 4:25 pm
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Jess Matthews
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb August 1 - 4, 2017 reached the summit this morning around 6 am. The team reported clear skies with lots of shooting stars and a view of the Northern Lights.
After enjoying some time on Columbia Crest, the team began their descent. They will make a stop at Camp Muir to repack and refuel and then continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb team!
Way to go on your 2nd trip to the top! And Happy Birthday to Matt….
Posted by: Lilli Pietromonaco on 8/4/2017 at 9:06 pm
Congratulations Pat & Stephanie on Rainier 2.0! And, happy 40th Matt!
Posted by: Kathy Roby on 8/4/2017 at 5:24 pm
Bravo to the team! Sounds like my friend Sara is in good hands ! What a fab experience!
Posted by: Andrea Blumberg on 8/7/2017 at 6:57 pm
Hi Lexi girl! This is the best bed time reading. Even has the whole “can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow” cliffhanger thing going. Pun intended :-) Sending you positive “you got this” thoughts and lots of sea-level Dallas oxygen :-) Enjoy and be safe Taos Team!! Donia XO
Posted by: Donia on 8/6/2017 at 7:35 pm
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