Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Ecuador Adventure - Day 2:
Today the gang got their first taste of real altitude with an acclimatization hike and scramble on slopes just above the western edge of the city. After a quick breakfast we hopped a few taxis over to the Teleférico, Spanish for gondola, and rode it up high out of town. Blue skies and clear views were an uncommon treat for us and the top of the gondola revealed
Cayambe in the north, Antisana to the east, and
Cotopaxi and Chimborazo to the south. From there we started moving up the slopes of Pichincha, the volcano closest to Quito. We even had a chance to spy a couple of condors gliding below us and then riding thermals high, high above. These are rarely seen birds with wingspans as large as 3 m, quite the treat. Anyway, after a few hours of hiking and a little scrambling here and there we found ourselves on the summit enjoying 360-degree views of Quito and the caldera. The mountain we climbed was called Rucu Pichincha meaning the old part of the volcano, and we were catching views of the Guagua Pichincha, the baby volcano. We snapped some photos from the peak (4,697 m) and then made short work of the descent. Our acclimatization hikes will continue tomorrow but we are gonna hit the road and leave Quito headed north.
More tomorrow!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Clouds followed us up the mountain today from Camp One to Camp Two. Luckily, the group walked strong and we got to
'Chopper Camp' with enough time to set up tents and drink some soup before the snow started. Now, we're all tucked in and waiting to see what the weather does. With a bit of snow in the forecast, we're glad to be nestled in Camp Two instead of on the more exposed slopes of Camp One. The sun, the snow, and the waiting, it's all part of mountaineering, and it keeps things interesting!
We'll touch base again tomorrow and let you know how the climb progresses!
RMI Guide
Katrina Bloemsma & Team
On The Map
Hello from Barranco Camp,
The team did great today, and everybody is feeling strong and healthy.
The unsettled weather continues for our third day on the mountain. Last night, the winds started to pick up after we arrived in camp and were still blowing when we woke up this morning. Fortunately, it was only winds today, as we stayed dry all day and the sun made a brief appearance when we got to camp.
We are definitely into our mountain routines, going to bed fairly early and waking up with enough time to pack, eat breakfast, and be walking by 8:00 am. That is exactly what happened this morning. With packs on we started the climb up the Shira Plateau. We climbed directly towards the mountain for the entire morning, slowly leaving behind all plant life as we got close to Lava Tower camp. It was the first time most of this group had been to 14,900' and everybody was grinning when we got to our high point. We had some lunch and took a little extra time to just let our bodies feel what it is like being at this altitude. Then we started our descent to Barranco camp, approximately 2000' below us. This was the first downhill section of the trip so far, and since half of this climb is spent descending, you have to be able to walk downhill efficiently. This group can definitely walk downhill. A couple hours later we were pulling into camp. The highlight of the the day, besides climbing to 14,900', was the last 15 minutes of walking before we reached camp. Giant Senecios line the trial on both sides and it such a unique plant, that you can't help to feel that you might be on a different planet. Especially as the clouds roll by blocking out everything around you except for these very strange looking trees.
Once in camp, it was time to get moved into our tents and relax for the afternoon. We are now all accustomed to the snacking and tea drinking that pretty much begins right after we get to camp and ends right before dinner.
Tomorrow we head up the
Barranco Wall. It's hard to miss as it looms above us, but everyone is excited to be standing on top of it by mid-morning.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin & Team
On The Map
Hi everybody back home... We just finished our first official day on our
Cotopaxi and Cayambe program. The team met up this morning for a quick breakfast at our hotel in the Mariscal district of Quito before setting out on a tour of the city. At over 9,000', Quito is the second highest capital city in the world behind only La Paz in Bolivia. Makes for great acclimatizing while still hanging out in town! We visited a bunch colonial churches, homes, and cathedrals in the colonial district of Quito known as the Old Town. Actually a UNESCO world heritage site, Quito's Old Town has many buildings dating back to the early 1500's. In the afternoon we lunched at a typical fritada restaurant and then headed out towards the geographical equator. At the "Mitad del Mundo" there's a small museum where a local guide showed us experiments with Coriolis forces on and near the actual equator in addition to some taxidermy of exotic species from the Amazon. Almost a tiny natural history museum meets Ripley's Believe It or Not, there were preserved specimens of terrifying spiders, boa constrictors, anacondas, barbed fish that will swim up your urethra (crazy), and a legit human shrunken head! After our city tour and a brief team meeting we capped off the day with the first of many team dinners to come.
Now we're back at the hotel watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on late night TV. Awesome.
All for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Slogging and chugging away we ascended to
Camp 2 in great style. I love when a team stays together every step of the way. It's motivating and it really creates a great team atmosphere.
We arrived at Camp 2 at 18000 feet and cached more food, fuel and gear for the upper mountain. You can always tell how folks are doing by the expressions on their faces. Everyone was all smiles! And how couldn't you be with the spectacular views of the Andes that we enjoyed today.
Now back at Camp 1 we are soaking in the sunshine and relaxing. A couple of climbing rangers stopped by and we share a round of mate and discussed weather. Katrina and I are about to start making the team quesadillas as a mid afternoon pick me up.
RMI Guide
JJ Justman and Team
Hello from Shira Camp,
It rained a little last night, but when we woke up this morning, the sun was trying to shine through the cloud cover. While the sun never completely came out, we had a dry day with perfect temperatures. The weather even cooperated so that we could have a nice lunch stop along the way to our camp. We got out of camp early today in hopes of getting a little head start and be in front of the other climbers and porters. But we weren't the only group trying this strategy, and we ended up having a fair amount of trail traffic getting up the first climb out of camp. It's a narrow trail, so we just took our time and enjoyed the views around us. On the section after lunch, we got to see quite a few flowers starting to bloom, thanks to the recent rains. Usually this is a pretty dry portion of the trail as we traverse west towards the
Shira Plateau, but today there were numerous little streams which were all flowing with water. The mountain above us is still covered in the dusting of snow from a few days ago. It is really beautiful and is giving us lots of great pictures.Today was a short day of hiking and we made it to camp with plenty of time to enjoy the Shira Plateau. Of course we had popcorn and other snacks waiting for us when we arrived. And we spent a big chunk of the afternoon snacking, drinking tea, and sharing some stories. A perfect reward for the 2500' we climbed today.
Tomorrow, we are going to set a bunch of new altitude records when we go to 14,900', at the base of Lava Tower. Stay tuned for our next dispatch from Barranco Camp.
Best regards,
RMI Guide
Jeff Martin and Team
On The Map
Boom, nailed it! First move day was successful. We are at
Camp One, hydrating and replenishing our systems after the big climb from 13,800 to 16,400 feet. The team moved up in style and got to camp with plenty of time to get settled and enjoy the sunshine. The guides are indulging in Argentina's favorite drink, Yerba Mate, which JJ credits for his hulk-like strength while building rock walls at camp today. Check back tomorrow to see what we're up to!
RMI Guide Katrina Bloemsma
On The Map
Greetings from Machame Camp,
The missing bag finally showed up last night and we have one very happy climber. For the last few days the weather has been a little unstable, with some heavy rain showers in the lowlands. But this morning, just as we were approaching the mountain, the clouds started to thin and we saw
Kilimanjaro for the first time. After people got over the initial surprise of how big it looks from a distance, it became obvious that the unstable weather we had in town, had covered the mountain with a white blanket of snow. Usually you have to look pretty hard to find snow on the mountain, so this was a pretty cool sight to see. It won't affect our climb though, as most of it will melt before we reach high camp.
Having left our hotel this morning right on time, we were at the park gate before any of the other climbing groups showed up. We made quick work of taking care of the permits and registration. And after the final porter's bag was weighed, we were off and walking.
The weather continued to improve all day and we had perfect temperatures all the way to camp. We walked into camp at 3:30 and got settled into our new accommodations at 10,000'. Everyone did great today on the trail. This group showed up well prepared, and ready for the challenge ahead.
We'll send out another update tomorrow when we get to Shira Camp.
Best,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
On The Map
Jambo from the Dik Dik,
We are still one bag down, but otherwise this group is ready to leave early tomorrow morning. We did spend the day going through all the details about our climb and what we might expect along the way as ascend the mountain over the next seven days. Next we focused on gear and equipment, discussing the difference between nice to have and need to have, as well as what to pack in our mountain duffel and what is carried in our day packs. This group did an excellent job in bringing all the right gear so we did not have to spend too much time doing the equipment checks and weighing our mountain duffels.
It was raining most of the day, so rather than go out for an afternoon hike, we stayed indoors, with time well spent recovering from the eleven hour time zone difference, and sending out those last few emails before leaving behind the last of the wi-fi connectivity that we will have for the next week.
We sat down for our four-course dinner, and had a special treat tonight. Two of our climbers are celebrating birthdays. The staff prepared a wonderful cake for this occasion and rolled it in on a cart after dinner with all the candles lit up and everybody singing. Our two climbers were definitely surprised.
We have set our alarms for an early wake up, and hope to be driving towards
Kilimanjaro National Park by 7:30 am. Tomorrow, we'll check in from our first camp on the mountain, Machame Camp.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Ah, the rest day. The team is perfecting the art of chilling. Solar showers, siestas and samba lessons from JJ...just another day at base camp. We're fueling up in anticipation of our move to
Aconcagua's Camp 1 tomorrow.
Keep the comments coming! And pass along our blogs to friends and family who might want to follow our adventure as well. More to come from 16,400ft!
RMI Guide Katrina Bloemsma
On The Map
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Hi Charlie! The view is breathtaking, so glad I get to see it and follow along with your trip. Thinking of you :)
Posted by: Anna on 2/14/2014 at 9:38 pm
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