Hello,
After two great nights at Basecamp, it was time to move out and establish a new camp higher up on Mt. Elbrus.
We were really lucky again today with the weather. It was still raining when we first woke up, but just about the time we were taking down the tents, it stopped and has been dry ever since.
The trail was still challenging today, but everybody did great. We made good time all the way back up to our cache site at 11,200'. We grabbed a few items from the cache that we would need for the night, and continued on our way. The last stretch into camp climbs up a very rocky moraine and is some of the most trickiest walking on the whole mountain, especially with some heavy packs. We worked our way up the faint climber's trail, dealing with lots of loose scree and some very awkward steps, but finally being rewarded as we crested over the top of the ridge and arrived at Camp 1.
The weather has not been that good the last several days, and as a result, there is a fair amount of climbers still waiting at Camp 1 for their summit attempt. Tent sites were at a premium, but after a little searching, we found some good spots and started building our camp. We are now all settled into what will be our home for the next three nights.
We have been in the clouds most of the day, but the upper mountain has made a few brief appearances this afternoon. Our hope is that this improving weather trend will continue for us.
Right now there are many climbers in camp getting ready to climb tonight. We, on the other hand, are going to bed and looking forward to sleeping in the morning.
All the best,
RMI Guides Jeff Martin, Pete Van Deventer and the team
Glad to hear you had better weather.
I am enjoying the blog and look forward to a new installment each day.
Best wishes for continued weather improvements and great climbing!
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Brent Okita and Walter Hailes, reached the summit at 7:00 a.m. The winds were 20-25 mph and a clear day. They are currently descending to Camp Muir.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz, led by Garrett Stevens, is currently on the summit reaching the top via the Kautz Glacier Route.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Hello from Aguas Calientes,
We arrived to Macchu Picchu this morning!! After a super early 3:30am wake up call, and 4:30 start, we hiked the last couple miles to this one of the world's seven wonders of architecture. Light rain and plenty of clouds greeted us at Intipunku (Sun Gate), perched on the hills of Macchu Picchu mountain. But upon descent to the citadel itself, the ceiling of vaporized water cleared up and we could admire, as a reward for the last week of intense hiking through the Andes, the mysticism of this "lost City of the Incas" as well as its dramatic mountain cliffs surrounding us.
We are now resting at our hotel, equally excited about tomorrow's hike to Huayna Picchu, above Macchu Picchu. Stay tuned for the last report and pictures.
Regards,
RMI Guide ElÃas de Andres Martos and the Team.
PS: photo attached from Puyupatamarca, Inca site on our descent to Macchu Picchu yesterday
RMI Guide Mark Tucker and Team called to check in from the Dik Dik Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. The team has enjoyed a little R & R after long international flights; everyone is well rested and ready to start trekking. After a gear check this afternoon the bags are packed and ready to hit the trail in the morning.
Follow along with us on the RMI Blog and they make their way to the Roof of Africa!
Hi Steve and Connor! Hope you have a safe trip up the mountain and back! Take lots of pics to share! ~Audrey
Posted by: Audrey on 8/7/2014 at 7:00 am
Connor!! It’s Ash from work!! Hope your having a blast!! I’m still jealous! Any-whos guess whos back working here?! Molly is back so that’s pretty sweet and makes work more entertaining! Oh and guess which vote won for the united way t-shirt design?! Yours! They have long sleeve and short sleeve. Does your dad want one too? Anyways have an amazing hike! -Ashley & Molly :)
A few days back we were on the summit of one of the world's biggest volcanoes... Today we spent our time happily plumbing the depths of a collapsed volcano. Ngorongoro Crater is a caldera teeming with the classic wildlife of Eastern Africa. We went to the crater rim this morning in thick cloud, unable to see more that a hundred feet, but we had hopes that situation would change. While still on the rim, we visited a Massai Village and were introduced to the customs and traditions of the dominant tribe in this area. We then piled back into our Land Cruisers and began the 600 meter descent into the crater as the weather rapidly improved. Within 20 minutes, we were seeing lions, jackals, Cape buffalo, zebras, hippos and ostriches... To say nothing of gazelles, wildebeest, and hyenas. The constant water supply within the crater keeps the herds from migrating, the presence of the herds makes the predators happy, the addition of roads lets us see it all. We even saw a couple of the resident (and rare) black rhinos, but they were at a distance and sleeping hard.
Lunch was on the shores of a lush hippo hangout and then we circled the caldera (about 15 miles across) one final time. With each sighting of a new species, the driver/guides would cut the engines and let us snap pictures as they described what we were seeing. Finally, we spiraled up and out of the crater as the sun was getting low in the sky. By this point we had the big view that had been denied in the misty morning. Clement and Joseph had us back to the Kirurumu lodge by six thirty PM where we washed off the road dirt and put on clean shirts for some fine dining.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
RMI Guide Mike Walter checked in. After a successful summit of Sharkfin Tower yesterday afternoon the team headed over to Sahale Mountain and reached the summit at 10:46am PT this morning.
At 2:02pm PT Mike Walter and Team reported that "All is well" and they are back in camp.
We jumped straight into it today. After six days of travel, hotels, and sight seeing, we were excited to don packs and point our toes uphill. The roughly sixty pounds of food, fuel, and gear each didn't dampen the enthusiasm, at least at first.
Our goal was to move a significant bulk of our expedition kit up to 11,200 ft, just a bit shy of Camp 1. With the recent rains, as well as the cattle traffic, the first stretch was muddy and slick. Throw in the steep terrain and it felt a bit like we were climbing on ice skates. But with only a few bovine friends that needed to be shooed out of our way, we made good time and quickly gained the Berlin airfield, a large flat basin, that the Germans supposedly were able to land planes during WWII. Though the skies threatened rain (for much of the day) the clouds seemed to push up with us, keeping us dry for the time being.
Through a series of steep climbs and flat benches we wound our way, perfecting our rest step and footwork, until after 3.5 hours, we arrived at the cache site. While periodically scanning for anyone spying our location, we stealthily sorted our cache gear and hid it in the rocks, then turned tail and headed downhill. The going was fast and easy until the last steep stretch to camp when we again had to contend with the mud churned up by our ruminant cohabitants. We slipped, slid, and squished our way down to camp. Our timing was impeccable, as the skies that had threatened all day finally delivered in the form of a drenching downpour two minutes before we reached camp. We ducked into tents and hung wet shells to dry. As the rain continued the ground saturated, and soon our tents seemed to wart to begin floating. Luckily the water has so far stayed on the right side of the tent fabric. We made a hearty dinner of soup with fresh veggies (a shift from last night's farm to table feast) and have retired to our abodes. It is still raining, but hopefully it will subside tonight so that we can move up to Camp 1 tomorrow. If not, it may be time for us to consider building an ark. We'll update you on our progress tomorrow!
All the best from RMI Guides Pete, Jeff, and Gang
The Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide JJ Justman and the Five Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams reported clear skies with 15-20 mph winds. The teams will descend to Camp Muir and take a short break before continuing their descent to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing the teams back at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
OMG! Great job Ron I didn’t doubt even a sec you were gonna make it. Congratulations. Now you can check this item of your bucket list. Diego says you are unbelievable! Lol:)
Posted by: Edda Zabala on 8/7/2014 at 12:38 am
Way to go guys! An amazing accomplishment to add to your lists!
Hello, this is Elias and the Machu Picchu trekking team. We are at Winaywayna and we are having a wonderful time on our awesome trek. Tomorrow we will wake up very, very early to [broken] two hours [broken] that will lead us into Machu Picchu where [broken]. Tomorrow we descend to beautiful [broken]. We will be checking in tomorrow from Machu Picchu. [broken]
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos checks in from the Machu Picchu trek.
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Glad to hear you had better weather.
I am enjoying the blog and look forward to a new installment each day.
Best wishes for continued weather improvements and great climbing!
Posted by: Joyce Pully on 8/7/2014 at 2:58 pm
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