As planned, we were up and getting ready at 11:30 last night. It was a calm and clear night with just enough moon to see by but not so much that the stars were washed out. We set out at 12:40 AM. There were headlights well up the mountainside already, which was a pretty thing to see, but it also made clear just how far and high we had to go. We took hourly rest breaks, and sure enough, we put more clothing on at almost every pre-dawn break, until we basically had it all on. Those were cold hours, anticipating a 6:30 sunrise. It caught us at about 18,000 ft and instantly made life a whole lot easier. We pulled onto the crater rim at Stella Point after seven hours on the go. Another hour and ten minutes got us over to Uhuru, the true summit. It was magical walking along the crater rim and checking out the glaciers and the lay of the land on the roof of Africa. High fives and handshakes were in order on the top. There may have been a tear or two, and of course a bunch of pictures. We started down after thirty minutes. Our clear day was already going cloudy, but that kept some sun off of us for the descent, which was a good thing. At 12:10 PM we were back to Barafu. A great sit down lunch in our dining tent did wonders to restore our strength, we packed up and started down toward Mweka Camp just after 2 PM. When the rain and hail hit halfway through our 4 hour, 5,000' descent, it wasn’t totally unexpected. We couldn’t very well run down the tricky rock trail to escape the showers. Ultimately it meant that we had to watch every single slippery step on the way to camp at 10,000'. The rains quit as we got in at 6 PM but life was a little soggy and muddy for our final night on the mountain. We’re not complaining though... on the contrary, we’re feeling lucky that we got perfect weather exactly when we needed it for climbing.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hey, this is Dave Hahn with the RMI Kilimanjaro team from Utah. We're on the summit. It's 9 a.m. and we are on the highest point in Africa, Uhuru (Peak) 19,341 feet. It's a beautiful day up here, just a little breeze on top. We're all enjoying ourselves, taking a couple of pictures and will send you a dispatch from camp tonight to let you know that we've all got down safe. Everything's going really well. Thanks for following along. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls from the summit of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
19,341…! Congrats to all and cheers! Looking forward to raising a glass of the finest beverage of choice upon your return! You guys “rock”...... get it, “rock” !
Posted by: Lee & Susie on 2/6/2018 at 4:45 pm
Congrats to all!!! So excited for each of you…such an accomplishment! Can’t wait to hear all about it. Continue your safe travels.
February 5th, 9:30 am PT
We finished our successful summit day with the descent to high camp. What started out as a beautiful day has turned into a snow storm. The Team is currently resting in their tents and the only remaining task is to pack up and carry everything to base camp tomorrow. We have some porters assisting with that as the group is beat and the weather isn't supposed to be all that nice. There are countless stories from summit day, so I'll let your loved ones tell them to you when they're back in the land of phone/internet or preferably over a nice meal on their return.
RMI Guide Mike King
Morning was easier at Karanga. The sun was on camp early and we weren’t parked down with the cold air in a valley. It was a leisurely start to the day since we didn’t have far to go to make High Camp. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but since we knew they’d form up soon, we drank in views of Kibo’s giant rock walls and tenacious glaciers. We marched out of Karanga at 9 AM and worked up a broad and tilted plateau. The clouds did indeed form up, but that didn’t bother us. We concentrated on efficiency techniques in walking and breathing and told tall tales from high places to pass the time. Things steepened just a bit as we came to the final ridge but we were feeling strong and arrived in Barafu -or “Ice” Camp at 12:15.
After an incredibly good lunch of fresh foods cooked from scratch at 15,000 ft, we strategized and plotted our summit bid and then packed and prepped for it. Dinner was early, and so was bedtime, with folks turning in just after 6 PM. We’re aiming for a midnight breakfast and an alpine start. Hopes are high... just as they ought to be with everything running smoothly.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hey, this is Mike with Aconcagua #4. We are standing on top of the tallest mountain outside of the Himalaya. It's a beautiful day, near windless, you could be wearing a bikini on top today and get a sun tan. Everyone that's on top today, is doing great. We'll send a dispatch in once we descend back to our High Camp. Thanks for following along on the blog. We will descend to Plaza Argentina (Base Camp) tomorrow morning. Thanks.
RMI Guide Mike King
RMI Guide Mike King calls from the summit of Aconcagua.
We woke up in clear and cold splendor down in the Barranco Valley. Kibo seemed directly overhead with glaciers and icefields hanging at impossible angles. We were done with breakfast and packing our packs when our entire staff... forty porters, guides, camp and kitchen boys surprised us with a singing and dancing session. Led by Mbongo... a highly talented porter in an “American” costume, the team laughed their way through five or six sing-alongs while we joined in, clapping, dancing and cracking up. It was good fun and also served to ease any anxiety folks might have had about tackling the imposing Barranco Wall right out of camp. We set out at about 9:30 and within just a few minutes were putting hands on cold rock to pull ourselves up from one set of ledges to another in order to negotiate the wall. Traffic was pretty light -there have only been a handful of other teams sharing camps with us- which made things a good deal easier. By 11 AM we were atop the wall and the sky was clouding over -repeating the pattern of the past few days. We crossed down into the next valley to continue our traverse of the south side of Kilimanjaro. By the time we hit the steep sides of the Karanga Valley, we were enveloped by swirling mists again. A final thirty minute climb out of the valley brought us to Karanga Camp at 13,160 ft. We ate a late lunch and relaxed in camp for a few hours while the clouds and a few sprinkles came and went. Stepping out after dinner, we discovered the clouds were gone and that a million stars were out overhead while a carpet of lights far below pinpointed Moshi and a few other towns. All in all, we thought it was a pretty good Super Bowl Sunday even without TV.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The Team packed up and moved the bear necessities to Cholera, located at 19,600'. Camp is built and we are enjoying a calm and warm day, which is a plus since this camp is named after the fierce winds that plague this part of the mountain. Tomorrow is our summit day and there is some nervous energy and excitement to be finally nearing the objective of the climb. Everyone sends their best back home. Not much else to do but eat, pack, try to sleep and enjoy the thin air. We'll call in from the summit should Aconcagua bless us with calm winds and a wicked cramponable route.
RMI Guide Mike King
We heard the groundhog said it would be six more weeks of summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere. The Team is taking a rest day at 18,000' to prepare for our last four big days of our Aconcagua expedition. Tomorrow we will move camp to 19,000'. Our summit day should be the 5th followed by two big days getting off the mountain and out to the road. The Team is feeling well acclimated and is in good spirits. Today all we need to do is sleep, eat and embrace the down time, a quality that a few in the group mastered while on Denali. We continue to enjoy the grand vistas of the Andes and warm tents.
RMI Guide Mike King
It's starting to feel a bit like Groundhog Day here on Aconcagua. All we needed to accomplish today was a carry of food and fuel to High Camp at 19,600'. Aside from that the group's only other task is to out chill the other groups in Camp. The weather has been getting better each day and this morning we decided to take advantage of a cool wind to aid us in our carry. By the time we descended the wind had died and the temperatures were getting hot on the snow slopes we traversed. We are all back in Camp now and while eager to move up and summit the Stone Sentinel, we'll take a rest day tomorrow to give us another two nights acclimating. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
Dawn you are doing great. Have a great climb and be safe. We love You and are following very closely. We are with you and the whole team. To the top team. :-)
Posted by: Jerry & Lori Golding on 2/3/2018 at 4:13 pm
We woke to crystal clear skies and a view of Kibo -Kilimanjaro’s central peak. After breakfast, we were walking by 8:30 AM. Our trail today was more difficult, right from the start, with steeper grades and bigger steps through volcanic rock. We labored uphill through the “heather and mooreland zone” a very different type of vegetation than yesterday’s near jungle of big trees. In general, we were coming into the open, with bigger views in all directions. Eventually we worked along a ridge crest enjoying glimpses of hawks and eagles soaring below our vantage point. After several hours and several thousand feet of vertical gain, we began a traverse to the left out toward the Shira Plateau. By afternoon, clouds had overtaken us and we walked in swirling mists. A few steeper rock features required sharper concentration and the use of handholds and balancing, but eventually we turned the corner onto the plateau and walked down a couple hundred feet on easy ground to reach Shira Camp at 12,600 ft. The day’s March had taken us just over five hours. We’d earned a restful afternoon going back and forth between our sleeping tents and the dining tent. Rain showers caught up to us in the early evening, but only for 15 minutes or so. By the time we finished dinner we had largely clear skies and a million stars.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Cheers to all! An awesome accomplishment. Now relax and have even more fun!
Posted by: Your favorite aunt on 2/7/2018 at 11:51 am
You rock! What an experience.
Posted by: Karen Crompton on 2/7/2018 at 2:51 am
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