Hey, this is Mike with Aconcagua #4. We are standing on top of the tallest mountain outside of the Himalaya. It's a beautiful day, near windless, you could be wearing a bikini on top today and get a sun tan. Everyone that's on top today, is doing great. We'll send a dispatch in once we descend back to our High Camp. Thanks for following along on the blog. We will descend to Plaza Argentina (Base Camp) tomorrow morning. Thanks.
RMI Guide Mike King
RMI Guide Mike King calls from the summit of Aconcagua.
We woke up in clear and cold splendor down in the Barranco Valley. Kibo seemed directly overhead with glaciers and icefields hanging at impossible angles. We were done with breakfast and packing our packs when our entire staff... forty porters, guides, camp and kitchen boys surprised us with a singing and dancing session. Led by Mbongo... a highly talented porter in an “American” costume, the team laughed their way through five or six sing-alongs while we joined in, clapping, dancing and cracking up. It was good fun and also served to ease any anxiety folks might have had about tackling the imposing Barranco Wall right out of camp. We set out at about 9:30 and within just a few minutes were putting hands on cold rock to pull ourselves up from one set of ledges to another in order to negotiate the wall. Traffic was pretty light -there have only been a handful of other teams sharing camps with us- which made things a good deal easier. By 11 AM we were atop the wall and the sky was clouding over -repeating the pattern of the past few days. We crossed down into the next valley to continue our traverse of the south side of Kilimanjaro. By the time we hit the steep sides of the Karanga Valley, we were enveloped by swirling mists again. A final thirty minute climb out of the valley brought us to Karanga Camp at 13,160 ft. We ate a late lunch and relaxed in camp for a few hours while the clouds and a few sprinkles came and went. Stepping out after dinner, we discovered the clouds were gone and that a million stars were out overhead while a carpet of lights far below pinpointed Moshi and a few other towns. All in all, we thought it was a pretty good Super Bowl Sunday even without TV.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The Team packed up and moved the bear necessities to Cholera, located at 19,600'. Camp is built and we are enjoying a calm and warm day, which is a plus since this camp is named after the fierce winds that plague this part of the mountain. Tomorrow is our summit day and there is some nervous energy and excitement to be finally nearing the objective of the climb. Everyone sends their best back home. Not much else to do but eat, pack, try to sleep and enjoy the thin air. We'll call in from the summit should Aconcagua bless us with calm winds and a wicked cramponable route.
RMI Guide Mike King
We heard the groundhog said it would be six more weeks of summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere. The Team is taking a rest day at 18,000' to prepare for our last four big days of our Aconcagua expedition. Tomorrow we will move camp to 19,000'. Our summit day should be the 5th followed by two big days getting off the mountain and out to the road. The Team is feeling well acclimated and is in good spirits. Today all we need to do is sleep, eat and embrace the down time, a quality that a few in the group mastered while on Denali. We continue to enjoy the grand vistas of the Andes and warm tents.
RMI Guide Mike King
It's starting to feel a bit like Groundhog Day here on Aconcagua. All we needed to accomplish today was a carry of food and fuel to High Camp at 19,600'. Aside from that the group's only other task is to out chill the other groups in Camp. The weather has been getting better each day and this morning we decided to take advantage of a cool wind to aid us in our carry. By the time we descended the wind had died and the temperatures were getting hot on the snow slopes we traversed. We are all back in Camp now and while eager to move up and summit the Stone Sentinel, we'll take a rest day tomorrow to give us another two nights acclimating. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
Dawn you are doing great. Have a great climb and be safe. We love You and are following very closely. We are with you and the whole team. To the top team. :-)
Posted by: Jerry & Lori Golding on 2/3/2018 at 4:13 pm
We woke to crystal clear skies and a view of Kibo -Kilimanjaro’s central peak. After breakfast, we were walking by 8:30 AM. Our trail today was more difficult, right from the start, with steeper grades and bigger steps through volcanic rock. We labored uphill through the “heather and mooreland zone” a very different type of vegetation than yesterday’s near jungle of big trees. In general, we were coming into the open, with bigger views in all directions. Eventually we worked along a ridge crest enjoying glimpses of hawks and eagles soaring below our vantage point. After several hours and several thousand feet of vertical gain, we began a traverse to the left out toward the Shira Plateau. By afternoon, clouds had overtaken us and we walked in swirling mists. A few steeper rock features required sharper concentration and the use of handholds and balancing, but eventually we turned the corner onto the plateau and walked down a couple hundred feet on easy ground to reach Shira Camp at 12,600 ft. The day’s March had taken us just over five hours. We’d earned a restful afternoon going back and forth between our sleeping tents and the dining tent. Rain showers caught up to us in the early evening, but only for 15 minutes or so. By the time we finished dinner we had largely clear skies and a million stars.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello everyone,
Today we headed to Tarangire National Park known for its abundant elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many we saw, probably several hundred at the least. It wouldn’t seem like we could get tired of seeing elephants, but there were so many that eventually we had to keep driving so we could see other animals.
There were lots of giraffes, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many others.
One of the highlights was seeing a male Cheetah up close, only about 20 feet away. He was just relaxing under a big tree overlooking a small pond and hardly seemed to notice us.
We are spending our last night here in Africa at Tarangire Balloon Camp, which has beautiful tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African bush in.
Everyone is doing great and hoping to see a few more big cats on our way out tomorrow. Then it will be back to our main lodge near Arusha for a brief stop before catching our evening flights home.
Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Sitting down to our 7AM breakfast on the patio at Arumeru River Lodge, we had a great view of Kilimanjaro this morning. We loaded up the bus and rolled out of the lodge just a few minutes after 8 AM. Traffic was light on the main road and we made good time cruising through the farmland and small villages. Kilimanjaro got bigger and more magnificent as we turned from the highway and began walking uphill toward the 6,000 ft Machame Gate to the national park. As usual, it took a little time to get the team registered and the staffing sorted, but by 10:50, we set out walking in warm, and sunny conditions. Filibert, one of our local guide staff, set the slow and steady pace up through the tall and lush forest. Freddie, our chief guide, along with guides Venance and Happyson brought up the rear. Things clouded up as the day progressed, the high humidity and exertion had everybody sweating before too long. We saw blue monkeys in the trees, a few good birds, and even a small chameleon on the trail. The track itself was in good condition, not too muddy, which certainly helped. We came into Machame Camp (at 9,900 ft) in just over five hours. The Utah gang was delighted to find camp already built and ready for moving into. We met in the mess tent for afternoon tea and then finished the day a few hours later with one of chef Tosha’s excellent dinners. Everybody did great with this big day of work, but most were also plenty happy with turning in early for bed at 8 PM.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The team awoke from a restful night of sleep ready to pack up and make our move to Aconcagua Camp 2. We enjoyed a warm breakfast and coffee in the sun, then packed our things and headed uphill. After three stretches of moderate uphill walking, surrounded by wonderful views of the Central Andes, the team pulled into camp with spirits high and feeling strong. We set up camp in time for an afternoon siesta and snack that everyone enjoyed. We're looking forward to a restful evening here at Camp 2 to prepare for our carry to high camp tomorrow. The weather is looking good, the team is feeling strong and we're all excited to keep moving up the mountain. Thanks for following along!
RMI Guide Mike King
The team did great on the mountain one last time.
We started the stoves at 6:30 am and by 8 am we headed down valley and out of Aconcagua National Park. Our vehicle transfers went well thanks to our fantastic support on and off the mountain by Fernando Grajales Expeditions they were spot on with support throughout this expedition thank you so much, we could not have had such success without you. Our team just finished a nice celebration dinner here in Mendoza. We are cleaned up, well fed and now looking forward to a nice bed for rest. Tomorrow some will start the journey home, others a meat cooking tour, wine tour, golfing or just some time by the pool. I will enjoy the little bit of rest and recharging getting ready for big Sunday in support of my tribes' alliance to Foxboro, go Pats!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Wow,this takes me back to the most adventure I have ever had in my life and it started with you and me and old reliable Miss Vickey!
When you lived with mom and dad in Huntington Beach, I had met you from my best girlfriend Barbra and your friend can’t member his name yet, I had just split from my husband and was having a hard time since my small son was in the picture, anyway you were on your way to Utah and I kinda just thought that was going to be my next move sort ya speak anyway you were a gentleman in every sense of the word you were galant and shiverous and you made sure no one ever bugged me, all five of my boys were placed in my life at that time so I could see the BEUTIFUL part of the world,I will forever thankful and very blessed to have you Mark Tucker and my four boys who were and always be my family and in my heart thank you for the love and being there when my Grandma died,I know this is a shock and would love to here from you and introduce my fabulous family and wonderful husband who puts up with my weirdness and still loves me lol!if you have time drop me a line I would love that! Take care of yourself MR.Tucker and Family so good to see your face and all of your unbelievable life!! I hope you have wrote a book you must have seen
Miricals…..Thank you agin Mark… love and admirations…..Cindy Ellis
2819 n.Arcadia St.Colorado Springs,Colorado,80907
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SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/5/2018 at 9:49 am
Congratulations
Posted by: Fred Street on 2/5/2018 at 9:01 am
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