RMI Expeditions Blog
We got an early start this morning with a few members crossing the cold Vacas River on foot and few other opting for a mule ride. The days hike brought us up the Relinchos River valley with a decent elevation gain during the first two hours. Since we missed the view of Aconcagua yesterday due to clouds and stormy weather the Team was taken back by the size of the mountain and it’s fresh coat of snow.
We strolled down the braided mule paths, walking slowly to allow our bodies to adjust to the change in altitude. This trip has been one of 180 degree different weather patterns. Today was our hottest day of the trek as we were swarmed by horse flies. Now that we are at Aconcagua Base Camp at 13,800’ the Team is setting up their tents and taking some down time after three days of walking. Not much on the agenda except a delicious dinner and enjoying the sunset from our home for the next four nights. Tomorrow will be a rest day so the Team can continue acclimatizing and have a chance to sort gear and food to get carried up to Camp 1. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Posted by: JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 9,000'
Today was about steak. Glorious, salty, fatty steak. We spent most of our day walking back through the Vacas Valley. We got snowed on. We saw some lightning. We heard some thunder (go on the YouTube and look up “Jim Cantore thunder snow.” That was basically us). All of those things were great, but do not capture the true essence of the day. All of that walking, over all of those rocks, across all of those rivers was done to accomplish one goal: to get to Pampa de Leñas, so we could eat our weight in carne asado.
We sit at a picnic table, we’re covered in dirt, and we eat with our hands. We eat next to climbers who are walking in to Aconcagua Base Camp. They are still clean, and not yet hungry. They watch in amazement as we devour our food as fast as it is brought to the table. We watch in amazement as they politely pass their bread around. We laugh at them because they don’t know what we know.
This is our last night in the mountains, our last night to eat with our hands, and to sleep on the ground. Tomorrow at dinner we will wear collared shirts, and say please and thank you. One might start to wipe food from his face with the back of his hand, remember where he is, and reach for a napkin instead. The conveniences of society will be welcomed, but we’re all a little wilder now, and what we’ve learned in the mountains won’t be forgotten.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Normally at this point of the trek to Aconcagua Base Camp the Teams are seeking shade in their tents only to find the tents scorching hot from the sun hitting them, not today. We woke to a few rain drops throughout last night. A thick curtain of clouds and rain waited for us up valley this morning. While the clouds kept the heat away and the rain turned to snow, the Team kept plodding away towards our camp at Casa de Piedra. We passed the other RMI team on their walk to the road, high fives and words of encouragement were exchanged. The Vacas River is usually the color and consistency of chocolate milk and due to the cold temperatures the last 2 weeks, the water is clearer then I’ve ever seen it. Between the new snow blanketing the high ridges, several layers of clouds and the light rain with slivers of sunshine today seemed like a foreign experience. The little stone building built into a massive boulder from which this camp is named was a welcome sight. The first views of Aconcagua were muted due to the massive storm pelting the upper slopes. We are enjoying some tent time and will look forward to a nice dinner and another good night’s sleep. Everyone is happy and healthy.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Love to Sam Hall and the whole crew! Thanks for taking us on the adventure! Rest Easy.
Posted by: Mary Hall on 1/17/2019 at 3:50 pm
Great job everyone! Enjoy your adventure. Sending positive vibes to the team and lots of love to Ross, from J, T, & S ;)
Posted by: Jennifer Rapach on 1/15/2019 at 10:43 am
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Today we woke at 6:30 feeling good, had breakfast, then enjoyed a goodbye song and dance from our gracious crew of porters, cooks, and local guides numbering 52. We finished the little celebration by handing out their well deserved tips and then hit the trail one last time.
It took a little over three hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge.
Finally we are all safe and sound, and a little cleaner after an amazing seven-day journey up and down Kilimanjaro.
The team is currently relaxing and looking forward to Safari which starts tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy Kilimanjaro crew
Hello from Cafe La Vaca, in the town of Cayambe. We have all arrived safely from the mountain and are getting ready to power down massive hamburgers to replenish our bodies after 11 straight hours of climbing this morning.
Oh, did I mention the team made a successful summit of Cayambe? I am so distracted by hamburgers I almost forgot the important details.
We woke at 11:30 this morning to cloudy skies but warm temps. We started up the mountain at 12:30 and were standing on top in perfect weather by 7:15am. It was one of the most glorious summit days I’ve ever had on this mountain. Somebody cashed in some big karma bucks to get this forecast.
Once at the hut the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in. Perfect timing again!
Now we will feast, bathe and sleep. Our big mountains are just beginning so rest is imperative to staying healthy and strong.
Sending big hugs to all of our family and friends back home.
Will write again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
This mountain looks awesome. Hope you are enjoying your adventure.
Mary (Chris’s mom)
Posted by: Mary Accettura on 1/14/2019 at 9:19 pm
This mountain is awesome, congratulations, hope you are enjoying the good time.
Mary Accettura (Chris’s mom)
Posted by: Mary Accettura on 1/14/2019 at 9:18 pm
What an amazing hike we did today. Starting in the dense trees of the national park (which are open in Mexico), we headed up past horses grazing and children laughing to 12,000 feet where we met some really nice people who were excited to joke with us. We kept our slow and constant pace all the way to 13,500 feet where the trail became rockier and the air lighter. After a break of dried fruit and protein bars we headed to the summit of La Malinche at 14,500 feet. We were in a light cloud so no great views but it felt got to be up there and not too winded. Here's a picture of Sue at the high break. Feeling happy and proud, we chitchatted all the way down to hot showers and enchiladas!
RMI Guide Christina Dale
Great picture, Uie, keep smiling! Enjoy yourself, good climbing, and stay safe, please!!!
Posted by: Pam Zechlinski on 1/19/2019 at 4:16 pm
Sue : Sounds like a spectacular trip, have fun and be safe
Of course very jealous of you in good way
Posted by: Sandra E on 1/16/2019 at 5:16 am
Today we got a casual start in Penitentes, there is a lull in the season where no other groups started the trek to base camp. Our Team enjoyed overcast skies and a generous breeze on our hike to Las Lenas. We admired the bountiful shades of red, orange and brown that make up the rocky terrain. Five hours of hiking brought us to Camp and we enjoyed the warmth and solitude this camp provides. Our mule drivers got the coals started for the famous Las Lenas asado and before long we were eating grilled meats and vegetables, telling stories from past trips and previous lives. It’s always a surprise how ten miles of walking over softball-sized rocks can be forgotten with good company, delicious food and a little red wine. This camp is a spectacular place to sleep under the stars. The Milky Way runs straight down the valley and the Southern Cross is where you would expect it to be. No ambient light for hundreds of miles. When you wake in the middle of the night and look up, you get the sense you're an insignificant animal on a blue marble that’s being shot across the galaxy. Context and perspective is readily challenged in this valley. Tomorrow we continue our trek to Casa de Piedra, the Team is doing great and sends their love back home. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Posted by: JM Gorum, Hannah Smith, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800'
We woke up this morning at 19,600 feet in the cold, windy environment of high camp. It’s pretty hard to get moving when you have already accomplished your goal, but we rolled out of our cozy sleeping bags and packed up our tents. The warmth and WiFi of basecamp were calling our names. We made great time heading down hill, and arrived at Plaza Argentina around 3 pm. We sat down at our table and waited patiently for four hours until dinner time.
Once the food came out, everyone stopped talking. Once the food stopped coming, we did some quick organizing for our walk out tomorrow. Now we’re all huddled up in a dome tent having a team slumber party. The Russians next door are serenading us with all genres of music. You might think that would hinder our sleep, but we are 6,000 feet lower than we were last night, so I’m betting everybody will sleep just fine.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Congratulations Team!!! Such an accomplishment for all of you. Glad all is well and heading back.
Jimmy- Can’t wait to hear about it.
All best to the whole team
-Kelly Gaines
Posted by: Kellogg C Gaines on 1/14/2019 at 11:30 am
We started our day bright and early at the Cayambe refugio with a simple breakfast and coffee. Although the first night sleeping at 15,100' can be a little rough, the team rallied from the altitude hangover to the toe of the glacier to review climbing skills. After some time practicing rope travel and self arrest, the guides demonstrated a crevasse rescue scenario and anchor building principles. After a lesson in rope ascension in the hut, we began packing for our summit attempt. The team is feeling good up high and ready for the climb!
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro climb. We are calling to let you know that we're all safely back at High Camp after a very successful summit climb. We were able to get nine of our ten climbers to the summit. It was a little bit of a busy day up on top trying to get photos and let people make satellite phone calls and I wasn't able to get one out to the dispatch until we just got back to camp and it's a good time. We're all safe. Everyone's doing well. We will take a little break here and have some lunch and then we're actually going to pack up and descend a couple more thousand feet to some warmer temperatures and some thicker air. And it'll shorten are descent out of the park tomorrow. So everyone's doing well. Everyone's in great spirits and we'll do our best to get a dispatch out tonight. But if I remember right in the past, I haven't been able to get one out of the trees there. So if you don't get a dispatch tonight then Monday morning as soon as we're making our way out of the park, I'll update and give maybe a little play-by-play of the summit climb. And as well as we'll get some photos to you guys. Obviously, we haven't had cell service or Wi-Fi service up here so that we could really send that much data. I think a few of the team members said they were able to send some texts. But anyway looking forward to getting those to you and kind of fill you in on how everything went. That's all for now and hope you guys have enjoyed following along. Talk to you soon.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
On The Map
Just wanted to tell Chris we are all fascinated with this way of keeping us aware
of your climbs. Keep it up
Dad
Posted by: John Condon on 1/14/2019 at 8:22 am
Yea Catherine! Was such an unexpected blessing to hear your voice from the summit! So glad weather cleared up some the last of the trip so that you had that beautiful view. Eager to hear all about it when you get back.
Posted by: Peggy P on 1/14/2019 at 6:02 am
Happy to hear you all are safe and sound! I’m sure a hot shower with lots of soap is much needed, and will be amazing! Enjoy the steak and wine!
Posted by: Shannon Smith on 1/15/2019 at 4:45 pm
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