Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Wonder of wonders, all ten climbers made it through to Tanzania and Kilimanjaro International Airport without missing flights or losing baggage. We’ve got the team assembled at the Arumeru River Lodge on the outskirts of Arusha...folks have eaten dinner and are now attempting to sleep away some of their jet lag. In the morning we’ll meet to get into the nuts and bolts of preparing for a Kilimanjaro climb.
Best Regards,
Dave Hahn
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guide Robby Young reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Robby reported a beautiful chilly day of climbing. The current route taking his team 6 hours to ascend.
Congratulations to today's team.
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides JM Gorum and Ben Ammon climbed above the clouds and reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Ben reported clear skies and chilly temperatures. The team has started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
Great accomplishment for all! Way to go Emily and Phil .. another goal reached for you both.. so proud of both of you!!
Posted by: JoAnn Bolton on 8/18/2019 at 7:36 am
Congratulations to all summiteers. Hope you are suitably proud of your accomplishment. In spite of your bravado, it is a big deal. To the guides, thanks for taking such good care of my son, Nathan and helping him reach one of his goals.
Posted by: Don Evans on 8/17/2019 at 9:38 am
I am back from four incredible days in the North Cascades. I was fortunate enough to a day of training at Mount Erie, then three days on a successful ascent of the Fisher Chimneys on Mt. Shuksan with one guest. Here are some photos of the experience.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Four Day Climb August 13 - 16 enjoyed clear skies this morning as they made their way from Camp Muir to the summit of Mt. Rainier. Although it was a bit breezy and there was a cloud deck below Camp Muir, climbing on the upper mountain was nice. The teams enjoyed spending some time in the crater rim before starting their descent. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise and complete their program this afternoon with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Thank you, Casey, Jessica, and Matias(my rope team lead) for helping me get up to Rainier! I thoroughly enjoyed your company. Big thanks again! Btw, I was so dazed yesterday I didn’t turn on my iPhone to accept Casey’s offer to airdrop transfer pictures. Please remind RMI office to send us the picture link. Take care, Donald
Posted by: Donald Chong on 8/17/2019 at 8:56 am
Posted by: Jenny Konway, Grayson Swingle, Kiira Antenucci
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise met on August 11 with a full day of Technical training at Rainier BaseCamp. The following morning they loaded their packs and headed for Paradise. The team spent the next several days training on the lower slopes of Mt. Rainier and culminated their adventure by standing on the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI Guide Jenny Konway reported a great day on the upper mountain with some breezy conditions. The team will make a complete descent today and return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon to properly celebrate their accomplishments.
Congratulations to the ESS-Paradise team!
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Our team loved sleeping in the "tent cabins" of Balloon Camp. Deep within Tarangire National Park and with no fences separating us from the wildlife we’d been observing, we were careful to observe rule one... don’t go out in the dark without an armed escort. It was still a little dark when we got the day going this morning. We enjoyed breakfast and then we split up... which might have been traumatic except those going in the "early car" were either heading home or to the beach and those of us in the "late car" were going out for a morning Safari... there were no losers. Those of us on Safari were immediately on high alert in the cool morning air, looking hard for leopards and lions. We searched along the margin of a vast and beautiful marsh and went good long stretches without seeing other people or cars. This certainly added to the thrill of discovery when we came upon two mature and majestic lions and one gorgeous lioness lounging about and waiting for the plentiful wildebeest/zebra/impala/elephant/giraffe/ostrich/water buck/buffalo/tourist to get careless and come within range. That didn’t happen while we watched, but then we didn’t watch for very long on this final day... there was still too much good stuff to see. About mid morning, we came upon a big pride (the count got tricky in the tall grass after 8 -including cubs and a full-grown male) going hunting. They stampeded zebra and wildebeest -which was exciting to see, and made their kill out of our viewing range, which was actually ok since by that point we were heading for the park gate and Arusha and scheduled flights home. There was still time in late afternoon back at the Arumeru River Lodge for a pre-flight shower, a re-pack and a good early dinner together. But then we had to say our goodbyes and break up what was left of a great team. Oddly, the most repeated declaration today was “this was more fun than I thought it was going to be”. We’re declaring victory for the RMI Expeditions early August Kilimanjaro Climb and Safari.
I’m sticking around for the late August one as well. Thanks very much for following along to this point.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Thursday, August 15, 2019 - 8:32 PM PT
We are out of the mountains! It took a little extra time to make it happen. One of the vans apparently broke down on the way to get us, necessitating a return to Kislovodsk for another vehicle, and a few hour delay. The WAS van eventually showed up at base camp and unloaded its inhabitants and gear, and we proceeded to pack the back full with duffels. The river had risen, so rather than be in the van for the crossing, we walked across the nearby fields, crossed the river on a small bridge, and met the van on the far side. The four wheel drive road is always exciting as we sway back and forth with the ruts, and was made even more so by the uncanny resemblance of our vehicle to a clown car with everyone inside.
Though we arrived late to Kislovodsk, we got a delicious dinner at a Georgian restaurant on the central pedestrian mall. Tomorrow we transition back to big city mode, making our way to St. Petersburg.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal, and team hurry up and wait
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Another big day out in East Africa. It was tough to leave the comfortable Plantation Lodge this morning, but we had things to do and places to see. We stopped for some plain old tourism in the morning--shopping for gifts and souvenirs. Next up was a visit to a Maasai village. The Maasai are famous among the many tribes of Tanzania for holding onto their traditional ways. The villagers demonstrated their chanting and singing. They showed how high they could jump and invited our team to join in the competition. They brought us into the central corral, built of thorny branches and trees arranged in a tight circle, where their cattle are protected from predators each night. After demonstrating building a fire without matches, they explained a little of how their families are structured and welcomed us into their well-built but very small homes made of sticks, mud and dung. Our team tried bargaining for some of the handmade craft pieces the Maasai women were offering and then we got on the road for Tarangire National Park.
Tarangire is a vast park encompassing three parallel river courses. As soon as we were past the giant baobab trees that mark the park entrance, we began seeing zebra, impala and wildebeest in such numbers that we began taking these animals for granted. We got selective, only wanting to slow down for giraffes and elephants. None of us were casual or blasé about seeing a big sleepy leopard draped over the branches of an acacia tree. He or she (there was some debate) was exceedingly beautiful. We spied a lioness watching the world from a camouflaged clump of brush on a riverbank. And we saw many elephant families of mothers with their young ranging from 6 months to a year or two. We watched them feed and rest in the shade, we saw them using their trunks as straws to pull water from underground. We saw grassy savannas and thickets of trees and palms. Essentially we saw wildlife and wilderness from horizon to horizon. When we were deep within the park, we entered Balloon Camp, our lodging for this, our final evening together. We savored an evening watching sunset, moonrise and “bush television” (a campfire) before dinner.
The adventure isn’t finished just yet, we still hope for new discoveries in the morning...but everyone has airplanes to catch at some point tomorrow.
Best Regards,
Dave Hahn
Posted by: Mike King, Josh McDowell
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
It's another beautiful day and the Four Day Climb teams are enjoying clear skies and light winds as well as a full moon last night. The teams reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 5:30 AM. With the nice weather they enjoyed some time in the summit crater before starting their descent. The team will continue down to Paradise later this day and conclude their program with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to all the climbers!
Congratulations to Caleb and the entire crew!
Posted by: Ann on 8/16/2019 at 6:09 am
Great job! We can’t even see the mountain today so glad you got up it! I am excited to see the pictures!
Posted by: Lena on 8/15/2019 at 11:59 am
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Way to crush that mountain!! Great work team!
Posted by: Jamie K on 8/18/2019 at 1:21 pm
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