We woke this morning to our first bit of precipitation. When I stuck my head out of the tent around 5 am, we were essentially in a cloud with some light flurries coming down but now the clouds have parted a bit and we're enjoying views towards Mercedario again. It's calm and more or less pleasant but we are waiting for a system to hit this afternoon with wind and precipitation. We are on a scheduled rest day and will hopefully see what this storm brings before we try and figure out our next move. When a window presents itself we'll make a move for high camp at Plaza Cólera and hopefully take a crack at the summit the following day. But for now... We're about to be stuck in a holding pattern. On a brighter note, we are celebrating a teammate's birthday today complete with a cake and balloons courtesy of Katrina. Hoping everyone at home wishes John a happy one!
Signing off for now,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Dear Dad
We are glad that there are only 9 more days until you get home. We are missing on you. LOVE: Addy Leith Babe
I love you Dad so much. We can’t stop thinking of you because you are our best dad and babe ever. Love, Leith
Posted by: Addelyn on 1/25/2016 at 8:14 pm
Hey Babe!!
Hope all your crazy coats are keeping you warm while you wait out the storm!! We are praying hard you stay safe but have a chance at the summit- hearing the kids prayers would bring a smile to your face for sure!! Can’t wait to see the pics and hear all about your adventures- I like Charlyn an def looking forward to seeing that beard and crusty the clown hair you most likely have by now!!
The kids did awesome in their games yesterday and Mason even played on Bails team since they were short players!!
Hello again everyone!
Today the team left behind the hustle and bustle of Quito and moved just north of the Equator to the comfortable and quiet rural countryside. Once outside the city limits the landscape quickly turned into rolling hills with farms pitched on steep slopes and dozens of small eucalyptus forest.
Our plan was to visit a smaller mountain called Fuya Fuya where we stretched our legs on a nice steep and short acclimatization hike. Thankfully the weather wasn't too bad which allowed us to see some amazing views of the beautiful surrounding landscape.
We are just on the outskirts of a town call Otavalo, which is known for its massive market and we are currently relaxing at a wonderful Hacienda called "La Casa Sol". The team is doing great and looking forward to nice quiet night here.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Howard and Bill—-you guys look great!!!!!—continue being SAFE CAREFUL CAUTIOUS and enjoy this awesome experience. Best of luck to the whole team. (Love you Howard —neehi :-). )
Hi everyone. This is Solveig calling in from the Piedra Grande Hut on Orizaba. Our team arrived around 3 p.m. We have beautiful skies and light winds; we're all really excited about our climb tonight. We are going to have a delicious pasta dinner and then tuck in early and get ready to go climbing. We'll touch base tomorrow when we return. Ciao.
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall calls in from Piedra Grande Hut.
Checking in from Guanacos Campo 3, or Camp 2 for us at well over 18,000'. We are moved and settled in, enjoying yet another perfect afternoon with coffee, cribbage, prosciutto, and of course, siestas. We felt the altitude before but with this most recent move higher we are all moving a bit slower and scratching our heads a bit longer when trying to figure out where that one stuff sack with our snacks went. The team is staying positive despite a tough looking weather forecast and we are hoping that Mother Nature will give us an opportunity to sneak in a trip to the top. Not much else cooking up here besides our broccoli and rice dinner...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Man! We sure hope you guys can at least take a crack at the summit. Always in our prayers. I know I’m a day late on this post, but just know we have been actively thinking and praying for your adventure. Enjoy your time and keep that mind of yours sharp! That altitude is no match for my babers!
We love you so much and miss you lots!
Char and kids
Posted by: Charlyn on 1/23/2016 at 8:29 pm
Hi Heather
Amazing to think you’ve gone so far. Hope you get a weather window for your attempt on the summit.
Love Brian, Mary Lou, David and Sarah
Posted by: Brian Macfaden on 1/23/2016 at 10:50 am
Hello from Seth and the last of the team. We are at the end of the road, so-to-speak. Three of the team have left the group to continue their adventure in Zanzibar, we have a person flying out in a few minutes and the final three are leaving at 10pm tonight.
We have had a great trip with basically non-stop action the whole time. What I thought was going to be a mellow day started with our safari trucks getting dragged by tractor across a rising river. (Click on Seth's video below.) The trucks can usually handle anything we come across but our drivers thought better of chancing the crossing and called in a tractor from our safari camp. That machine made quick work of the river and hauled both our vehicles across in less than ten minutes.
After that it was a breeze through Tarangire National Park where the elephants were out in full force. We saw hundreds of them.
That was a very appropriate ending to a whirlwind trip. I can't wait to see what the next one brings!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
We have loved receiving your blogs. Thanks for keeping Derek and Karen and the rest of the team safe during so many adverse conditions. We wish you well on all your adventures. Stay safe.
Posted by: Delta and Peter Fuller on 1/22/2016 at 2:35 pm
Hello again everyone.
Today we had a very nice hike to help with our acclimatization on a nearby peak called Pichincha. It is one of the many local peaks that is situated above Quito and is used by many climbers to help adjust to the higher altitude here in Ecuador. We made use of the gondolas to help us gain access to around 13,000ft then hiked the additional 2,500ft to the summit. It took our team roughly three hours to gain the top after a little scrambling up the final bit to reach our high point thus far. It was a personal high point for a few of us, and the entire team did a fantastic job. After spending a bit of time on the summit and getting our photos we descended all the back to our hotel for a brief nap before dinner.
Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Thursday, January 21, 2016
We are all enjoying our day off today. After getting some well deserved sleep most of the team spent the day drinking coffee, eating various types of mole sauce, and taking in the beautiful sights of this historic city.
Tonight we will gather for dinner and discuss the logistics for our departure to Tlachichuca tomorrow morning. The forecast looks great, and we are all excited about our next mountain...El Pico de Orizaba!
RMI Guides Solveig Waterfall, Billy Haas, and the team
Well, we are enjoying a pleasant, if a bit breezy, rest day here at Aconcagua Camp 1. People are passing the time watching movies, playing cribbage, reading, and taking Spanish lessons from Pato, our newest addition to the guide team. Not much else to report, we're hoping to move up to Camp 2 tomorrow where we plan on waiting out the coming weather before making our move to Plaza Cólera (Camp 3) and subsequent summit push. Morale is high and we are all looking forward to being reunited with our best snack food up in the cache at Camp 2.
More to come as the story develops,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Enjoy your day off. Hope your climb to Camp 2 goes smoothly and the weather there is not too much of a challenge.
Stay strong and be safe.
Love you,
Dad
Posted by: Dad on 1/22/2016 at 6:36 am
Buenos dias querido Randy (Good morning dear Randy) I am sure that you will make your goal. Arrive safe to the top of the mountain. Good for you that you are learning Spanish ( Bueno para ti que estes aprendiendo espanol). Receive all my love and blessing from God,
Hey there, this is Seth checking in from the Kikoti Camp way out on the far side of Tarangire National Park. We had a good day on safari again. Within the first half hour of entering the Park, we saw lions and elephants. The elephants kept going all day long. We had lunch, a little late lunch, around 2 o'clock and right before we pulled into our picnic site, we saw about 25 mother elephants with their babies. We got some really good close-up shots of some more on the way out so the Garden of Elephants, Tarangire National Park, was sure living up to its name. It is our last night on safari and everybody is pretty psyched to get home and see their loved ones. We do have some more fun stuff planned for tomorrow before everyone catches their flights home and a few folks are going on to Zanzibar and keep going on their vacation. It's been a great climb and safari. We'll say goodbye to this group and then I'll meet the next RMI group that will be checking-in in a couple of days. Ciao.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall checks in from Tarangire National Park.
So glad the weather was in your favor for safari. You certainly deserve it. Safe travels home. We can’t wait to hear from you, Derek and Karen, when you return. XO
Posted by: Delta and Peter Fuller on 1/21/2016 at 2:34 pm
Hola from Ecuador!
After some very long flights and a little bit of sleep the team is doing well. We started our day with a team meeting where we did our usual round of introductions and discussed the game plan for our upcoming adventure.
After the meeting we headed out on the town to explore this beautiful historical city with our tour guide Angel. We first headed north to visit the Equator from which Ecuador gets its name, then headed to the older part of town where visited several old cathedrals, and the colonial town square. Next we headed up to a small hill called La Panacia that over looks this beautiful city before returning to the hotel for a little break.
We wrapped up the day with a quick gear check to make sure everyone has all the gear needed for our climbs. Then it was off to dinner at a nice restaurant where we were enjoyed getting to know each other better.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
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Dear Dad
We are glad that there are only 9 more days until you get home. We are missing on you. LOVE: Addy Leith Babe
I love you Dad so much. We can’t stop thinking of you because you are our best dad and babe ever. Love, Leith
Posted by: Addelyn on 1/25/2016 at 8:14 pm
Hey Babe!!
Hope all your crazy coats are keeping you warm while you wait out the storm!! We are praying hard you stay safe but have a chance at the summit- hearing the kids prayers would bring a smile to your face for sure!! Can’t wait to see the pics and hear all about your adventures- I like Charlyn an def looking forward to seeing that beard and crusty the clown hair you most likely have by now!!
The kids did awesome in their games yesterday and Mason even played on Bails team since they were short players!!
Stay safe all!!
Xoxo
Bre
Posted by: Bre on 1/24/2016 at 8:01 am
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