Entries from Locations

Hello again Everyone,

It’s been a bit cloudy the last few days, but the team awoke to beautifully clear skies and views of Kilimanjaro looming above us.

We started our day with fresh fruits, eggs, porridge, and plenty of coffee, before setting off on our second day. The trail out of camp slowly ascends through the last remaining trees and makes its way along a rocky ridge that climbs up onto the Shira Plateau. We hiked a little more that 4 hours to reach our next camp arriving shortly before the clouds returned.

Everyone enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the views of the valleys below as we climbed steadily up Kilimanjaro.

We are currently relaxing in our camp enjoying good conversations and stories from team members.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew!

The Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier September 11 - 13, 222 led by RMI Guides Seth Burns, Tatum Whatford and Nicole De Petris reached the summit of Mt. Baker yesterday.  The team reported smoky conditions but they were able to practice their glacier travel skills and make it to the summit.  The team descended from Sandy Camp today and are back at the trial head.

Congratulations to the team!

Hello Everyone

We awoke early today and left behind the comforts of our beautiful lodge and have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We hit the road shortly before 8am we drove along the rural country side for two hours to reach the park entrance. Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for coffee production and for a variety of other agriculture needs, but there are still some areas that have been untouched and resemble more of a savannah that Tanzania is known for.

The base of Kilimanjaro is forested and resembles a jungle or cloud forest. Traditionally it supports a large part of the banana production for this area. Lucky for us it was cloudy, which made for wonderful hiking conditions.

Once at the gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into 20kg loads for our porters to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order we started our climb slowly making our way up the winding trail. It was slightly busier than last week, but the team made good time.

The team just finished an amazing hot meal and are looking forward to a good night of sleep at a little bit of exercise.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew.

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir September 8 - 13, 2022 enjoyed a great week of training at Camp Muir.  RMI Guides Matias Francis and Henry Copolillo led the team with instruction on ice climbing, crevasse rescue, student led glacier navigation, fixed line travel, intro to multi pitch climbing, rappelling, alpine bouldering, nightly talks about altitude and avalanche awareness. The team is doing a bit more training this morning before starting their descent to Paradise later today. They will conclude their program this afternoon at Rainier Base Camp.

Nice work team!

Gangs all here! There are six of us in total this time. Everyone is doing well and we have enjoyed the RiverTrees Lodge that is nestled in between Arusha and Moshi and not so far from the base of Kilimanjaro.

Today was officially Day 1 for us. So we had our usual round of introductions and then discussed the upcoming program for the days ahead. The team spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up, exploring the grounds of our peaceful lodge and getting adjusted to the nearly 12 hours of time change. 

Tomorrow we hit the trail and everyone is looking forward to seeing the mountain and stretching the legs after those long flights!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew number 2!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch reported beautiful views from their climb of Mt. Shuksan yesterday. Joe reported the following message from the summit: "Despite ominous smoke plumes all around us, we had a spectacular summit with a clear sky, warm temps, and views of so many mountains!"

The team has made it back to their cars and are headed home after their successful summit of Mt. Shuksan.

Congrats team!

Hello everyone,

We spent today touring Tarangire National Park which is home to more elephants per square kilometer than any place on earth, and a huge diversity of other animals, it was amazing to say the least.

We saw elephants, giraffes, warthogs, impala, mongoose, baboons, ostrich, and a lot of other animals, and 13 lions! Several of them were cat napping in trees and even one that was still dinning on last nights feast by the looks of things.

We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds of Africa in. Hopefully everyone sleeps well tonight!

This is our last dispatch as we will exit the park tomorrow and head back to our lodge near Arusha for a quick break and shower. Then it’s off to the airport to return to our loved ones.

Thanks for following along.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, and considered by many to be the 8th wonder of the world. The crater is what remains of a once massive volcano that erupted and collapsed on itself, leaving behind a giant caldera that's almost exactly 100 square miles. Every time we've visited the crater it's been excitingly different, and today was the same.

We were able to see several lions and it was exciting to see two other cats, a Seval cat and a Caracal! As we made our way around the crater we saw tons of other wildlife, zebras, Cape buffalo, wildebeest, jackals, Giselles, countless large birds. It was quite a day to say the least, and I'm certain one that won't be forgotten by anyone.

We finished the evening here at the plantation lodge and are looking forward to what tomorrow may bring as we head to Tarangire National Park.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew

Tuesday, September 5, 2022 8:10 am PDT

SUMMIT! 

RMI Guide Jack Delaney called in at 8:10 am PDT from the summit of Mt. Baker. The team climbed via the Easton Glacier route. The early morning temperatures were cool, but great for climbing! The team is on the descent and will be back at their high camp at about 6,800' where they will spend the night, and plan to descend early tomorrow.

Congratulations Team! 

Monday, September 5, 2022 5:06  pm PDT 

Greetings from the team with the two tallest guides at RMI! 

We hiked into Sandy Camp on the flanks of Mt. Baker yesterday. The hike in was slightly overcast but great temperatures for hiking with a heavy pack. Once we got to camp we quickly set up tents as the overcast clouds had become dark and threatening. Lucky for us the rain started as soon as we moved into our tents. The rest of the night was spent hunkered down inside our nice dry tents except for a brief lull in the rain that we took advantage of to boil water for dinner. This morning we awoke to dry weather with partly sunny sky's. Today we'll practice all the mountaineering skills necessary for our ascent of Baker starting in the wee hours of the night this evening!

RMI Guides Jack, Roland & Team

Today was our first day of safari and we headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara. The lake is a brief stopping ground for many migratory animals and home to more than 350 different birds. Everyone enjoyed the day cruising around in our safari vehicles with cold beverages in hand while seeing a few animals up close.

We didn’t see a ton of animals today, but we did get up close to a few elephants, baboons, and a number impalas. Also managed to see a couple of zebras and warthogs off in the distance. 

It was a nice introduction to the incredible diversity of wildlife that Africa has and the team is looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.

We wrapped up the evening with a wonderful meal at the Plantation Lodge.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari Crew