And day two on the trails went by... Greetings from Lake Dickson!
What a pleasant journey we had. Walking along the park boundary, following the Paine River, we had the Argentinean border at a stone's throw to the right for most of the day. We learned about several local flower and plant species (too bad the orchids were already withered) and experience also some Patagonian weather, with stronger winds and rain as we surmounted the highest point of the day "Paso del Viento", but that in no means slowed anyone down during the short time it lasted. Upon arrival to camp, the views of the first glaciers popped up from within the mountains and an evening hike along the beach of Lake Dickson, after dinner, brought us the reward of seeing small icebergs afloat its waters as dusk approached. More to come tomorrow, stay tuned and follow along!
RMI Guides ElÃas de Andres Martos
Gorgeous! So envious of your adventure! Stay safe & love every moment! We miss you at work but know you are having an amazing time <3 Catherine B.
Posted by: Catherine on 1/27/2017 at 5:57 am
Looks gorgeous!!! Wish I was out hiking with y’all. Relish being emersed in nature while you have it. Going to show this to Grandele this weekend. Love and miss you all the way from Alabama :) xoxo blair
Hello from the middle of the world!
Our Expedition Skills Seminar in Ecuador is now officially underway! Despite most of the team arriving to the hotel after midnight last night, everybody was excited and eager to kick off our program this morning. All of the people made it, all of the luggage made it... I'd say we're off to a great start!
After only a few hours of sleep last night, we all gathered in the hotel lobby at 8am this morning after breakfast for our first of many team meetings of the trip. Introductions were made and travel tips were shared, and before we knew it, we were all sitting on a bus beginning an incredible tour of the city.
Our first stop was at Independence Square, home to the Presidential Palace of Ecuador. Unlike the overwhelming security of our White House, we were able to coax the guards in to letting us walk behind the fences and steal a look in to the main courtyard of the palace, the political center of the country. After waving goodbye to the President (not really), we continued on our way to one of the most beautiful churches in the country: La Compañia.
Taking over 150 years to complete, La Compañia is a Jesuit church finished in 1765. It offers a good a good demonstration of various architectural styles, including Baroque, Moorish, and Neoclassical construction styles. Its other claim to fame is the fact that its interior is almost completely covered in gold foil!
Our tour then took us from the modern part of the city to the early, colonial districts of the city. By driving to the top of El Panecillo and visiting Quito's Virgin (a 45 meter tall statue overlooking the city), we were able to get great views of the entire expanse of the city. Cloudy skies prevented us from getting our first glimpses of our climbing objectives, but we were happy to be staying dry.
Our final stop of the tour took us to the equator, where we explored an interactive museum demonstrating some of the unique properties of life at 0 degree latitude. Only a few of us were able to balance an egg on the head of a nail, but I still have high hopes for this team...
Now, back at the hotel, our mission is simple: kick back, relax, and catch up on some much needed sleep. We'll be stretching our legs tomorrow on our first acclimatization hike of the trip, but until then, it's time to get some shut eye.
Until tomorrow,
RMI Guides Nick Hunt and Steve Gately, and the rest of the team
Your team photo sure shows a good looking group of people! Y’all have a great time and be safe…..I need my husband back in one piece please. Prayers and hugs from Bailey’s Prairie, Texas - Lisa Outterson
Posted by: Lisa Outterson on 1/26/2017 at 11:56 am
Happy to hear everyone made it okay. Make sure to give that Ted Porter a hard time on his 4-0 birthday! Be safe and have an amazing time! Looking forward to the updates. Love, Stephanie Areen
Posted by: Stephanie Areen on 1/26/2017 at 7:25 am
Another perfect day here in the central Andes... We woke to sunny skies yet again and took our time eating breakfast, breaking camp, and buttoning up a cache of refuse for us to grab on our way home. We climbed up to Camp 2 at 18,000' in under four hours with big, but manageable loads. As usual the team worked hard and moved smoothly and efficiently through the terrain. Before we knew it we were in camp, set up, and chilling the afternoon away. I wanted to take one last second to wish one of our teammates a happy birthday... So, happy birthday Alex! Feel free to wish him one too in the comments...
Talk again tomorrow,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in on Day 2 of the Kilimanjaro Climb. We awoke to a clear morning and enjoyed some nice views of Kilimanjaro from our camp before hitting the trail. The route right out of camp was a bit of a broad ridge that slowly ascends and winds its way up the Shira Plateau, which is about mid level on Kilimanjaro. The team did a fantastic job today. Everybody was pretty amazed as we made our way up the trail in the porters passed us with their loads, easily balance on their heads. It took us about four hours to make it up to our camp today and once again our staff was amazing to have passed us on the trail and have arrive at Camp and have camp fully set up and lunch, in fact a hot lunch, waiting for us when we arrived. Everybody is incredibly grateful for that and big thanks to our outfitter that we work with here in town. We had a duffel bag that got hung up in Amsterdam and arrived late last night down in Arusha and our outfitter was able to get that bag to us today. It was real miracle and our last remaining climber was able to get his his gear up here at 12,300'. So a big thanks to those guys for making that happen. Now we have everything we need and everybody's looking good, everyone is feeling great. We just finished our dinner and everyone is climbing into bed. It is starting to cool down a little bit up here. Hopefully we'll have a nice nice day tomorrow to take in as we ascend directly towards Kilimanjaro. That's all for now. We'll hopefully be able to update tomorrow with some pictures as well. Thanks a lot.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in from Shira Camp at 12, 200 ft on Kilimanjaro.
Woohooooo go Uncle Joe! This looks and sounds absolutely incredible! We sure miss you here, but we’re sending lots of love and power your way! So proud!
And Day One on the trails just happened. A cloudy and windy morning in Puerto Natales, gave way to sunny skies at the gate of the Torres Del Paine National Park. The incredible relief of the rock monoliths was a huge contrast with anything around us so far, prompting constant jaw dropping photo opportunities, as curious guanacos (small camel like animals) posed to complete the scene. Our time along the trails was a pleasant warm up of five hours along the foothills of Cerro Paine, where a solid hour of hiking through wild daisy flower meadows was the most iconic. We're now camped at Seron Camp, where its cook "Pollo" prepared a delicious soup and chicken dish for us.
Stay tuned for more!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
The two photos on blog make me so jealous. Know the scene is extraordinary. We all miss you here and wish we were there. Lots of love and stay healthy. Kathryn
Posted by: Kathryn LeBey on 1/26/2017 at 4:09 am
Lucy - we miss you. Hope the hiking is great. Cloey is doing well, amazingly she ran from our house past the Matthews house last night on our walk. All great on the home front. Pollo made a chicken dish? Surprising. I am sure it was great after a full day on the trail. Love you!
What a gorgeous last three days we have had! They have been by far the nicest weather I've seen on my trips to Ecuador. As we left Guachalá, the oldest hacienda in Ecuador, we started our eight-hour drive to Chimborazo. Capitalizing on the beautiful weather, we took lots of great photos of all the mountains that were visible as we drove. Along the way, we stopped for burritos and margaritas before making our way to Estrella de Chimborazo, the lodge at the base of Chimborazo.
Our plan is to begin our ascent tomorrow with a summit bid that night or the next. We'll see what the weather brings. We may be out of contact the next two to three nights as we embark on our next climbing objective. We will check in as soon as we can.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
Today our team enjoyed the long, meditative walk from base camp down the Relinchos Valley, and then down the Vacas Valley to our very first camp here at Las Leñas. Our trekking efforts were rewarded with a delicious asado dinner, and our whole team is stretched out under the stars tonight enjoying a last night out in the mountains. Tomorrow we head down to Penitentes, then Mendoza, and civilization, but for now everyone is savoring a last moment on the trail.
RMI Guides Mark Tucker & Pepper Dee
Hey, everybody. This is Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro climb. I wanted to let you know that everything's going great. Today we left behind the Arumeru Lodge and made a few hour drive to the base of a Kilimanjaro. We drove up the Machame Valley, which is actually lined with quite a few banana plantations. A number of porters are making their way to the gate entrance to find some work. Once we got to the gate, we got organized, and then got the green light from the park service, we slowly started making our way up hill. The team did great today. We climbed for about six hours up through this incredible lower slopes of Kilimanjaro. It was a nice break from the sun to be tucked into the trees. And again the team did great. We pulled into camp about 6 o'clock or so today and everyone just finished dinner. Everyone's relaxing right now and getting ready for a little bit of sleep. Everybody's in good spirits. We will check in again tomorrow and hopefully be able to get a picture or two out in the next day or so based on our cellphone service up here. Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom calls in from Machame Camp, Africa.
Trying to think of a compelling story but truth be told we are just hanging out here at Aconcagua Camp 1... passing the acclimatization day eating snacks, listening to music or reading books, and telling stories. The weather is clear and sunny today and a teeny bit breezy this afternoon which is actually nice, keeping our tents from getting too hot. No doubt the team will be chomping at the bit tomorrow morning when we plan to make our move up to Camp 2. Slowly but surely we'll continue up!
Not much else to report,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Over the past few days our team has been very busy down here on the equator. On Saturday, we departed the comforts of civilization and made our way to the Cayambe Hut at a little over 15,000'. The road to this mountain lodge is riddled with boulders, pot holes, mud pits, and the occasional farm animal, making it mandatory to use a 4x4 vehicle.
Once we were settled in and spent a night in the thin air we moved further uphill to do some basic training on the toe of the glacier. The team remembered mostly everything from their previous experience and were ready for a summit attempt. So we packed our gear, ate some dinner, and went to bed for a few hours.
At about 11 pm we awoke to clear skies and were able to start uphill by midnight. With perfect climbing conditions and a strong team we found ourselves on top of Cayambe for a 6:30 am sunrise over the equator. After descending the upper steep slopes we cruised back to the hut and packed up. A quick 4x4 ride brought us to our hacienda were we will start to recover from the climb.
Everyone is doing well and excited with the success we had!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
-(P3).JPG)
.JPG)
-(P3).JPG)
Gorgeous! So envious of your adventure! Stay safe & love every moment! We miss you at work but know you are having an amazing time <3 Catherine B.
Posted by: Catherine on 1/27/2017 at 5:57 am
Looks gorgeous!!! Wish I was out hiking with y’all. Relish being emersed in nature while you have it. Going to show this to Grandele this weekend. Love and miss you all the way from Alabama :) xoxo blair
Posted by: Blair on 1/26/2017 at 7:01 pm
View All Comments