Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
We have been going up and up this mountain for the last three weeks and now we get to make our way down. We left
High Camp this morning with our eyes set on Base Camp. A place where there are chairs and tables, wifi, showers, and delicious food...all the incentive you need to keep your tired feet moving. After dropping nearly 6,000' in elevation, the air feels thicker. The team did a great job getting down and deserved some celebratory drinks. It definitely feels good to be down. As for tomorrow, we continue our downward trend to our very first camp on day one, Lenas where we will fill our bellies with a traditional carne asada feast. Our bellies are already growling.
Adios,
RMI Guides Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello and team
We all felt like this was a long approach to the trail head, what with the flying for two days and a bus ride the next, but well worth it. We finally hit the trail at noon today and were instantly swept into the beauty of the
Patagonian landscape. Happily walking and talking we passed through forests of lenga trees, in the beach family, and through the golden grass lands. All the lakes and streams here are a different shade of turquoise based on which glaciers feed them.
After pulling into Seron Camp we had wine and cheese for appetizers, a stroll by the river, and an amazing dinner of salmon. All a little travel weary, we'll get good sleep tonight and be ready for more tomorrow. Everyone is doing really well and send their best to those following!
RMI Guide Christina Dale
The big day finally arrived. We woke at a reasonable time, fired the stoves, and began sorting through the required items we would bring on summit day. As we left camp you could see the pyramid shadow of
Aconcagua as the sun rose and created a beautiful view. Thus began our 12 hour day. There were hard stretches and harder stretches, but the team gritted their teeth and persevered. They gave it everything they had and came out on top. We couldn't have asked for better weather the entire day. After taking our summit photos and relaxing a little bit we made our way back down to camp. As promised, everyone ate dinner because if you don't eat your dinner you will not feel good tomorrow morning. Now it's time to let our bodies relax and recuperate for another big day tomorrow as we make our way back down to Base Camp.
Thanks for all the well wishes,
RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Team
We left Camp 2 for our final camp,
Camp 3 also known as Colera Camp. It was a tough day moving after resting for two days, but with some good ole pressure breathing and some tunes, the team arrived. Tomorrow is the big day, the day we have all been waiting for...summit day. The weather looks to be in our favor, so there is nothing stopping us now. All we have to do now is rest up and get mentally prepared for a long day tomorrow. Hopefully the next time you hear from us is on the summit.
Wish us luck,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
On The Map
Today was our last slow day. Our last day of naps and leisurely mornings. Our last day at 18,000' camp. Tomorrow we head uphill. Uphill to our
High Camp at 19,600' where we will set off for the summit. We spent the day today charging our devices, eating as much food as we could so we dont have to carry it down, and starring uphill at the mountain. Keep your fingers crossed and good wishes that the weather holds for the next 72hrs.
Happy Superbowl Sunday,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
On The Map
Should we stay or should we go now? Today we started our rest day by waking up to a winter wonderland. The red rocks of camp now had a dusting of snow covering them, making it feel a lot like Christmas. The morning was leisurely with multiple cups of coffee and Avery's specialty, high altitude pancakes. Afterward came an afternoon of many naps and the struggle to not go crazy from boredom. Self entertainment is an important part of expedition life, especially when its snowing outside and you find yourself tent bound. As the day continued, we got the updated forecast and after much consideration, we are going to take another rest day at
Camp 2. Given the forecasted winds, it is looking like Tuesday instead of Monday is our better bet for summiting. This just means we will get more practice at tent life.
Good night,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team
On The Map
The sun rose and crawled across the camp warming the tents as it hit them. Once the sun's rays fell onto ours, we woke to begin our day. Today we carried to
Camp 3, our high camp. The morning started clear and sunny, but soon clouds started to build to the east. The clouds were dark and ready to release some precipitation. Mother nature taunted us with some flurries but luckily kept the clouds at bay and allowed us to make our journey to Camp 3 in the sun. At 19,600' the air is thin and everything is exhausting, but the team handled it like pros. Their performance today gives confidence for a good summit push in a few days. But before we go for the summit we are gonna rest tomorrow at Camp 2. Tomorrow will be our last relaxing day for when we leave here it will be go go go.
Keep on keeping on,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team
Hello everyone.
We spent yesterday touring
Tarangire National Park which is home to many elephants, in fact, it has more per square kilometer than any place on Earth and it didn’t disappoint. There was one point when there was around 150 elephants within just a few hundred feet of us.
There were plenty of other animals as usual, and we got close to a few big giraffes, which was pretty cool.
We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds and smells of Africa in.
It's been a memorable experience for everyone and great friendships forged. But finally it's time to return home to our families.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!
With every step we get closer and closer to the tippy
top of this mountain and a warm bed and shower. We said goodbye to Camp 1 today and moved up to Camp 2. The air was noticeably chillier as we made our way to 18,000'. Once again we unloaded our packs and began the nesting process of moving into the tents. After some afternoon naps, we gathered for dinner. Among other topics we discussed the phenomenon of HAF, high altitude flatulence...the higher you go the gasier one gets. With full bellies and a crispness to the air our sleeping bags our calling our names. Tomorrow we will carry to Camp 3, our High Camp.
Adios muchachos,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team
On The Map
Well up until yesterday morning the debate was still on: Cotopaxi or the Beach? Despite the obvious draw of bagging climbing for surfing, we decided that the steep moody glaciated peak out our dining room window was a worthy endeavor, so we packed up and headed for the
Refugio José Ribas. It was a brief restfull afternoon and dinner (of course with Sopa and Ahi, our two favorite parts of every meal here) before we were off to bed, feeling oddly comfortable at 16,000 feet by now. We awoke around 1 am to find our legendary streak of good weather had not been broken. Launching in calm winds under the stars with only clouds to our north, we climbed the first thousand feet on red volcanic rock before donning spikes and venturing into the glacier with a few inches of consolidated fresh snow to provide traction. The entire crew felt strong, even stronger than on Cayambe after so much time at altitude, and before we knew it we were all on top of Cotopaxi with a clear view and a steaming crater. The route and views were all time, perfect to wrap up our time in a great country. By the time we arrived back at the hut there was another first for the crew of firsts: a hut to summit to hut record was in the bag, not far over 6 hours I believe.
We are now in Quito celebrating our 400% success this trip (100% success on 4 peaks), and will soon depart for home. What a great group we have had! Fun, positive, strong, interesting, and encouraging are all words that come to mind. We’ll call this trip a great one in the books and hope to climb with all these cats again!
Thanks also to our amazing local guides, Jaime, David, Nacho, and Christian. Also a big thanks to our driver - the Ecuadorian GPS - Victor.
RMI Guides Chris Ebeling and Adam Knoff
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Great Photos - lovely camp site- Keep trekking
Posted by: peter von Mertens on 2/7/2019 at 1:47 pm
I’m so glad to be able to
read about your adventure. Love seeing the photos !
(Hayley’s mom)
Posted by: Rita Christodoulou on 2/6/2019 at 5:27 am
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