Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Greetings all,
It’s been a whirlwind of a few days following our summit of Pisco on Friday. From the summit of Pisco onwards, we’ve been on the move, starting with a descent to Huaraz, a quick turn-around of packing, followed by a great celebratory dinner at our favorite Peruvian restaurant, Encuentro. Check out the photo of the feast that ensued, with props to Trey for going for the customary Peruvian dish, Guineau Pig (Cuy). He even ate it like a Peruvian, but we’ll omit a few details for our sensitive readers.
A long bus ride back to Lima on Peru’s Independence Day put us in position for our long overnight flights back stateside. I just landed in Los Angeles, and other members of the team are doing the same in other cities across the US this morning. It’s amazing how quick it feels between the time we’re standing on the summit of our final climb, and the time when we’re heading through customs in a blurry travel haze.
Our time in
Peru, while it’s physically concluded, it’s a place that will certainly have a permanent impact on all members of our team. The mountains are very much unique on this planet of ours. The climbing is exquisite, the sunrises are the best in the world, the food rich, and most of all, the people are unbelievably welcoming and kind to us visitors. A big THANK YOU goes out to our guides and local staff down in Peru, including Alvorado Adventures guides William and Alfie, long time co-guides of RMI down in Peru. As well as our exceptional chef Emilio and his assistant Roger, who’s 5-star cooking was such a huge part of our experience and our success.
That’s all until next season. Thanks for following along blog fans. Enjoy a couple pictures from our final summit!
RMI Guide Robby Young and your favorite ESS-Peru Team
Our long summit day yesterday was rewarded with a deep, well deserved slumber last night. It was good to be back in the thick air of 10,000', but our return to the rain forest seemed relatively abrupt after having spent the last five days in the arid conditions up high on
Kilimanjaro.
Camp was abuzz with activity early this morning as the staff from all the teams awoke on this last day with the anticipation of returning home, taking showers and seeing loved ones overwhelmed any desire to sleep in. As per tradition, we were bid farewell by our mountain staff with song and dance. Amazing voices and an appreciation for each other was obvious as the team went back and forth between chorus and lead singing, performing some traditional Tanzanian songs.
The hike out to the trailhead was quick as this strong cast of climbers grew stronger with every foot of elevation lost. Our last mountain lunch - a traditional Tanzanian meal - was taken at the trailhead before our 2+ hour drive back to our hotel. Showers were foremost on our minds to wash the seven days of dust, sweat and Kilimanjaro dirt off our selves.
We'll be celebrating tonight at dinner, enjoying each other's company before starting off on our next adventure, the safari. Unfortunately, we'll be losing Darren from the group as he'll be flying back to loved ones and life back home.
So... next up we'll be reporting from the wilds of Africa. The stuff we've marveled at on TV or the National Geographic.
Until then,
RMI Guide Brent Okita
The
Five Day Climb led by RMI Guide
Alex Halliday reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team experienced good weather and a good route for their climb this morning. The team left the summit crater of Mt. Rainier shortly before 8:00 AM. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon and hearing about their time on the mountain.
Way to climb!
With good weather and a good route, RMI Guide
Dave Hahn and the
Four Day Climb reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team began their descent from Mt. Rainier's summit crater around 7:30 AM. They will descend to Camp Muir to rest, refuel, and repack before continuing their descent to Paradise. We will see them in Ashford later this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
What a day and what a team. Our luck held out with an evening that was clear, windless and fairly warm. At 12:30am we were walking after being fed by our great kitchen staff. Our slow pace was key to not overheating the engines when climbing in the rarefied air above 15,000'.
We got to Stella Point just after dawn then on to
Uhuru Peak, the summit, shortly thereafter.
Did I mentioned that EVERYONE SUMMITED! Yeah, the team rocked it today, enjoying sunshine and warm temps while taking summit photos at 19,340'.
Our descent back to camp went smoothly and we were treated to another wonderful meal before packing up and hitting the trail for the thicker air of Mweka Camp at 10,000'. Dropping down from 15,000' does amazing things for the body, and so worth the effort to get here after a hard summit day.
And now, dinner awaits before a well deserved sleep.
Goodnight from Kilimanjaro on our last night on the mountain.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
The RMI Summit Climb team, led by
Tyler Reid, is currently on the top of
Mt. Rainier. A beautiful day with hardly any wind on the highest point of Washington. The team will spend some time on top before they begin their descent.
Congratulations to today's summit climb team!
Hello world,
We woke up to crystal clear skies last night, which hasn’t been the norm this season here in the
Cordillera Blanca. But this beautiful night so happened to coincide with our climb of Pisco...just our luck! It was a really long day to say the least. It’s a tricky walk for the first several hours just to reach the glacier; up and over the moraine, across a boulder covered rock glacier, and up steep trail and slabs, all done in the dark. The stars were out which made for some wonderful views at breaks. A few more hours of dark while ascending snow and ice and the we finally saw some sun...which proved to be one of those classic Cordillera Blanca sunrises that are hard to describe. Just spectacular! A few more hours and we found ourselves just under 19,000’, on the summit of Pisco. We were above a thick cloud deck and the highest peaks of the Range were penetrating the clouds all around us. It was a special moment for this team who put in a lot of hard work and dedication into their climbing adventure in Peru. We stayed on top and soaked it all in for almost an hour before we walked down into the clouds for a long retreat back to Base Camp. All in all, 12.5 hours, Base Camp to Summit to Base Camp. We took the afternoon to get super tranquilo, as tomorrow, our journey back to civilization begins.
RMI Guide Robby Young, Alfie, William and Team ‘Fuerte’
The
Four Day Climb Teams led by
Taylor Bickford and
Joe Hoch radioed down this morning to let us know that they turned at 12,300' due to high winds and deteriorating conditions on the upper mountain. The team was safely back in Camp Muir by 7:45 AM PT. After drying out a little and resting, the team will descend from Camp Muir and be back in town this afternoon.
Very comfortable night out in the bush. Not until sunrise when the bird alarms went off did anything but a lullaby come from our surroundings. A couple hours of game driving brought us out of the park but not before some lions, elephant, giraffe to name just a few bid us farewell. Fpur of the team stayed for one more night at
Balloon Camp while the rest of us are back at Arumeru Lodge getting ready for a transfer to the airport. Another fine expedition is now in the books.
Thanks for following!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Greetings from 15,200'. We were rewarded today with a short three hour hike to
Barafu Camp, last stop before the summit. This is it! Tonight we go for the top.
Everyone is excited, and perhaps a wee bit nervous. Climbing to 19,340' is no small feat. But with all the preparation and great acclimatization we've taken advantage of we're more than ready.
Our wonderful camp staff has been spoiling us rotten, greeting us with bowls of hot water once we got settled in camp and a lunch that couldn't be better. It's amazing what they do here, considering that it takes over two hours for a porter to get a five-gallon bucket of water from the nearest stream.
We've discussed the details of the climb tonight and have been preparing our gear so we're all ready for tonight's departure. We'll try to get to bed around 6:00pm and awaken at 11:30pm. Breakfast at midnight and walking shortly thereafter.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Brent Okita
On The Map
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Robby ... thank you so much for all of the updates. You have some excellent writing skills! And thanks for getting everyone thru unscathed. Enjoy some downtime!!!
Posted by: Bridget on 7/30/2019 at 3:05 pm
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