Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
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 were plenty of other animals as usual, and we got pretty close to a few lions, which was amazing.
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!
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is known for its abundance of animals that call the crater home.
We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few of the big cats before the heat of the day.
There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. We managed to see several lions, including 2 feasting on a fresh kill, thankfully it wasn’t too close though. We also saw one Black Rhino at pretty close range, which have become very rare due to poaching.
We wrapped up the day with a visit to a Maasai village not far from the craters rim. The Maasai people are a semi-nomadic tribe that exist almost entirely off of their cattle. The team spent time asking questions and enjoyed being shown around their small and simple village.
We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the plantation lodge
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Posted by: Brent Okita, Dustin Wittmier
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
So far we've had a tremendous trip.
Our first day started cold and rainy, which posed no problem for us given that our training that day was largely spent indoors or at least under the cover of a roof overhead. That day was spent doing some technical training, going through equipment needed for the week, and getting to know one another.
Day 2, Monday, we moved to Camp Muir on what ended up being a fairly nice day. The group was impressive moving uphill, with nobody having difficulty with the 4,500' hike up the snowfield.
Tuesday was a very full day as we covered all the skills we needed to climb the mountain. Following our skills session we ventured out onto the Cowlitz Glacier to practice what we learned and better understand just how glaciers behaved.Following this it was back to Muir to prepare for our climb. A summit talk, early dinner and early bedtime set us up for our climb. Waking up at 1:00am and walking at 2:00, we were immediately challenged by high winds. Unfortunately, the winds haunted us all day, making for a difficult climb. But we persevered and got lucky, summiting just after 8:00am.
The team did great and we're all enjoying some well deserved rest.
Talk again tomorrow,
RMI Guide Brent Okita & Team
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Today was our first day of safari and we headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara. The lake is a brief stopping ground for many migratory animals and home to more than 300 different birds. Everyone enjoyed the day cruising around in our safari vehicles with cold beverages in hand while seeing the animals up close.
We manage to see a few wildebeest, zebras, Cape buffalo, lots of baboons, a few impalas and many hippos, and one elephant pretty close and even managed to see a few lions relaxing in the trees. It was a pretty nice introduction to the incredible diversity of wildlife that Africa has and the team is looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.
We wrapped up the evening with a wonderful meal at our new lodge [url=http://www.plantation-lodge.com]http://www.plantation-lodge.com[/url] see for yourself!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Today we woke at 6:30 feeling good, had breakfast, then enjoyed a goodbye song and dance from our gracious crew of posters, cooks, and local guides numbering 37. We finished the little celebration by handing out their well-deserved tips and then hit the trail one last time.
It took a little over three hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge.
Finally we are all safe and sound, and a little cleaner after an amazing seven-day journey up and down Kilimanjaro.
The team is currently relaxing and looking forward to Safari which starts tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy Kilimanjaro crew
Olga, you did it!!! Have a restful safari and we will see you state side when you return. Hugs, Zena
Posted by: Zena Roberts on 9/24/2019 at 2:19 pm
Olga!
What an accomplishment for you and Igor! And everyone else! Can’t wait to hear all about it! :-)
Have fun the rest of your trip!
Posted by: Susan Wolfe on 9/23/2019 at 3:00 pm
The Four Day Climb teams led by Andy Bond and JT Schmitt heading up to Camp Muir for their climb tomorrow, September 23rd, decided to turn around in the face of bad weather. The team made it to just before the Muir Snowfield where they took a cold and wet break and discussed the realities of their situation. The weather above them was the same but with freezing temperatures and higher winds, making an ascent to Camp Muir too dangerous to continue. The team celebrated their high point and returned to Paradise where they were shuttled back to dry clothes and hot beverages.
Summit!
Today we had a wonderful albeit long day climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro. The team woke at 11pm as we planned to thankfully clear skies after a cloudy evening that had us wondering the lay ahead.
We had a quick breakfast of porridge, tea and coffee before hitting the trail at 12am.
We climbed in hour increments with 10-15 breaks in between, which we've been doing every day thus far. The weather was really nice, although it was a little cold which kept us bundled up for most of the day. It was one of the busiest days I’ve seen on Kili with more than 200 climbers, but the team timed everything just right and took great care of themselves.
The climb took about 7hrs to reach the top, and thankfully the sun had risen shortly before to help warm us and boost morale after climbing through the night. Once there, we hugged each other, enjoyed the view and took plenty of pictures of the sign that adorns the “Roof of Africa”.
It was a true test of endurance for most of the crew, and I'm really proud of everyone. We safely descended back to high camp, had a quick lunch, repacked and continued further down the mountain to our final camp on the mountain, where we are about to have dinner and then head to bed for some well deserved sleep.
Everyone is really looking forward to hot showers tomorrow to say the least.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili summit crew
On The Map
Lady you have one hell of a bucket list
Enjoy the view from the top
Posted by: Christine Atherfold on 9/23/2019 at 7:13 am
Congrats!!! What a view from the top of the world. Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Posted by: Bruce McConnell on 9/23/2019 at 6:50 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Ben Liken
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,300'
The Four Day Climb September 19 - 22 led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Ben Liken were forced to turn back at 13,300' this morning due to high winds and deteriorating weather. The groups will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise later this morning.
Posted by: Brent Okita, Josh McDowell
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Summit!
Mt. Rainier received some new snow over the last week filling in the route but today's climb was able to persevere and make tracks to the top. We have had some teams as well as route workers chip away at it when weather and conditions warranted, which helped tremendously. Thank you to all of them and congratulations to today's summit climbers!
RMI Guides Brent Okita & Josh McDowell
Thankful to have been a part of this Team and can’t thank the amazing RMI guides like Brent and Josh enough!! The entire RMI Team is top notch!!
Posted by: Brian Hodges on 9/22/2019 at 9:18 pm
After waiting all morning for the rain to stop and the clouds to lift we made our summit attempt. The clouds towered around us as we climbed up the glacier in the sun, getting a good look at Mt. Shuksan's snow-covered summit pyramid. Mother Nature had other plans for us as we approached 7,600’ the clouds closed in around us creating white-out conditions and forcing us to follow our footsteps back to camp.
RMI Guide Alex Halliday
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We are super proud of Matthew Roth & Team!!
Love,
Leah, Haddox & Bailey
Posted by: Leah Roth on 9/25/2019 at 2:04 pm
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