Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hello this is RMI Guide Mark Tucker checking in from the Dik Dik Hotel in Tanzania. We completed our safari today after an exciting night at the Kikoti Camp. There were elephants just outside our doors last night and literally brushing up against the tent. We returned to the Dik Dik to collect all of luggage, rest and relax. We had another great meal here before being transferred to the Kilimanjaro International Airport for our out bound flights.
Thanks to all of our team members for a great adventure. We hope to you all another time!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker checks in as the trip comes to an end.
Jake Beren, Gabriel Barral, and our Four Day Summit Climb Teams reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. They reported a beautiful day with great views and not a breath of wind.
Congratulations to today's Teams.
The Four Day Summit Climb August 15 - 18 led by RMI Guide Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning! The teams reported cool temperatures, light winds and a great day on the mountain. They were beginning their descent from the crater rim at 7:45 a.m. PT. The teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon.
RMI Guide Casey Grom led the Five Day Emmons Glacier Climb to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. All of the team members reached the summit. The team will descend to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
100% of our team stood on the summit of Mount Shuksan this morning! The weather was perfect. We will descend back to camp today and head down the trail tomorrow. It's been a great day in the North Cascades!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo!
Today we visited the Ngorongoro Crater. It was a bit cloudy and cool on the way in this morning so we visited with the friendly Maasai Village for dancing and shopping. The hut life may not be for everyone but it is their way of life and they have adapted just fine. Visiting the village is a nice option to pick up some handmade trinkets and support the local economy, then down in the crater we went. Still a bit cool so we were all glad to have brought some of our fine First Ascent warm gear to make the safari vehicle ride more comfortable. The cats and rhino tried to hide but our pro spotter-of-a-driver was able to point out these magnificent animals. We were in awe of all the types of animals that lingered around the beautiful forest of huge Acacia trees. Luckily we spotted some lions just before we left the park entrance just beyond the crater.
The team is doing well and looking forward to our five-course dinner at the luxury Plantation Lodge.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The Five Day Summit Climb August 13 - 17 and the Four Day Summit Climb August 14 - 17 both reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams, led by RMI Guides Dan Windham and J.J. Justman, reported beautiful climbing conditions with light winds on the summit. They were beginning their descent from the crater rim shortly after 7 a.m. PT.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
The team did well practicing mountaineering skills today in preparation for our Mt. Shuksan summit bid in the morning. The weather was perfect and we had a great time out on the glacier today. We'll check in from the summit tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
This group of climbers sure knows how to adapt to safari life.
After breakfast we set good bye to our home-bound teammates and jumped in our vehicle for the plains of Africa. We made a quick stop in the town of Arusha to fill our cool with refreshing beverages and then headed out of town. We arrived at Lake Manyara, our first of three National Wildlife Parks that we will be visiting while on safari. Lake Manyara National Park is not the largest park around but it is easy to get to and has a great number of wildlife. Personally, it is one of my favorite places as it is home to the Strangler Fig tree. Right as you enter the park these amazing trees are all over the place, and are homes for groups of monkey and baboon. When mature the pure size and color of the trees are amazing with huge fluted trunks to boot. We had a picnic lunch in the middle of the bush surrounded by nature and otherwise all to our selves. A few tosses of the frisbe for a little exercise and back to work looking for animals to fall prey to our camera lens. Elephants, zebra, Wart hog, giraffe, Rock Hyrex, Dik Dik, Impala, Water buck, Cape Buffalo, Hippo, Vervet Monkey and loads of birds under clear skies in the afternoon.
When we had taken lots of pictures and explored most of the park we headed off to the Plantation Lodge. We will spend the next two nights at the beautiful hotel near the Ngorongoro Crater. Tomorrow we will head down to the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater looking for cats and rhino, and other animals that might cross our path. After a climb of Kilimanjaro this is the life!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The Four Day Summit Climb August 13 - 16 led by RMI Guide Brent Okita was approaching the crater rim of Mt. Rainier at 6:50 a.m. They reported a beautiful day on Mt. Rainier with light breeze and fairly warm temperatures. The team will spend some time on top before beginning their descent to Camp Muir and continuing down to Paradise.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - August 12 - 17 led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent called from the Mt. Rainier summit at 10:00 a.m. His team reached the summit in what he described as "practically t-shirt weather!" They were crossing the crater to Columbia Crest, the true summit, before they begin their descent back to camp. The team will spend the rest of the day on the mountain before descending tomorrow.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Hello from the Sulphide Glacier on Mount Shuksan!
The team and I are at camp, located at 6,000' on the Sulphide Glacier. We had a mix of rain, sun, mist and fog on our hike to camp today. It's currently overcast but no precipitation while we get ready to eat dinner. The hike took us 6 1/2 hours to get here and everyone is doing well.
Tomorrow's itinerary includes practicing some mountaineering skills to prepare for the upcoming summit bid.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Previous Page
Next Page
