RMI Expeditions Blog

We had a calm night at Perros with a 5am wake up. Quick coffee and breakfast and we headed up towards John Gardner Pass at 3,812’. The air was warm, high pressure moved in over the last 24 hours. The views of the Grey glacier and southern Patagonia ice field were outstanding. As we dropped into the trees the real fun begins….steep trail, contorted 2.5” plumbers pipe handrails and lots of sore toes. There might not be a more accessible trail that takes you from a dense forest to a large valley glacier at such low attitude in only 2.5 miles, this is what the “O” circuit  provides. It’s all worth the views and cold beverages once at Grey. The team is doing well, hanging out, showers and clean clothes with a buffet dinner to wrap up the biggest day thus far.

Thanks for following along,

RMI Guide Mike King

After a leisurely three course breakfast at 8:30am (read, one final relaxing morning), we're ready to do big mountain things in earnest. We left the lovely confines of the Intiyaya Residences and enjoyed a couple hours in the Otavalo market. Souvenirs were haggled for while Jaime and I enjoyed multiple ice creams, in the form of both affogatos and soft serve. It was our way of celebrating Carnival, which is happening right now through much of the world. I have no plans of fasting for Lent, but a little bit of Carnival indulgence seemed appealing.

This afternoon we made our way to the lower hut on Cayambe and are settled in for the night. We spent some time practicing anchor building skills for those who hope to use this skills seminar as a jumping off point for personal climbs or bigger guided climbs. Things to this point have moved a bit slowly, the acclimatization process is not fast-paced, instead it is methodical and does not pay to be rushed. However, we now are beginning the three-day cycle of big climbs. Tomorrow, we go to high camp, the next day is our summit attempt and the following is a rest day. We will repeat this cycle on Antisana and Chimborazo, making three big summit attempts over the following nine calendar days. And as soon as we know it, it will all be over, so for now we are all just trying to live in the moment and focus on the task at hand!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Today we left Quito and the city life is in our rear view. Yeah, the hotel is nice. Yeah, the coffee shop across the street knows my name and order. Yeah, the eucalyptus steam room is great. But we are here to climb, experience culture, be a little uncomfortable. All those other things are available everywhere else!

So, we turn our sights towards Cayambe. Today, we did one more acclimatization hike to Cerro Fuya Fuya and were once again fortunate to stay dry. Walking around in the high grasslands gave us a chance to breathe some fresh air and continue to work towards the physiological adaptations that will be advantageous for us on higher mountains. Tonight, we are enjoying a lovely rest in a classic Andean highlands hacienda before we head to the lower Cayambe hut tomorrow.

The team is in good spirits after reaching the summits of both acclimatization peaks. I seem to be the only person who is a bit chapped about missing the Super Bowl (once again) because we will be out of cell range. Oh well, I don’t actually care who wins, just as long as all the players have fun.

Anyways, it’s time to call it a night, keep us in your thoughts as we venture higher the next few days. Hopefully to 18,996’ by Monday morning!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

A little over 7 miles of hiking brought us to the Perros glacier overlook and nearby camp. The wind, forest and rivers make for a soothing ambient soundtrack as the trail winds through the lenga trees. We are at the base of the Pass, fed & rested for the longest day to join the "W" circuit in the Grey Glacier Valley. The laughs continue as we get to know each other.

RMI Guide Mike King

A needed rest, headed to Orizaba!

After our success on Ixta, Team Mexico Volcanoes settled into a very well deserved couple of nights and a day of rest in beautiful Puebla, Mexico. 

Everyone got some sleep, washed off the mountain, and checked out the colonial buildings and many cathedrals and artisan markets. 

After a great team dinner and another night of rest we got up early and hit the road to Tlachichuca, and our final and largest mountain, 18,500’ Pico de Orizaba. 

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

Hi Everyone,

We had a windy eleven miles into Lago Dickson today. The trail takes us through the appropriately named windy pass. The group enjoyed the scenic views of Lago Paine and the glaciated mountains that surround Lago Dickson. We are enjoying the trek and having a lot of laughs along the way. Watching the clouds move quickly over the mountains now.

RMI Guide Mike King & Team

Hello everybody!

We are now a couple days into the final RMI Ecuador trip for this winter. The whole team is here and we're settled into the Quito hotel and spa life. The soft landing is nice after basically everyone has to spend a full day in transit reaching Ecuador. Not everyone is sold on the cold plunge and the science is still out on it, but we can all agree on hot tubbing.

Yesterday, we had a nice tour to overlook the crater of Pululahua, visit the equator and see some sights in the old town sector of Quito before the skies fully opened on us and lightning struck within the city. This was real rain, equatorial rain, the kind where you get soaked if you spend any amount of time in it and the streets turn to streams. Needless to say, we all hoped that would not be the case for our hike of Rucu Pichincha today.

I am happy to report that our wishes and our sun dances worked! We had a lovely day on Rucu Pichincha. As clouds built throughout the day, there continued to be nervous anticipation about whether or not we would need to turn around. As much as I love reaching the summit of Rucu Pichincha, I would hate to be struck by lightning. However, the clouds continued to peel away and never quite turned to their menacing, cumulonimbus form. So, we were excited to have every member of the team stand on top, with it being an altitude record for several in the group.

Tomorrow, we head north out of the city working our way towards Cayambe. It's still a few days before we will venture that high, so we have some time planned continuing to acclimate and just enjoy ourselves as tourists in this beautiful country.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier & Team

100% Summit on Ixta!

After welcoming us to La Joya basecamp with a lovely warm sunset and delicious dinner from our Mexican host company, 17,160’ Ixtaccihuatl showed us that she is still a huge wild mountain. Out of the calm starry night sky, winds suddenly gusting 40-50mph forced us out of our sleeping bags and we scrambled to move our tents in the dark to the shelter of the old basecamp refugio. But our crew laughed it off as ‘adventure!’ And the next two days on the mountain showed everyone what a Mexican wilderness alpine experience can be. Complete with a spectacular high camp, billowing ash from our volcanic neighbor Popocatéptl, and the best sunset some of us have ever seen. 

On summit morning the crew climbed strong and right before sunrise, 100% of the team stood on Ixta’s summit. A new high point for the majority of the team!

We’re headed now to the colorful colonial city of Puebla, where we’ll enjoy a well earned rest day and prepare for 18,500’ Orizaba. 

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

We had a nice ride this morning as the Patagonia landscape opened before our eyes. There were a lot of guanacos, think wild alpaca running around the pampas. The view of the Torres was spectacular upon entering the park.

For the birders, seeing some harriers and Magellanic woodpeckers in the first hour of hiking kicked off this first day nicely. The "O" circuit goes counterclockwise around the park. The first portion is private property that the family manages for tourism in cooperation with the national park now. This side is dry grasslands with rolling hills along the Paine River which is a milky turquoise color and full from rain and snowmelt.

Approximately 8 miles brought us to Seron camp, a former ranching outpost turned campgrund. The team is doing well and enjoying some time in the newly installed rooftop style safari tents to get out of the strong wind that has been blowing all day.

We are excited to be out on the trail and away from the airports and hotels for the next 8 days, we will check in from Lago Dickson tomorrow. 

RMI Guide Mike King and Team

This is Mike checking in from the Torres del Paine trek. Our team is finally assembled in Puerto Natales. We arrived over the last few days and finally got all of the group together for a dinner. There was some delayed bags and subsequent logistics that needed to be figured out. The winds were very strong leaving Punta Arenas, our Magellanic penguin tour was cancelled due to high winds and tide issues, which resulted in a windy van ride that made the cancellation all the more understandable as white caps and ships listed in the harbors. 

We are in Puerto Natales, briefed and packed for our trek. Everyone is eager to leave the amenities of the hotels and begin the "O" portion of our trek tomorrow. We will be heading for Seron camp and fingers crossed that we get a nice view of the Torres and Cuernos as we head into the park. Thanks for following along.

RMI Guide Mike King