Entries from Locations
A wind started up in Shira Camp last night, rattling the tents and nerves but not knocking down anything vital in the process. Once we were up and about in the cool morning air, we knew a little steady breeze wouldn't stop us from our day's mission. We were on the move at 8:20 and before long we're stripping off hats and gloves and superfluous clothing layers. The walking was much easier than on the last two days, even if it was at progressively higher elevations. We all found the rock and vegetation surrounding us to be remarkably similar to the sagebrush mesas of Northern New Mexico -home to the majority of the team. Once again, we were above a sea of cloud and once again Kibo was free of cloud and shining in the distance. This time though, the distance was steadily reduced as we walked directly toward Kilimanjaro's central peak and hanging glaciers. After just two hours, we'd managed to surpass all altitude records within the group, save one. Alexis had been higher in Peru. All others were breaking new ground as we hit 15,200 ft at the Lava Tower. We had a great lunch in the sun up there, checking out the formidable slopes of the Western Breach and the giant frozen waterfalls below the remnant glaciers. And then we got cruising downhill toward Barranco Camp and its lush gardens of Lobelias and Senecios. We dove back into cloud to hit camp at 13,000 ft. but were granted a stupendous evening look at our surroundings as the clouds broke at sunset and a giant moon rose over the fabled Barranco Wall -tomorrow's first goal.
A big shout out from the team to Grandma Yoohoo! All is well in Tanzania tonight.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led by Eric Frank and Andy Bond, reached the summit at 6:15 a.m. With good weather and light winds, they are on their way back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!
Wow!! Looks amazing, Scott. You are my hero!!
Posted by: Sandy Isham on 8/5/2017 at 10:54 am
Congratulations to Scott and the rest of team!! So proud of you Scott!!
Laurie
Posted by: Laurie on 8/5/2017 at 10:48 am
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
The loop is complete. We are back at the Arumeru Lodge after a whirlwind Safari. We had a fine night in the bush of Tanzania. In those remote tented camps with all of their creature comforts prepared us well for our last safari. A delectable breakfast started our way back out through the park. Cloud cover did not lend to animal cover since we once again were overwhelmed by the abundance of game to be seen. A whole pride of lions doing some snacking was a wonderful touch to send us on our way. Took about three hours of us having to put up with nice smooth pavement to get us here. Repacking, showers, and of course more food has the team in good shape for travels abroad tonight.
The new stories from trips like these last a lifetime and we are all excited to get home and share them.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
After the bustle of Moscow and several days of traveling, it's a bit of a relief to finally be at Mt. Elbrus Base Camp! We had a pretty relaxed departure from Kislovodsk this morning, stopping at our outfitter' s home to leave some city cloths, before climbing into our driver Alexi's tricked out four wheel drive sprinter van knockoff and heading for Base Camp. We started putting our tents up as the first drops began to fall. Before long things ramped up and we were in a small thunder squall. Once the rain let up, we headed out for a quick hike to a gorgeous earthen bridge crossing the river, far below. Then dinner and off to bed to get ready for a big effort tomorrow. We'll carry a load of food and fuel to Camp 1 tomorrow, before returning to Base Camp. We'll let you know how it goes.
Best,
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
On The Map
The clouds blanketed Machame Camp for much of the night and we even had brief periods of rain... all of which made it feel wonderful to wake to crystal clear skies in the morning. We were just on top of thick layers of cloud, but finally we had unobstructed views of Kibo (Kilimanjaro's main peak) above.
We ate breakfast and marched out of camp at 8:20, immediately encountering a steep and rocky trail up through a forest of giant heather. There were large numbers of porters -ours and those of neighboring teams- balancing loads on their heads as they wove through the straight up stream of morning traffic. The clouds rose up and swallowed us again for several hours as we steadily gained altitude. Up around 12,000 ft we broke free again and had a better look at the exotic giant scenecios among the heather. 16,000 ft Mount Meru became visible to the west as another island in the cloud sea. We began a traverse along shelves of lava with the boys keeping a sharp eye out for crystals among the ancient flows. The gang easily handled a few steeper steps and we reached a high point of 12,800 ft before dropping down into Shira Camp at 12,500 ft. Then it was an easy and peaceful afternoon of eating napping eating and eating some more. We were treated to a magical evening as the
sun dropped into the clouds out beyond the Shira Plateau and the moon and stars took over at entertaining us.
Everybody is happy and healthy tonight and getting easily into the rhythms of camp and climbing life.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Fascinated with your journey through an area that I have long found to be very interesting. Safe and enjoyable trip to you all!
Hal
Posted by: Hal H. on 8/4/2017 at 11:35 pm
Wonderful trekking along with Super Team Taos.
Posted by: Yolanda Deveaux on 8/4/2017 at 4:25 pm
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Jess Matthews
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb August 1 - 4, 2017 reached the summit this morning around 6 am. The team reported clear skies with lots of shooting stars and a view of the Northern Lights.
After enjoying some time on Columbia Crest, the team began their descent. They will make a stop at Camp Muir to repack and refuel and then continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb team!
Way to go on your 2nd trip to the top! And Happy Birthday to Matt….
Posted by: Lilli Pietromonaco on 8/4/2017 at 9:06 pm
Congratulations Pat & Stephanie on Rainier 2.0! And, happy 40th Matt!
Posted by: Kathy Roby on 8/4/2017 at 5:24 pm
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Sean Collon, Chris Ebeling, Taylor Bickford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guide Walter Hailes and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz July 30 - 4 August, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. After several days of training in Ashford and on the mountain the team left their High Camp this morning en route to the summit of Mt. Rainier. The team arrived at Columbia Crest around 5 am and enjoyed the views from the summit before starting their descent. Today is the last day of their program and they will return to the trail head and back to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to the Kautz Seminar team!
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Yesterday's visit to Ngorongoro Crater, considered by many to be the eighth wonder of the world, was a memorable experience. The crater is almost exactly 100 square miles and we did fine work of covering a big chunk of it. Today we left our lodge and traveled to Tarangire National Park. A bit of shopping on the way and a stop at a Masaai Village turned out to be a lot of fun. The local village opened their huts up for a visit from the team. These kind and gentle people shared their history and way of life. The rest of the drive took us through the park having to weave around hundreds and hundreds of elephants, zebras, gazelles, cats, and giraffes to name a few. A mild day with some cloud cover made for a pleasant game drive. We are in a luxury tented camp that pretty much knocks your socks off. Life is not to tough out here in the bush and the team is having a blast.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
It takes a bit to navigate the process of Russian airports: checking in, going to a different counter to pay for baggage, back to the first to retrieve boarding passes, and then on to security. That meant an early morning for us in order to catch a 9.40 flight to Mineralnye Vody. Our driver did his best Ricky Bobby impression on the way, which got us there with plenty of time to spare.
The wave of heat that hit as we disembarked was impressive. Kislovodsk is hot, and everyone, including our local guide, is anxious to escape to the relative comfort of the mountain. We got a bit of food shopping done this afternoon, double checked our gear, and are ready for the 4wd trip to base camp tomorrow morning. Our next contact should be from the mountain as we really get this climb underway!
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Mike Uchal
Best expedition ever Pete + crew…Safety and Summit amid fav weather…Waltero…Godspeed…Great book on Amazon “Mount Elbrus and Mount Kosciuszko” by me of course!
Posted by: Walter Glover on 8/4/2017 at 5:54 am
Praying for great weather, safety, and fun! “Tamp it to the max!”
Godspeed-
Posted by: Chase on 8/3/2017 at 9:45 pm
The Taos Team crushed it today, hitting all the targeted times for being up and packed and ready to roll out of the comfy Arumeru River Lodge. We hit the road at 8:15 and rolled along in our bus under cloudy skies. We never did catch a glimpse of the well-camouflaged Kilimanjaro, but the cruise through corn fields and villages was interesting none-the-less. As the road climbed higher we seemed to be passing thousands of banana trees mixed with coffee shrubs. Finally, at the 5,900 ft park entrance -the end of the road- we were simply in a thick and foggy rain forest. After a bunch of paperwork, at long last we were properly permitted, in place and ready for walking. We began shortly after 11 AM. The gang, accompanied and coached by an all star cast of local guides, gained altitude steadily. In fact, we came up 4000 feet in six miles, taking just five hours. The clouds were with us all day but that seemed to keep things comfortably cool. The trail was a little greasy and muddy from recent rains, but we got through without a slip.
We arrived to find our camp already built by our capable staff. After moving in, we got together in the dining dome tent and had an afternoon tea and then a sumptuous dinner while we chatted and laughed.
Philip, our lead guide, gave a thoughtful talk and laid out plans for tomorrow's journey.
All agreed that day one was a great success. Tyrone, in particular, wanted his pal, Makaela to know he was thinking of her and that the climb was going forward as planned.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
There’s Sara always with the best and brightest smile! Best of all to the whole team❤️!
Posted by: Andrea and Scott on 8/6/2017 at 5:29 am
Good luck everyone, it’s really amazing!
Sarah, I enjoy reading about your climb from my couch with my glass of wine. Miss you :)
Posted by: Fiona on 8/6/2017 at 12:24 am
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Watching Sunset on the Sandias, remembering Peru, and thinking of you all on this long, challenging and beautiful journey. Savor every moment! Love, Z’s Gramma Jude
Posted by: Judith Roderick on 8/6/2017 at 7:20 pm
Good luck Sarah Sauce on the Barranco wall tomorrow, you can do it!
Posted by: Deon on 8/6/2017 at 11:11 am
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