Entries from Expedition Dispatches
We did get a peek at Kilimanjaro this morning before breakfast. The glaciers and icefields were seemingly hanging at impossible angles on Kibo’s flanks. But since -at Machame Camp- we were just in the top layer of a sea of clouds, the views didn’t last too long before we were within the soup again. Nieman introduced our Barking Zebra staff after breakfast -we are supported by fifty men- and then we were treated to a couple of songs as everybody danced and clapped along.
Then it was time to get walking at 8:30 AM. Immediately out of camp, the trail got a little more difficult than what we’d encountered yesterday. The trail became a series of rock steps, like a giant stairmaster up through a corridor of giant heather that became a little less giant as we got higher. Eventually we ended up walking along a ridgeline above the clouds. We had great views of Kibo (Kilimanjaro’s central peak) and could look around as the vegetation changed with increasing altitude. Large white-necked ravens flew acrobatic and aerobatic maneuvers in the thermals around us. We began turning to the north and climbed a few small rock walls to get out to the Shira Plateau -west of Kibo. From this 13,000 ft high point for the day, we then had an easy walk down to our camp at 12,600 ft. It took us five hours on the trail, which meant we had most of the afternoon to lounge about in Shira Camp, getting used to the altitude, stocking up on food and water. The clouds came back over in late afternoon, depriving us of a much anticipated sunset, but when we came out of the dining tent after dinner, things had cleared and we had world class views of the night sky. The Southern Cross, the Milky Way, Jupiter and Saturn were all easily visible and making it tough to get inside our sleeping tents for the night.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
The Four Day Climb August 18 - 21 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier on a windy morning. RMI Guides Brent Okita and Joe Hoch and the summit climb teams spent a short amount of time at the crater as the winds are increasing. They will continue their descent to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
RMI Guide Nick Scott and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz team was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Poor route conditions forced the team to call 13,100' their high point. The team will spend a final night on the mountain before finishing their descent tomorrow. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.
Greetings from 10,000 ft on the flanks of Kilimanjaro. My team hasn’t actually seen Mt Kilimanjaro yet, they are taking it on faith that there is a big volcano hidden somewhere in the clouds. From the Arumeru River Lodge at 7 AM breakfast, there was no sign of the mountain and we didn’t get even a hint of a sighting during our 1.5 hour drive to the Machame Gate of the National Park. Along the highway and under the clouds, there was plenty to see. We watched Tanzanian kids going off to school and their parents heading off to work. We saw people laboring in corn fields and vegetable gardens. We watched plenty of buses and taxis stopping to let folks on or off. As the road steepened closer to the mountain, people were tending to banana groves and coffee plants. The park gate itself was a busy place as trucks and buses unloaded and porters were issued loads and signed up for their week of hard work. We got signed in with the National Park and were issued our permit. At 10:20 AM it was finally -after months of planning and training and after days of travel, packing and prepping- time to start walking. Our local guide staff, Naiman as leader, Freddy and Philibet, Jorome and Gamma led us up a road into the big trees. The road became a trail after 30 minutes and the trail eventually started going uphill steadily. It was all made slightly easier by the cloud cover keeping the sun off of us. In fact it was a perfect temperature for walking. We came up 4000 vertical feet in five hours, which included a few lunch/rest breaks. In the process we got out of the big, lush forest and into the “giant heather” of the Moorland vegetation zone. The team took it all in stride -so to speak- and we pulled into Machame Camp close to 3:30. We were pleased and surprised to see the fine camp our staff had already built while we hiked. Our sleeping tents were ready for us to move into and a snack and hot drinks were waiting for us in the dining tent. There was time for a welcome rest between tea and our 6:30 dinner. Chef Tosha came into the tent as darkness fell and dinner was served to greet the team and introduce his assistant cooks and wait staff. We were amazed and pleased to have such a fine meal halfway up a mountain... assuming again that we really are on a mountain. Maybe we’ll see it tomorrow.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Alan Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. When asked how conditions are on the summit, Andy reported that it was a "beautiful day." The teams began their descent from Mt. Rainier's crater rim around 7:00 AM. They will return to Ashford this afternoon.
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
This was our prep day for Kilimanjaro. We got started with introductions and itineraries at 9 AM in the hotel "boma" -the meeting place. There was plenty to cover regarding what to expect on the climb and how we’d tackle various challenges along the way. We followed the meeting up with equipment checks and packing... and lunch on the outside patio of the dining area. After lunch all that remained was to weigh the bags and to catch up on some rest. Some chose to walk the garden-like grounds of the hotel, checking out the Dik Dik (smallest of the antelope family) population and the vervet monkey troupe that came to visit. We didn’t get a view of Kilimanjaro itself today although our morning overcast eventually broke up... things stayed murky to the north and east. We enjoyed dinner on the patio to finish the day and turned in by around 9 to get plenty of rest for the start of our adventure.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Wonder of wonders, all ten climbers made it through to Tanzania and Kilimanjaro International Airport without missing flights or losing baggage. We’ve got the team assembled at the Arumeru River Lodge on the outskirts of Arusha...folks have eaten dinner and are now attempting to sleep away some of their jet lag. In the morning we’ll meet to get into the nuts and bolts of preparing for a Kilimanjaro climb.
Best Regards,
Dave Hahn
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guide Robby Young reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Robby reported a beautiful chilly day of climbing. The current route taking his team 6 hours to ascend.
Congratulations to today's team.
Way to crush that mountain!! Great work team!
Posted by: Jamie K on 8/18/2019 at 1:21 pm
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides JM Gorum and Ben Ammon climbed above the clouds and reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Ben reported clear skies and chilly temperatures. The team has started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
Great accomplishment for all! Way to go Emily and Phil .. another goal reached for you both.. so proud of both of you!!
Posted by: JoAnn Bolton on 8/18/2019 at 7:36 am
Congratulations to all summiteers. Hope you are suitably proud of your accomplishment. In spite of your bravado, it is a big deal. To the guides, thanks for taking such good care of my son, Nathan and helping him reach one of his goals.
Posted by: Don Evans on 8/17/2019 at 9:38 am
I am back from four incredible days in the North Cascades. I was fortunate enough to a day of training at Mount Erie, then three days on a successful ascent of the Fisher Chimneys on Mt. Shuksan with one guest. Here are some photos of the experience.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
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Congratulations team! https://www.instagram.com/tideworksmountaineers/
Posted by: Tideworks Mountaineers on 8/21/2019 at 8:19 am
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