Greetings from Plaza Argentina! After a very early rise and a FRIGID river crossing our team wound our way up through the Relinchos Valley (a side valley of the Vacas) and arrived at Basecamp. We moved well and made good time on our ascent, with everybody feeling strong on our first bit of sustained elevation gain. We arrived just ahead of a pretty decent squall that gave us a but of wind, hail, and rain but we made short work of setting up tents ahead of the worst of it. Later on we were served up some delicious steaks and a little bit of Cabernet for dinner by the Grajales Basecamp staff. We crashed out around 9 or so when the weather started to get a little squirrelly again and enjoyed a well deserved rest!
Adios from Plaza Argentina!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
We visited Ngorongoro Crater conservation area today. It's around two million years old and is home to an abundance of wildlife. The big five live there year round and we saw four of them. Rhino, elephant, cape buffalo, and lions but no leopards. We are hoping to see one tomorrow and we're still looking for a cheetah too. It was a long day that started early and thoroughly wore us out riding around in our land cruiser standing up in the intense sun.
We have just finished a great meal here at the plantation lodge and everyone is doing well.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Our winter seminar awoke to pancakes and a view! We have a little break in the weather. So we are busy taking photos. It still is a little blustery but we plan on continuing big mountain training. On the agenda, building anchors, crevasse rescue and self rescue.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
~ Yayyyyyyyyy!!!:) sounds AWESOME!! i cant wait to have some pancakes with ya when you get back babe!! muuaahh!!! looks amazingly Beautiful there~ have fun & enjoy the journey to the summit!!!!
Posted by: candi on 2/6/2013 at 12:01 pm
Pancakes on a mountain?? I never get pancakes for breakfast! I am totally jealous :-D Keep your energy up, stay hydrated, and have fun!!
After a solid day training up here at around 16,500' on Cotopaxi, we are bedding down for a night's sleep as best we can this evening. We are going to wake up here in a bit and go for a climb. The weather has been in and out so we need everybody back home to cross their fingers for a good weather pattern for us. And with any luck we will be calling you from the top tomorrow. So, I guess that's all. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren checks in from the hut on Cotopaxi.
Our team made it to Camp Muir!
It was a long, arduous day but everyone put their heads down, gritted their teeth and made it to 10,000 feet in great style.
The action continues! Despite a little bit of weather to keep us cool we are having a lot of fun training in the snow.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
It’s about time! ;) Congrats to you all!!! Next step: rocking awesome summit bid. Keep your spirits up and remember how truly awesome this journey is for each and every single one of you. Tim: xxxooo! Make it happen!
Posted by: Tim's Little Woman on 2/6/2013 at 6:04 am
What a whirlwind! Yesterday we were standing at almost 23,000 feet, and this evening we're back at Aconcagua Base Camp. It's a big day descending all the way, and our loads just get bigger as we pick up food and gear cached at each camp. It makes it easier knowing that we're headed to a delicious steak dinner ( better than the way in even!). Tomorrow we're back to light loads, light shoes, and getting miles under our feet. Hopefully we see Billy and team along the way. We'll be in touch!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
We visited Lake Manyara National Park today. It sits about 75 east of Arusha and boarders the Great Rift escarpment.
It is known for its tree climbing lions and it didn't disappoint either. We saw lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos, gazelles, zebras, wort hogs, wildebeest, baboons, and plenty of other animals too. It was a great day of relaxing and everyone enjoyed the beautiful day. We even ran into the infamous Dave Hahn too.
Enjoying the good life!
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Another passage from the annals of RMI Aconcagua #5 history:
Today was decidedly less hot and subsequently much more enjoyable than yesterday. Our intrepid crew rose early and made short work of our journey from Pampa de Leñas to our second camp on the approach at Casa de Piedras. Sunny skies and a nice breeze kept our spirits high as we cruised through the enormous Vacas Valley. Right as we were arriving in camp we spotted Pete Van Deventer's crew headed down from their successful summit bid. They were looking tired and skinny but super-psyched on their accomplishment and the fact that they were headed for the barn. We gave them high-fives and settled in to build our camp. We too are in good spirits, moving well, and excited to make it to Basecamp tomorrow at Plaza Argentina.
Hasta pronto,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent and the rest of the gang.
Greetings from 16,000' on Cotopaxi! This is the Ecuador Cotopaxi Express climb calling to check in. We are up at the hut relaxing, drinking some tea, and acclimatizing. We're getting ready to do a little bit of training tomorrow but for right now we are just bumping ourselves up a little higher into the atmosphere and we'll hang out and acclimatize for a bit before doing some training tomorrow and get ready for our attempt at the top the day after. So all is well up here; it’s snowing lightly but we anticipate it clearing out just in time for us.
RMI Guide Jake Beren & Team
Back to civilization and freshly showered!
We have returned from the mountain and are doing great. It's been a long day but we smell clean and our bellies are full after another wonderful meal from the Dik Dik staff.
Everyone is looking forward to the safari tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
~ Yayyyyyyyyy!!!:) sounds AWESOME!! i cant wait to have some pancakes with ya when you get back babe!! muuaahh!!! looks amazingly Beautiful there~ have fun & enjoy the journey to the summit!!!!
Posted by: candi on 2/6/2013 at 12:01 pm
Pancakes on a mountain?? I never get pancakes for breakfast! I am totally jealous :-D Keep your energy up, stay hydrated, and have fun!!
Posted by: Roz on 2/6/2013 at 11:41 am
View All Comments