Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
RMI Guide Mark Tucker and Team called to check in from the Dik Dik Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. The team has enjoyed a little R & R after long international flights; everyone is well rested and ready to start trekking. After a gear check this afternoon the bags are packed and ready to hit the trail in the morning.
Follow along with us on the RMI Blog and they make their way to the Roof of Africa!
RMI Guide Mike Walter checked in. After a successful summit of Sharkfin Tower yesterday afternoon the team headed over to Sahale Mountain and reached the summit at 10:46am PT this morning.
At 2:02pm PT Mike Walter and Team reported that "All is well" and they are back in camp.
Posted by: Jeff Martin, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 11,200'
We jumped straight into it today. After six days of travel, hotels, and sight seeing, we were excited to don packs and point our toes uphill. The roughly sixty pounds of food, fuel, and gear each didn't dampen the enthusiasm, at least at first.
Our goal was to move a significant bulk of our expedition kit up to 11,200 ft, just a bit shy of Camp 1. With the recent rains, as well as the cattle traffic, the first stretch was muddy and slick. Throw in the steep terrain and it felt a bit like we were climbing on ice skates. But with only a few bovine friends that needed to be shooed out of our way, we made good time and quickly gained the Berlin airfield, a large flat basin, that the Germans supposedly were able to land planes during WWII. Though the skies threatened rain (for much of the day) the clouds seemed to push up with us, keeping us dry for the time being.
Through a series of steep climbs and flat benches we wound our way, perfecting our rest step and footwork, until after 3.5 hours, we arrived at the cache site. While periodically scanning for anyone spying our location, we stealthily sorted our cache gear and hid it in the rocks, then turned tail and headed downhill. The going was fast and easy until the last steep stretch to camp when we again had to contend with the mud churned up by our ruminant cohabitants. We slipped, slid, and squished our way down to camp. Our timing was impeccable, as the skies that had threatened all day finally delivered in the form of a drenching downpour two minutes before we reached camp. We ducked into tents and hung wet shells to dry. As the rain continued the ground saturated, and soon our tents seemed to wart to begin floating. Luckily the water has so far stayed on the right side of the tent fabric. We made a hearty dinner of soup with fresh veggies (a shift from last night's farm to table feast) and have retired to our abodes. It is still raining, but hopefully it will subside tonight so that we can move up to Camp 1 tomorrow. If not, it may be time for us to consider building an ark. We'll update you on our progress tomorrow!
All the best from RMI Guides Pete, Jeff, and Gang
Posted by: JJ Justman, Leon Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide JJ Justman and the Five Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams reported clear skies with 15-20 mph winds. The teams will descend to Camp Muir and take a short break before continuing their descent to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing the teams back at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
OMG! Great job Ron I didn’t doubt even a sec you were gonna make it. Congratulations. Now you can check this item of your bucket list. Diego says you are unbelievable! Lol:)
Posted by: Edda Zabala on 8/7/2014 at 12:38 am
Way to go guys! An amazing accomplishment to add to your lists!
Posted by: Heidi on 8/6/2014 at 6:35 pm
RMI Guide Mike Walter and the Forbidden Peak climb checked in from camp in Boston Basin. The team is enjoying the great weather and beautiful scenery.
Hello, this is Elias and the Machu Picchu trekking team. We are at Winaywayna and we are having a wonderful time on our awesome trek. Tomorrow we will wake up very, very early to [broken] two hours [broken] that will lead us into Machu Picchu where [broken]. Tomorrow we descend to beautiful [broken]. We will be checking in tomorrow from Machu Picchu. [broken]
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos checks in from the Machu Picchu trek.
Posted by: Jeff Martin, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
Greetings from Elbrus Basecamp,
We completed our last leg of travel today and reached Basecamp. The day started with a nice breakfast served in our rooms at the hotel, and then we loaded up the vehicles one last time and headed towards the mountain. In recent years, there has been a lot of road improvements so much of the drive is now paved. The last 8 miles though is still the same with huge mud holes, deep ruts, and very steep drop offs. Since it has been raining the last few days, the road was extra slick and this changed what would have been a 15 minute ride into a very entertaining two hours. We ended up walking down while another vehicle carried our gear. As luck would have it, that vehicle broke an axle so we went back to the vehicle to carry it ourselves. After we arrived at the jeep, we learned that another vehicle had been found so we walked back to basecamp. It was raining the whole time and without our gear it is a little difficult to set up a camp. We were finally reunited with our gear and we moved into a nice camp.
The driver who helped us out today ended up cooking us dinner. We walked back down the same path for the third time today to his shack. He was waiting for us and motioned us into his home. He had obviously been cooking since we last saw him and we were first offered a local milk drink that tasted like yogurt, drank from a communal cup, then steaming hot bread, and finally a whole pot of lamb and potatoes. It was a delicious meal and an experience we will not soon forget.
Now it is off it bed so we are ready for our carry day tomorrow.
Best,
RMI Guides Jeff, Pete & Team
Great picture! Off to a challenging start!
Posted by: Kris on 8/6/2014 at 7:01 am
I hope the weather clears and it looks like it should on Thursday. We are all rooting for you - from our recliners of course. :) Wishing you great climbing!
Posted by: Joyce Pully on 8/6/2014 at 3:54 am
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Our final night in St. Petersburg!
The team had a great last day here in Russia, with a visit to several beautiful churches full of mosaic's. We then paid a visited the beautiful and very famous Hermitage Museum, were we saw paintings and sculptures by many well known artist including Picasso and Rembrandt, and countless treasures Russia has collected over the century's. We took a small break and wrapped up the day with a wonder evening boat cruise to see this amazing city by water.
It's been a amazing adventure here in Russia, but it's time to say our goodbyes and return to family and loved ones.
Thanks for following,
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the happy crew!
Thank you for the posts. It is great to be able to share in almost real time from half way round the world..Miami Florida. Gregory Waltz is our nephew,
Posted by: Eddie & Shuyu on 8/5/2014 at 5:38 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we were climbing down a giant volcano, tired, grimy and hoping our strength would hold out. Today we were squeaky clean, comfortable, road-tripping, touristing and game-viewing.
And it was great. We drove out of the Dik Dik and Arusha around 9 this morning and made our way -in two souped-up Toyota Landcruisers- to Lake Manyara National Park. We enjoyed a tranquil and easy picnic lunch within the park with Zach acting as Chef while zebras and elephants wandered by. Then we went cruising with both vehicle roofs peeled open to allow standing and scanning for wildlife. Lake Manyara itself was stunning today, with seemingly a million pink flamingos, storks and pelicans working the water's surface and shores. We spied baboons, elephants, giraffes, mongeese (what the plural of mongooses really should be), zebra and wildebeests, along with a few shy hippos and eagles.
Before the sun set, we left the park and drove up on the rim of the great Rift Valley, looking out over the lake and a good chunk of East Africa. Our destination for the night was the Kirurumu Lodge and an extremely comfortable network of tent-cabins and fine dining. Tomorrow, we look forward to a full day of safari-life.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
RMI Guide Jake Beren and 100% of the Team reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan at 10:20am PT today. Jake reported great climbing conditions and beautiful weather. The team planned on spending some time on the summit enjoying the views before starting their descent back to camp.
Congratulations Team!
Congratulation! How wonderful! I can’t wait for more news and photos. Great Job, enjoy every minutes of your great experience, Nikki P.
Posted by: Nikki P. on 8/5/2014 at 12:38 pm
Hi Steve and Connor! Hope you have a safe trip up the mountain and back! Take lots of pics to share! ~Audrey
Posted by: Audrey on 8/7/2014 at 7:00 am
Connor!! It’s Ash from work!! Hope your having a blast!! I’m still jealous! Any-whos guess whos back working here?! Molly is back so that’s pretty sweet and makes work more entertaining! Oh and guess which vote won for the united way t-shirt design?! Yours! They have long sleeve and short sleeve. Does your dad want one too? Anyways have an amazing hike! -Ashley & Molly :)
Posted by: Ashley Schmidt on 8/6/2014 at 4:46 pm
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