Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
It started to seem like we’d get fog and rain for the rest of the trip just to pay for the sweet summit weather we’d been granted. But when we woke today at Mweka Camp, we were under blue skies and high above the white clouds. After breakfast, we enjoyed a gathering of the entire staff for the traditional tipping ceremony. We expressed our great thanks and the guys serenaded us with a few more memorable sing-alongs in the bright sunshine. Then we shouldered packs and hit the muddy trail downward at about 8:30 AM. It was just a few more hours of careful walking in slippery conditions to get down through the rain forest. We stopped at one point to see a couple of colobus monkeys high in the tree canopy, but mostly we paid attention to the treacherous track and to where we were putting our feet. At the Mweka Gate we were down in the clouds again and had a brief rain shower just after signing out of the park. A short walk in the deep dirt of a road construction project took us to our lunch venue and the bus parking lot. We enjoyed a fine picnic and a round of Kilimanjaro and Serengeti beers along with Savanna ciders. Two hours on the bus through the Tanzanian countryside got us back “home” to the Arumeru River Lodge. Showers and a few shaves made the team presentable by evening. We finished with a delightful victory dinner out on the veranda and discussed just how much the climb and our interactions with each other and with the staff have come to mean for us. We are excited to begin the safari tomorrow but we will miss our climbing buddy Tim who will begin flying toward the States and home.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello from camp at 12,570' high on the Shira Plateau. It's wonderful being here in this large, open camp. The sun is shining and providing a nice contrast to our cloudy, wet and somewhat cramped camp of yesterday.
Walking at 8:00 we climbed steeply and steadily for most of the way to camp, taking advantage of key spots to break and enjoy the incredible views of this most interesting world around us. Everyone has adopted the mountain mindset of 'pole pole,' or ' slowly, slowly. ' This allows us to patiently step off to the side whenever another group of the hundreds of porters here need to get past us. We know which side of our bread is buttered. If the porters don't get to camp, we have no camp. More importantly it keeps us from walking too fast and needlessly stressing our bodies, letting us acclimatize to the altitude better.
Everyone is doing well. How can they not be when Tosha, our chef, is spoiling us rotten. Today's lunch: fried chicken, French fries, vegetables and watermelon for dessert. Tomorrow brings us our biggest day yet getting to Barranco via the Lava Tower. Bring it on!
Until tomorrow,
RMI Guide Brent Okita
On The Map
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Jenny Konway reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the Emmons Route. Jenny reported a great climb with a strong team! This expedition team has spent the last few days on the mountain learning crevasse rescue, anchors and running belays, fixed line travel, and many other alpine mountaineering skills that will prepare them for future endeavors into the mountains. The team is making their way back to Camp Schurman where they will spend the night before descending tomorrow.
Congratulations to the Emmons Team!
It’s a great timing to reach the new heights Kent!!! Proud of you!! Happy birthday and stay safe always!!
Tatiana
Posted by: Tatiana Trofimova on 8/1/2018 at 5:37 pm
Posted by: Kel Rossiter, Bryan Mazaika
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Kel Rossiter and Bryan Mazaika reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Kel reported that the team climbed for about 6 hours and 15 minutes to get to the summit. Today they had cooler temperatures and winds from the Northwest as they were climbing. The team has started their descent and are en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations Team!
Congratulations Kent. What a great birthday present for yourself. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Ye Shaw
Posted by: Ye Shaw Chee on 8/1/2018 at 5:37 pm
Congratulations to you Kent and to your entire team - I couldn’t be more proud of you! This is definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
Will be thinking of you on your birthday tomorrow - celebrate when you arrive at the bottom! Happy Happy Birthday Wishes! Love, Aunt Lynda
Posted by: Aunt Lynda on 8/1/2018 at 3:23 pm
RMI Guide Mike Walter and team are standing on top of Mt. Baker! They had beautiful weather and a great route for climbing via the classic and technical North Ridge. They will descend on the Coleman-Deming Route and spend one more night on the mountain before descending back to the trailhead tomorrow.
Congratulations to Mike and team!
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go. T.S. Eliot
Keep on trekking!
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn Adams on 8/1/2018 at 4:46 am
The stars were unlike anything most of us have ever seen. The North star was, of course, nowhere to be seen amongst the constellations of the southern hemisphere. Exclamations from folks more accustomed to seeing city lights than the Milky Way were shared by all. The stars tonight reminded us all of the incredible universe out there.
But, the skies today were not always so clear. In fact, the light drizzle through which we drove up had become a significant rain when we started off. Full Gore-tex was in order as we set off. But luckily, the rain tapered off in the first hour allowing us to lose the rain gear. Temperatures were actually pleasant, letting us walk without sweating too much.
Five hours later we were at our first camp. Typical of these trips, our tents were all set up for us and the duffels brought up by the porters ready to be dispersed. This is the luxurious nature of climbing in Africa where a staff of 51 folks support our efforts to climb this beautiful, big mountain.
The team walked well today, making camp in five hours and looking good doing it. We were rewarded with an incredible dinner prepared by our chef Tosha. And now for some well deserved down time. Sleep will come easy as we hope that the clear skies of tonight bring us sunny skies tomorrow.
Goodnight from 9,890' on Kilimanjaro.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
We are back down in the forest at 10,000 ft. Mweka Camp. But not that long ago we were up at the highest point in all of Africa Our wake up target last night was 11:30 and after a light midnight breakfast we got walking at 12:40 AM. Against all odds, it was a perfect night for climbing. After so much cloud yesterday and swirling gusts blowing the tents around for the last couple of nights, it was a surprise to have such a calm and clear sky as we got climbing by headlight. The stars and planets and the moon were awesome, but we really didn’t have time for stargazing... there was a lot of uphill work to be done. The team was absolutely up to the challenge. Nobody seemed to mind the cold all that much (and it got good and cold before sunrise at 19,000 ft) and everybody kept right in step with our local guide Philbet’s good and steady rate of ascent. There was plenty of snow on the upper part of Kibo from storms a few weeks back and the track was consequently a bit trickier than it might have been. But that didn’t stop us from hitting the crater rim at Stella Point by 5:45 AM. The sun came up through a lower cloud deck as we were midway around the crater on the way to the summit. The colors of the first rays and the Kibo shadows cast in the western sky had us mesmerized. As we marched to Uhuru, the high point. We reached the top at 6:50 AM and spent just over a half hour on the summit. Things warmed up nicely for our descent. We did our fare share of scree skiing as we rapidly dropped altitude. Our guides and staff were a huge help to the team on the trip down. We came back to Barafu at 10:40 and enjoyed a sumptuous brunch in the dining tent. While we were in, clouds came over camp and a rainstorm began. None of us minded the prospect of a wet walk down to Mweka after we’d gotten so spectacularly lucky on the summit weather. We packed up and got walking at 12:40 PM in full rain gear. Sure enough the trails below 12,500 ft were slimy and treacherous, but we kept making careful steps down the rocky track until we came into Mweka Camp at 4 PM. Things are damp down here, but the air is thick and we’re all looking forward to our last dinner in the dining tent and a good rest through the night.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Listen to Dave's call from High Camp after returning from the summit.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from High Camp after summit.
On The Map
congrats!!! and happy birthday Heather
Posted by: joe duty on 8/2/2018 at 8:32 am
What a spectacular adventure and accomplishment! And you think we do fun trips ... LOL!
Enjoy the rest of the your experiences. We may have to plan a trip to CO to hear about it.
Posted by: Bob & Sandy Amory on 8/1/2018 at 1:02 pm
RMI Guide Robby Young and the Five Day Summit Climb July 27 - 31 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team experienced cooler temperatures and some winds this morning as they climbed from Camp Muir to the summit. After enjoying some time on the crater the teams began their descent to Camp Muir. They will continue down to Paradise later today and we look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Congratulations to Jack and Brandon for accomplishing what few people have done! Thanks and congratulations to the guides and other climbers for a successful adventure!
Posted by: Karen Jones on 7/31/2018 at 7:57 am
The Four Day Summit Climb July 28 - 31 led by RMI Guide Casey Grom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team enjoyed some time on the crater before beginning their descent shortly before 7 AM PT.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb team!
Thanks to Casey, Christian, and Nick for doing a great job taking us up there. Couldn’t have done it without you guys!
Already thinking about my next expedition with RMI :)
Posted by: Carlos Burkle on 8/2/2018 at 5:16 pm
Congratulations, Cat and Ian! So proud of you guys! Can’t wait to hear about the climb when you get back!
Love,
Your Aegis of Shoreline Team
Posted by: Emily Cornish on 7/31/2018 at 8:30 am
Posted by: Brent Okita
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Our final team member arrived this morning just after breakfast and just in time for our round of introductions. What timing, though the poor guy felt as we all did not long ago. A bit frazzled and jet lagged from all the flying.
This morning was a busy one as we previewed what we can expect on our Kilimanjaro climb then did a thorough equipment check. Everyone's gear checked out fine and we were able to get pretty packed up by lunchtime.
What a relief to have some relaxing down time before we hit the mountain tomorrow morning.
The weather's been a perfect temperature, though overcast here in town. This has allowed us to eat most of our meals on the patio. We had a monkey hanging around this morning and the tiny, little deer called dik dik have been brousing around everywhere. Africa!
All for now. We've got a big day ahead. I'll be back tomorrow night writing from 10,000' as we ascend almost 4000' to our first camp.
Goodnight,
RMI Guide Brent Okita
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Congratulations to the team! Thanks for everything DAVE! I feel like I was there in spirit! Enjoy your next journey!
Aunt Vicki
Posted by: Aunt Vicki on 8/1/2018 at 4:07 pm
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