RMI Expeditions Blog

A La Malinche summit!

Yesterday team Mexico Volcanos got up early and left Mexico City, hoping for an early departure from the trailhead for our first volcano, 14500 foot La Malinche. 

Recently, the Policía de Montaña, some of whom carry inappropriately large machine guns(tough to argue with), have been quite strict about turning all climbers around at 2pm, no matter your location or fancy technical outerwear. They mean well, as many folks attempt this very large mountain in jeans and street shoes, and seemingly no water or food. With our drive from Mexico City, it would be a push to make it, but the team was willing.

We left the park entrance with 4,500 feet to cover at around 11:30am. The team understood that it would be a little faster pace than normal to make it happen and evade la Policía, but they were up for it. 

At 3 pm, 3.5 hours and 4,500 feet later, we scrambled to the rocky summit of La Malinche with a beautiful view and not a cloud in the sky. There stood a single Policía de Montaña, who said simply, “Bajo por favor, ahora! (Down please, now!).”

We negotiated quickly for, “Solo una foto?(Just one photo?).” He was grumpy but willing, and as we took one picture of the team on the summit, the views were incredible of Volcan Iztaccihautl and Orizaba, our next two volcanos. 

Once we left the strict gaze of our friendly Policía on the summit, we were able to take some well earned relaxing breaks on our descent and enjoy the company of our new mountain dog friends, who showed us a thing or two about negotiating the loose boulder fields. 

A customary feast of barbecued steak and cactus tacos awaited us at our cabins in the forest below La Malinche, and it was an early bedtime!

The crew is super excited for our successful summit, and ready to hit the road and head to our next adventure, 17,159' Volcan Iztaccihautl!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

And we're off!

The Mexico Volcanos crew arrived last night to the Hotel Geneve in Mexico City. After some introductions, we made our way to a local taco spot and chatted about our upcoming trip. 

This morning the crew was up early and ready to head to our first volcano, La Malinche. 

Many more tacos and mountains await!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

Today was eventful. We have now all been up for 24 hours and are feeling the effects. Our day actually started last night with a 10pm wakeup to attempt Antisana. By 11pm the team was on the move, although lightning in the relatively short distance and clouds in the vicinity were worth keeping an eye on. As we climbed higher, intermittent clouds were upon us, with even a light drizzle from time to time. Looking in all directions, clouds surrounded the mountain and gave an eerie sense. Compounding these difficulties was also the very dry condition of the glacier. Navigating the dry glacier at night required the utmost attention to efficient footwork. In the end, there were too many factors working against us and we made the decision to turn around just above 17000'.

Every member of the team began the climb and made a valiant effort. While it is disappointing to turn around, the more we climb the more we understand that it is all part of the experience. By now, we have a team that truly enjoys spending time together and works together as a unit in the mountains. That means as much to me as standing on any summit could. To celebrate our new friendships and an overall successful time in Ecuador, we went to a nice group dinner. Jaime, our lead Ecuadorian guide, joined and we all enjoyed recounting freshly minted memories from this journey. As we depart, it is bitter sweet. It may be some time before any of us cross paths again, but we are all excited to reunite with family back home in the coming days (except me - follow the Ecuador Seminar blog!).

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Hello everyone,

Today we headed to Tarangire National Park known for its abundant elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many we saw, but it was quite a few, and we got pretty close to boot.  There were lots of giraffes, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many, many birds. We did manage to see a leopard, unfortunately it wasn’t that close and seemed to just be napping in the afternoon heat.

We are spending our last night here in Africa at Nykani Tented Camp, which has beautiful tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African bush in. Everyone is doing great and hoping to see a few more big cats on our way out of the park tomorrow morning. Then it will be back to our main lodge near Arusha for a brief stop before catching our flights home.

Thanks for following,

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jess Wedel and crew!

Following a mildly eventful 4x4 overland, the team is settled in at Antisana basecamp. Similar to Cayambe, the glacier appears very dry. However, the weather seems to be holding, so we have some things in our favor. Spirits are high, bellies are full and we're ready for a final hard day!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Today we walked.

It was a dusty, rocky, hot, and dry 15 miles from Mulas Basecamp to the park trailhead. In front of us sprawled an immense valley. Behind us, clear views of the summit we stood upon just a few short days ago.

A perfect setting for reflection.

Some thought back to the summit bid with all the challenges and struggles that came with it.

Others looked forward to the Michelin Star dinner that awaits us in Mendoza tonight. With FKTs being broken to meet the reservation.

Still others spoke of future climbing plans such as Mt. Vinson or Denali.

All in all we started this journey as strangers just a few short weeks ago. But we leave the Park as friends, by our shared experience of climbing Aconcagua.

Thank you for following along, we can't wait till we're back out in the mountains for our next objectives.

Climber Jon Honda 

Day 2 on Safari had us visiting the world famous Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is what remains of a once massive volcano that erupted. In the two million years since then, hundreds of animals have taken up residence and have created one of the best safari options in Africa.

We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few more animals before the heat sent them in search for shade. Not long after descending down into the crater we came upon several lions with three cute cubs. We continued driving around trying not to stop at all the zebra, wildebeest, and Cape buffalo that were nearly in the way.

There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. One of the highlights was seeing seven Black Rhino which have become very rare.

We have just finished another wonderful meal 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

Rest day!

Every member of this team deserved one day without hiking, climbing or traveling and we took this one at Casa Ilayaku, which is a lovely, modern hacienda nestled on the slopes of a defunct volcano outside of Quito. Reading, chatting with family over the phone, eating nice meals, checking out the gardens and general lounging were just a few of the relaxing activities for the day. It's helpful that the food here is healthy and fresh to help us heal from the events of yesterday (summitting Cayambe) and prepare for our climb of Antisana.

This evening, we turned our focus towards Antisana. We have a solid plan in place, great Ecuadorian mountain guides and are armed with more experience. Now we hope for good weather to cap off what has already been an excellent trip with a fun team.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Our first day on safari brought us to Lake Manyara. A small national park that boarders Lake Manyara known for its tree climbing lions. The team spent about four hours driving around the park and saw a fair amount of wildlife. Zebra, Cape buffalo, hundreds of baboons, Vervet monkeys, Blue monkeys and lots of exotic birds. Everyone had a great day and enjoyed just relaxing while taking in the views. 
We then headed to our home for the next two days at an amazing lodge called The Plantation Lodge.

The team just finished a wonderful meal and are off to bed as we are headed out early hoping to see some big cats!

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jess Wedel and the Safari crew  

The team started their summit day with an early alpine start, leaving the Cayambe shelter just before midnight. Scrambling up to the glacier under headlamp, and an almost full moon, the morning remained very calm and pleasantly cool. 

After nearly two hours of approach, the team transitioned into crampons and full glacier kits, roping up and embarking up the ridge with their guides. Cayambe remains in a very dry state, leaving very icy and firm walking conditions for much of the climb. 

Furthermore, winds picked up higher up on the mountain, exposing the team to colder more challenging climbing conditions. At around 18k feet, the sun began to rise, giving way to some relief for the final stretches of the climb. 

After roughly 7 hours of climbing, the team topped out at nearly 19k feet. The summit was relatively calm with low winds, allowing the team to hangout and celebrate for nearly 40 mins. 

The descent back to the shelter was altogether speedy despite the effects of altitude being obvious to many of the group. After a brief rest and a late breakfast, the team packed up and departed to Tumbaco for a much-needed upcoming rest day before heading to Antisana. 

RMI Guide Mike Bennett & Team