Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Hello all.
It was a beautiful day here on
Kilimanjaro today. Clear skies and relatively warm weather made for an enjoyable day.
The team easily climbed the 1,000-foot high and intimidating
Barranco Wall on our way to camp today. We made our way via a series of broken ledges and small steps and we were in awe of how easily the porters climbed this wall while still balancing their loads on their heads.
We are currently resting at Karanga Camp, which sits above the great Karanga Valley and has views of the towns far below.
Everyone is doing well and we are in good spirits!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
The Four Day Summit Climb led by
RMI Guide Billy Nugent and
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos reached 12,900’ before high winds forced them to turn around. The teams were at Ingraham Flats around 7 am this morning en route to Camp Muir. From there, they will refuel and prepare to descend back to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them back in Ashford this afternoon.
Way to climb teams!
Jambo everyone!
Day three here on
Kilimanjaro was a little windy and cloudy. But those conditions allowed us to make good time on our hike by keeping us cool but not cold. We hiked up the Shira Plateau for a few hours and reached our high point around 15,000' (new heights for some) at a place called Lava Tower. We stopped and took a nice break and enjoyed the limited view then easily descended down into the
Barranco Valley to camp. Along the way we saw some of the unique vegetation that only grows in this part of the world. The giant Senecio trees that look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, groundsels,and lobelias.
We are all currently relaxing in camp either taking naps or playing cards. Everyone is doing great and having a good time!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Hi everyone. You know...it certainly can be disappointing. I guess that's why they call it
Disappointment Cleaver, which is where we are right now.
However, our team is having fun and smiling. Hey! That's part of climbing. The mountain said no and we have to respect that. We will climb another day and we are happy about that.
Now, we will finish taking photos and focus on the most important part of climbing, getting down safely.
Ciao from Rainier.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Once more into the breach, dear friends. Today was a shorter hiking day, but I thought much more technically challenging. We ascended 2500 feet, ending up at tonight's camp sitting at 12,500'. The road to the camp was dusty and narrow. I personally found it difficult to maintain the pace of the group due to some stomach issues, but Eric, one of our 40 porters helped me out by carrying my sack for a spell. I'm happy to report that I feeling much better. The group is working very well together. Peter and Fatima brought a high end camera and are on charge of high end shots. Heidi and Jami are heading up the bunch and in charge of the "walking" photos. Heidi has dual duties, in that she has to give distance and altitude reports. Rosa is in charge of local PR with the porters. Rick, who wanted me to give a special shout out to his two girls at home, is in charge of culinary spicing. Kendyl and Dan are in charge of fact verification and chocolate supplies. Me, I'm comic relief. And Casey, he keeps us all in line and moving toward our goal. In short, all parties are necessary and I'm glad they are here.
Looking forward to tomorrow,
Dawn & The RMI Team
This is the last day of the trip for us. We've had a really nice day here in St. Petersburg. We kicked off the morning by beating the crowd to the Hermitage Museum. Once we got in we disbanded and everyone took in the seemingly endless art works at their own pace. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the experience there.
Now we've all met up again for a boat tour on the canals. The weather is really nice here with plenty of sun and just a little crispness in the air.
Tomorrow we'll all head to the airport for our flights home. It's too bad the weather kept us from getting to the top of
Mt. Elbrus but this group has really made the most of the situation.
Pete and I feel really lucky that everyone had such a positive attitude throughout the trip.
Thanks guys!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Hi all,
Today is our last day on
Shuksan before we hike out tomorrow. We spent the morning relaxing getting in and out of our tents as the rain storms were sporadic. By early afternoon it seemed stable enough and we did some training. First we practiced knots and hitches, then we moved on to building snow anchors, and wrapped up with some crevasse rescue scenarios. We are now back in tents as a very dark ominous looking cloud quickly approaches.
That's the latest from Shuksan,
RMI Guide Geoff Schellens & Team
The
Four Day Summit Climbs led by Lindsay Mann and Tyler Jones were unable to leave Camp Muir last night. The team experienced heavy thunderstorms that brought much lightening and 6 inches of new snow to Camp Muir. The teams plan to leave Camp Muir shortly and will be back in Ashford in the early afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
We had a mixed bag of weather this trip: some sunshine, some rain, some thunder, some lightning. A strong low pressure system moving in from the south has been causing heavy rain and flash flooding in Oregon and Washington, but we were able to squeak in an enjoyable climb today. We climbed from our bivy sight at 5,700' on Mt. Shuksan, climbed up through the
Fisher Chimneys, on to the White Salmon Glacier, up Winnie's Slide, onto the Upper Curtis Glacier, up Hell's Highway, and onto the Sulphide Glacier before weather forced our hand and we headed back down to camp. We had a full day of climbing, and almost got to the top. Now we're back in our tents, safe, dry, and content, listening to the rain. The squirrelly weather did provide us with this beautiful sunset last night though!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
These are the days that I really love being a mountain guide. Sharing the beauty of
Mt. Rainier in September can only be understood by experiencing the beauty of Autumn on Rainier.
The wild flowers are popping in full color. The marmots are whistling. And despite marginal weather, the low marine layers really make the mountains appear luminous and majestic.
The photos don't do it justice so get off the couch, push yourself away from the desk and get on out here!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
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Quinn & I are back in Atlanta and missing everybody! I am homesick for that beautiful mountain, even if she did kick us off. Would love to stay in touch with all of you, and maybe we can schedule another summit attempt! Also, I failed with camera duty and would love any pictures y’all may have to share. Email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Thanks to our wonderful RMI guides for a challenging and unforgettable experience.
Liz
Posted by: Liz Wiedemann on 9/9/2013 at 9:40 pm
Hey Billy and Elias,
You guys really did a great job and pulled off a very memorable climb. I definitely will not forget the sight of that ladder bridge blowing in the wind at 12,900 ever! Look forward to catching up with you guys again, good luck on your upcoming climbs!
All the Best,
Dave
Posted by: Dave Flahive on 9/9/2013 at 9:01 pm
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