Entries from Expedition Dispatches
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
The
Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Brent Okita and Walter Hailes, reached the summit at 7:00 a.m. The winds were 20-25 mph and a clear day. They are currently descending to Camp Muir.
The
Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz, led by Garrett Stevens, is currently on the summit reaching the top via the Kautz Glacier Route.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Hello from Aguas Calientes,
We arrived to
Macchu Picchu this morning!! After a super early 3:30am wake up call, and 4:30 start, we hiked the last couple miles to this one of the world's seven wonders of architecture. Light rain and plenty of clouds greeted us at Intipunku (Sun Gate), perched on the hills of Macchu Picchu mountain. But upon descent to the citadel itself, the ceiling of vaporized water cleared up and we could admire, as a reward for the last week of intense hiking through the Andes, the mysticism of this "lost City of the Incas" as well as its dramatic mountain cliffs surrounding us.
We are now resting at our hotel, equally excited about tomorrow's hike to Huayna Picchu, above Macchu Picchu. Stay tuned for the last report and pictures.
Regards,
RMI Guide
Elías de Andres Martos and the Team.
PS: photo attached from Puyupatamarca, Inca site on our descent to Macchu Picchu yesterday
RMI Guide
Mark Tucker and Team called to check in from the Dik Dik Hotel in
Arusha, Tanzania. The team has enjoyed a little R & R after long international flights; everyone is well rested and ready to start trekking. After a gear check this afternoon the bags are packed and ready to hit the trail in the morning.
Follow along with us on the
RMI Blog and they make their way to the
Roof of Africa!
RMI Guide
Mike Walter checked in. After a successful summit of Sharkfin Tower yesterday afternoon the team headed over to
Sahale Mountain and reached the summit at 10:46am PT this morning.
At
2:02pm PT Mike Walter and Team reported that "All is well" and they are back in camp.
We jumped straight into it today. After six days of travel, hotels, and sight seeing, we were excited to don packs and point our toes uphill. The roughly sixty pounds of food, fuel, and gear each didn't dampen the enthusiasm, at least at first.
Our goal was to move a significant bulk of our expedition kit up to 11,200 ft, just a bit shy of
Camp 1. With the recent rains, as well as the cattle traffic, the first stretch was muddy and slick. Throw in the steep terrain and it felt a bit like we were climbing on ice skates. But with only a few bovine friends that needed to be shooed out of our way, we made good time and quickly gained the Berlin airfield, a large flat basin, that the Germans supposedly were able to land planes during WWII. Though the skies threatened rain (for much of the day) the clouds seemed to push up with us, keeping us dry for the time being.
Through a series of steep climbs and flat benches we wound our way, perfecting our rest step and footwork, until after 3.5 hours, we arrived at the cache site. While periodically scanning for anyone spying our location, we stealthily sorted our cache gear and hid it in the rocks, then turned tail and headed downhill. The going was fast and easy until the last steep stretch to camp when we again had to contend with the mud churned up by our ruminant cohabitants. We slipped, slid, and squished our way down to camp. Our timing was impeccable, as the skies that had threatened all day finally delivered in the form of a drenching downpour two minutes before we reached camp. We ducked into tents and hung wet shells to dry. As the rain continued the ground saturated, and soon our tents seemed to wart to begin floating. Luckily the water has so far stayed on the right side of the tent fabric. We made a hearty dinner of soup with fresh veggies (a shift from last night's farm to table feast) and have retired to our abodes. It is still raining, but hopefully it will subside tonight so that we can move up to Camp 1 tomorrow. If not, it may be time for us to consider building an ark. We'll update you on our progress tomorrow!
All the best from RMI Guides
Pete,
Jeff, and Gang
The
Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide JJ Justman and the Five Day Summit Climb team led by
RMI Guide Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams reported clear skies with 15-20 mph winds. The teams will descend to Camp Muir and take a short break before continuing their descent to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing the teams back at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Brent Wolfe !! You and the rest of the team ROCK!! ...literally! Way to make it happen. I guess this shows the biggest obstacles really are just in our mind! I’m so proud of you!
Love,
Bre
Posted by: Bre wolfe on 8/13/2014 at 6:28 am
That’s what I’m talking about! Well done guys!
Posted by: MrsRobber on 8/8/2014 at 11:31 am
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