Entries from Expedition Dispatches
It was cold in Mt. Kilimanjaro's Barranco Camp this morning, but very beautiful. We still couldn't see the world below, due to clouds, but we could sure see the steep Southern walls of Kibo Peak above. Giant icicles hung down from the glaciers and snowfields in the early morning shadows. Just as the sun hit our camp at about 8:15 AM, we set off into the cool shadows again. We didn't stay cold though, since our first task was to climb the steep lava ledges of the Barranco Wall. Our local guides, Eric and Charles, along with Eliapende and Vendelin, made sure that all felt confident in reaching up for the rough handholds and stepping from block to block to pass this imposing barrier.
It took over an hour, as expected, to get up 800 vertical feet of relief, but we did it, earning even better views of Kilimanjaro's central peak and glaciers hanging thousands of feet above. Then it was relatively easy walking to reach the Karanga Valley, but by the time we made that combination steep descent and ascent -in and out of the narrow valley, we were in cloud. We made it to Karanga Camp at 13,160 ft by 1:15 PM and began our now familiar and welcome pattern of resting, recuperating, eating and drinking through the afternoon.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Good evening!
We're writing from our hotel in Cuzco after a full day of visits along the Sacred Valley of the Incas. With the city of Ollantaytambo as the pinnacle of the day, we also had the time to pet the llamas and alpacas of a South American Cammel's zoo we visited. The walking we did among the different Inca ruins we visited along the Urubamba river, between elevations of 9,000 and 12,000 ft, continued to help us acclimate to the altitude.
Tomorrow, an early departure (4am) will bring us to the trail head to start our trek towards Machu Picchu... a week filled with great trail hiking awaits!
Our next post will be from the trails.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Elías and the team
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
This is not any surfing safari, although that doesn't sound too bad either. Our goal is not to catch the perfect wave, but it is to find the perfect sighting of so much wild game on a beautiful day. I'll take it. We forced ourselves to leave one lovely lodge to end up at another. We are at the Plantation Lodge situated midway between Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater, which is the location of tomorrow's safari. The team did well making the transition from climbing to safari. Although that trigger finger took a hit today taking so many pictures, I have confidence it will pull off some amazing shots tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
It was another beautiful day here on Mt. Elbrus! We woke to clear skies, calm winds and a amazing view of the enormous Caucasus range. We had our standard breakfast of porridge, boiled eggs, assorted meats, cheeses and coffee.
Today was our planned acclimatization day and the team set shortly after 8:30 and hiked for about 3 hours uphill and reached about 15,000', which was a new record for some! Along the way we ran into former RMI guide Craig Van Hoy. It was nice seeing an old friend and chatting with other Americans. We enjoyed the views took a few photos and then headed back down to camp for another amazing hot lunch cooked up by Russia's finest, Albina! The remainder of the afternoon has been spent relaxing in camp, listening to the thunder outside and taking naps.
All is well and the team is looking forward to doing a little technical training and resting tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
I see you’re making great progress, Liz I know you’re having a great time! Could someone explain to me what porridge is? I can wikipidea it or I can dig deep in my chef roots, but can you have someone please explain!
Posted by: John Schupbach on 7/31/2014 at 9:36 pm
Posted by: Geoff Schellens, Win Whittaker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Garrett Stevens and Win Whittaker reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The teams reported cool temperatures, winds 20 mph and clear skies. They began their descent from the summit at 7 am en route to Camp Muir. They will take a short break there before continuing down to Paradise.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens also made their summit push today. Geoff and team were also beginning their descent from the crater rim around 7 am. They will return to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Way to go Pete Lynn! Want to hear all about it. Tracked all the way up.
Posted by: Bill Adkins on 8/1/2014 at 6:43 pm
Hi Arthur and Owen with team Emmons. Have been following you all the way to the summit (well at least since 6.00am!). That was so awesome to watch. Congrats to the whole team and a special thanks to whoever packed the GPS tracker! Can’t wait to hear all about it. Love M & D
Posted by: Shirley Eigenbrot on 7/31/2014 at 6:05 pm
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Greetings again from Cuzco,
We had a great first day of official activities, with a morning packed of visits to the main monuments of the city. From the amazing, earthquake proof Inca walls of Koricancha, to the 16th Century Cathedral, we did also, without noticing, start our acclimatization process by stretching our legs across this ancient city. Gear check and hike briefing with our local outfitter filled the afternoon. We look forward to yet another day of discovery, along the Sacred Valley Of The Incas tomorrow.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Elías and team
Posted by: Billy Nugent, Zeb Blais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent and the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier earlier this morning. The team has descended safely to Camp Muir where they will pack up before continuing their descent to Paradise. We look forward to greeting the teams when they arrive in Ashford later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Congratulations to Jessica and Denise - Top of the World! - as far as I am concerned!
Posted by: Michael Rose on 8/2/2014 at 3:00 pm
OUTSTANDING! WHAT’S NEXT?
Love, Dad
Posted by: Dad on 7/31/2014 at 5:48 am
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We are getting ready for dinner here just outside of Arusha in the lowlands of Tanzania. Everybody is healthy and happy. It’s crazy to think where we were just yesterday--what a great climb. We moved up the hill like clockwork. I was very impressed by the strength, both mental and physical, by one and all during such an arduous task.
This morning we had a nice walk in the cloud forest, and yes we were in the clouds. It was so lush and pretty. After reaching the Mweka Gate and having lunch, we said farewell to our local staff and a “thank you so much” to the staff of the Dik Dik Hotel—one of the best outfitters for Kilimanjaro. They offer great support and I will defiantly use them again. How about next week? Is that soon enough? But first I will spend a few days on safari game viewing with the team. We’ve made some great memories already and more are yet to come. I will do my best to keep you in the loop on phase two of the “A Team” in East Africa.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The rains came in the wee hours at Machame Camp this morning. We were all snug in our sleeping bags and dry in our tents, but each of the team heard the showers and wondered how things might be if it all didn't quit by morning. Well, it didn't quit, but things weren't too bad, as it turned out. We geared up in waterproof clothing and got out into light showers and persistent mist. We'd breakfasted and busted out of camp by eight AM, climbing a steep and slippery trail with big lava-block steps. We climbed for several hours in the cloud, wondering just which grand views we were missing. It never got unbearably wet and we were spared from the possibility of overheating from too much sun. Most of our altitude for the day had been gained and we were beginning the leftward traverse which would bring us to the Shira Plateau when we climbed out of the clouds. It seemed we were in a great garden of wildflowers as we proceeded around the corner to Shira. And then we could see - for the first time - the upper slopes and glaciers of Kilimanjaro. It was an exciting moment, made better by the realization that we only had some easy downhill walking left to go in order to reach camp at 12,570 ft above sea level. We were looking out over an endless sea of cloud and enjoying the sunshine for a time...the clouds washed back over camp in the mid-afternoon. By then though, we were well-fed and well-sheltered in our new and higher home.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Hey Dad and Mr. Brad! It looks like you are having fun! It looks beautiful!
Brody - I love you dad, and I like your fun trip, and don’t fall on your hike trip, and then I love him. Halle - Hey, Dad. I love you and hope you are having fun. Can’t wait to see you again.
Posted by: Becky, Brody, Halle (007) & Champ on 8/1/2014 at 4:43 am
Glad the Team is climbing well. Keep it up! Go Brad-man & Gally-man!
Posted by: Steve Barker on 7/31/2014 at 6:18 pm
We started our day at a reasonable hour with breakfast at 8:00 am; we had porridge, fried eggs, and of course plenty of the Starbucks coffee we brought along.
After breakfast, we finished the remainder of our packing and headed over to the gondola and hitched a ride further up the mountain to our new base camp. Two gondola rides and one super long single chair lift delivered us to our new home just over 12,000'. Our new home is basically a retrofitted shipping container, and to be honest it's reasonably comfortable.
We had a nice lunch prepared by our wonderful cook, Albina. She's a great cook, but I think is a little over worked as she's been up here since my last trip.
With our gondola and chair lift rides this morning, we needed some post-lunch exercise so we headed out to stretch our legs and continue our acclimatization process by hiking for a little over an hour and gaining well over a thousand feet of elevation. Everyone did great and we are now back at camp watching the evening clouds roll in and getting ready for dinner.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
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Brother Brad & Brother Brian,
I know you guys are wearin’ out the mountain! Looks like a great trek. Enjoy the journey and take lots of pics. Can’t wait to hear about the climb.
Posted by: Steve on 8/1/2014 at 7:47 pm
Kevin! Hey babe! Got your vm today! Missed your call by 5 minutes as I was loading the car. :( you’re hiking a mountain and b is busy chasing h around the house and learning to walk better. That’s his mountain for now! :) h can’t even eat without b right there running him over! We love you and miss you! Keep going….. yall are getting close!
Posted by: Heather Davis on 8/1/2014 at 6:18 pm
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