Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Hi, this is Christina with the RMI Mexico Volcanoes team. We're currently perched high at 15,000 feet at our high Camp on Ixta. Everyone is doing super well. Today we got into camp an hour and a half before we thought we would so we are walking incredibly strong. It's a beautiful day out on the mountain today. We're going to wake up at midnight tonight, and give the summit our best shot. Everyone's feeling great- had a hot meal, and then some hot drinks and some nice time to hang out and enjoy the changing cloud patterns of the Mexico landscape below. We hope to give you our next call from the summit! Wish us well.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
RMI Guide Christina Dale calls in from Ixtaccihuatl's high camp.
Hola amigos!
We are checking in from 13,100 on Ixta, reporting light rain and overcast skies, but with loads of optimism for clear skies tomorrow for our hike to high camp at 15,000 feet!
Today was spent in preparation for our ascent of Ixta, which included a stop in the town of Amecameca, which was devoid of tourism and gave us a wonderful insight into authentic Mexican culture. After stocking up on water and last minuet supplies we drove to the park entrance where we stretched our legs with a walk to our abode for the evening. The rest of the evening was spent packing and eating a delicious meal prepared by our wonderful host Rogelio. The meal was a delicious concoction of beef, rice, guacamole and beans.
We will wake tomorrow and start our way up the trail to Ixta high camp!
Buenas noches from RMI Guides Christina, JT and the rest of the Mexican volcanoes team!
On The Map
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Hey this is Christina in Mexico with a blog post:
Some of our team, our world champion boxer, Patty, summited La Malinche today! The rest of us had a truly great day and got in a big acclimatization hike up to 13,400 feet. The best part of the day was that everyone felt great and was so happy to be hiking up way above the Mexican countryside. The climb took us up through the green forests and to the summit ridge where we watched thunderheads roll across the land below. We can back down in a whirlwind of conversations and laughter to hot showers and a sizzling dinner. Everyone is looking forward to Ixtaccihuatl.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
On The Map
Posted by: Christina Dale, JT Schmitt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Hola!
The team convened this evening at the lovely Hotel Geneve in the Zona Rosa region of Mexico City. To everyone's relief the earthquake damage proved to be minimal in this area of the city, and hopefully that continues to be the trend for the entirety of the trip. The team met each other for the first time in the lobby of the hotel, whilst seated in high backed lounge chairs, surrounded by paintings and towering bookshelves which made for a rather regal setting to begin our Mexican adventure.
After meeting the team and going over a brief synopsis of the days to come, we took a short walk through the Zona Rosa to a lively establishment that served authentic Mexican food, tasty margaritas, as well as a full mariachi band. Although we were not able to sing along to the tunes with the rest of the patrons, I am sure we enjoyed the food just as much as the locals sharing the restaurant with us.
Tomorrow we depart Mexico City and head for the former training site of the Mexican Olympic team, La Malinche, and begin our acclimatization with a trip up the extinct volcanoe.
Buenas noches,
RMI Guides Christina Dale, JT Schmitt and the rest of the RMI Mexican Volcanoes team!
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,700'
The Four Day Summit Climb September 29 - 2 October, 2017 turned at 11,700' due to unstable snow conditions. RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Mike King led the last summit climb program of the 2017 season. The group plans to descend from Camp Muir this morning and return to Rainier BaseCamp around noon.
Been thinking about y’all safety glad to hear everyone is safe so proud of you Hinan Ahmed for attempting such a amazing climb until next time MT. Rainier
See You Soon
Hinan
Love Carmen
Posted by: Carmen on 10/2/2017 at 9:11 am
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Christina Dale
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,700'
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos and Christina Dale reached 11,700' before having to turn due to unconsolidated snow conditions. The team is currently at Camp Muir and will be descending for Paradise soon.
Congratulations to today's team!
Posted by: Casey Grom, Chase Nelson
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,400'
The Four Day Summit Climb September 27 - 30, 2017 was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier today due to weather and route conditions. RMI Guides Casey Grom & Chase Nelson led the teams to 11,400' before deciding to turn around. The teams will return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
What a fantastic experience.. can’t wait to see the photos and hear the stories! Cheers to Muzzy and the “devil’s cut”. Thanks for keeping the group safe!
Posted by: Stacey on 9/30/2017 at 4:43 pm
It’s the journey, not the destination that counts!!! Better safe than sorry!
Posted by: Sophia on 9/30/2017 at 11:46 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Well we didn't beat yesterday for game-viewing, but nobody seemed to mind giving it a try today. It was great to wake up in Tarangire National Park and get started in the cool of the day with the place to ourselves. We went down to the edge of a gigantic marsh (a mostly dry marsh at the moment -the rains will come soon) and cruised for cats. We did see a gigantic lioness hanging out peacefully in the branches of a tree -guarding here recent kill, but not much other action. Just animals and herds sprinkled about as far as the eye could see. At midday we left the park and headed toward Arusha, stopping at the cultural center for some culture and keepsakes. Back at Arumeru River Lodge by three, we thanked Juma and Edson and told them we'd see them on our next Safari. Then it was time for repacking and gearing up for international flight. One more great team dinner and we boarded the bus, saying goodbye to the hotel staff and to several of our team who have different flight schedules. Back now to lines and security and insecurity and schedules... but we'll have the morning out in a beautiful place to sustain us. It has been a wonderful adventure, thank you for keeping track of us.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Tarangire delivers! Hard not to finish this day by pronouncing ourselves lucky in the extreme. We saw things today... and then we saw more things... and more and more things. At first, we just did a little touristing when we left the Plantation Lodge, hitting a souvenir/art shop and then visiting a Maasai Village. This definitely interested us and is not to be minimized, but then we got into Tarangire National Park and began being mesmerized and amazed. Things built up slowly. First there was the watering hole with a flood of zebra and wildebeest charging in for a drink. Then there were the dozens upon dozens of elephants we watched digging for water. (The proclamation was made -prematurely- that it was the day of the elephant) then there was a landscape where every single tree had a giraffe, eland, waterbuck, impala or warthog under it... for miles. But then there were the cheetahs. Mom and cub, majestic and regal in their fur coats. And then there were the lions. At first there were a handful from a distance... then more of them, walking away. Then a meeting of male and females and cubs in the distance. Then we investigated to find thirteen cats of all sizes going to work on a freshly killed zebra. The sights and sounds were stunning. Better than any TV documentary. Our cameras kept clicking and clicking as the sunlight got golden. But we'd each put the electronics down to just stare in awe as well.
A short time later, we were sipping pre-dinner cocktails at beautiful Balloon Camp when our driver/naturalists walked in. Juma and Edson got spontaneous and sustained round of applause.
The day couldn't be topped... but it could be savored.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We were up early for this big day of the Safari, leaving our comfy hotel at 7 AM to get over to Ngorongoro Crater. Our Landcruisers clawed their way up the rough dirt road to the crater rim and then we bounced our way around the circle until another dirt track took us down into the collapsed caldera. Right off, we began seeing wildlife in great numbers and in close proximity. Before long we were quite used to ostriches and great herds of wildebeest and Cape Buffalo. We saw a pack of perhaps 20 hyena, barking eerily and crunching the bones of some freshly departed big animal. We got way closer than we ever imagined was possible to a couple of lionesses and a big male who decided the road would do just fine for napping. We saw (and got a whiff of) several dozen hippos, wallowing in various ponds. There were secretary birds and kori bustards, fish eagles and vultures. Gazelles and zebra were everywhere. We didn't manage to spot rhinos, but we did see a few great bull elephants. The day was fairly hot and sunny until a system of thunderstorms rolled by, cooling things for our afternoon tour. Then Edson and Juma skillfully brought the cruisers back down the rough roads to our hotel for a relaxing evening at the Plantation Lodge. Suffice to say that we were blown away by our day inside a volcano.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Good luck I’m praying for good weather for you! Be safe.
Team leader- team gramma neenee
Posted by: Ellen Smith Eaton on 10/9/2017 at 7:26 am
Yeah team! Good luck with weather, enjoy the challenge and have fun! Xtina and JT top notch! Special regards to Craig FLKHGN.
Posted by: Elias on 10/8/2017 at 6:06 pm
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