Entries By casey grom
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Hello Everyone,
We had a nice relaxing morning here in Ecuador today, leaving the hotel just after 10am. After loading all of our duffels on our bus we slowly made our way through the traffic of Quito and headed south along the Pan-American highway.
Our goal for the day was to reach the base of the Illiniza’s, two extinct volcanoes not too far from Cotopaxi. We stopped along the way for a really nice lunch at “Cafe de la Vaca” cafe of the cows, where most of us had hamburgers and fresh juices that they are known for. We continued driving just a little further to reach our quaint little hacienda tucked in the hills not too far from the mountain. We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring around the hacienda and discussing tomorrow’s game plan for climbing Illiniza Norte.
Everyone is doing well and excited about stretching our legs again early in the morning.
Casey and crew
Hello again everyone
Today we had a very beautiful hike to help with our acclimatization on a nearby peak called Pichincha. It is one of the many local peaks that is situated above Quito and is used by many climbers to help adjust to the higher altitude here in Ecuador. We made use of the gondolas to help us gain access to around 13,000' then hiked the additional 2,500' to the summit. It took our team roughly three hours to gain the top after a little scrambling up the final bit to reach our high point thus far. It was a personal high point for a few of us, and the entire team did a fantastic job. After spending a bit of time on the summit and getting some photos we descended all the way back to our hotel for a brief nap before dinner.
Along the way we ran into an old friend Carla Perez! A real mountain superwoman, as she is 1 of only 7 women to have summitted Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen.
Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew.
Hola from Ecuador!
Today we started our day with a team meeting where we did our usual round of introductions to get to know each other and then discussed the game plan for our upcoming 10 day adventure here in Ecuador.
After the meeting we headed out on the town to explore this beautiful historical city with our local and very knowledgeable tour guide Angel. We first headed to the southern part of Quito to a big hill called La Panacia that over looks this beautiful city, then continued on foot exploring the historic district.
We then headed north to visit the Equator from which Ecuador gets its name, stopping by a museum that had a pretty interesting collection as well as some unique tests that attempt to prove it’s the actual middle of the world.
We wrapped up the evening with dinner at a nice restaurant where we enjoyed getting to know each other better.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Ecuador crew
Back safe and sound in Kathmandu!
Well all most!
Managed to get the team out of Lukla by the skin of our teeth. Sadly I wasn’t able to join them, only eight helicopter seats available for the nine of us.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to join the crew.
I’m sure everyone is enjoying the comforts at the Yak & Yeti Hotel, hot showers, good food, and the warm temps.
It's been one amazing adventure with a great team and it will be sad to say goodbye, but we are all looking forward to getting back home to our loved ones.
Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy crew
Hello again.
We woke to another beautiful sunny day here in the Khumbu. We started early to beat the traffic and the team made good time, yet taking time to enjoy this peaceful and majestic place.
There were still dozens of loads headed for basecamp as always, because much of the needed supplies arrive via plane or from a few days away by mules.
We also ran into several more friends on the trail headed for Everest and it was nice to say hello and wish them the best.
With a little luck we hope to be back in Kathmandu tomorrow morning!
Keep your fingers crossed for us.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Hello again everyone.
All is still well here in the Khumbu as the team members made our way back into Namche. It was a busy day on the trail with climbers, trekkers, yaks, and porters all bound uphill to basecamp. We slowly made our way through the maze of traffic and enjoyed one last good view of Everest.
Along the way we ran into several old friends from my past trips and stopped to wish everyone good luck.
Tomorrow we'll be moving out early on our final leg of the journey back to Lukla. So please keep you fingers crossed we have good weather and can make our flight back to Kathmandu the following morning.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom calling from the Everest Base Camp Trek. Just want to let everyone know that all is well here in the Nepal. Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties with our SAT phone and had some Wi-Fi issues here. We had a big storm the last couple of days which kind of knocked some things out. But everyone is doing great. In fact three days ago, we walked into Base Camp on a beautiful sunny warm day. We were welcomed by our gracious staff at Everest Base Camp, and they had a big spread of food set out for us and made everybody feel incredibly welcome. That evening we got a start of a snowstorm that dumped somewhere in the neighborhood of I don't know six to ten inches of snow. The following day, yesterday, they set up this big shower tent for us and we were able to get everybody through a round of hot showers there at Everest Base Camp. Literally just a couple of stone's throws from the Khumbu Ice Fall.
So this morning we woke up to pretty blustery skies and said our goodbyes to our team at Base Camp and and have made our way back down valley. We are currently back down in Pheriche, and there is snow still all the way down here. In fact, as I said, I think it knocked out their their solar systems for the last few days. So, we won't be able to get any pictures out, but hopefully tomorrow when we had to Namche there should be plenty of cell service, and there should be some Wi-Fi down there. So just updating everyone letting you know things are going well. Everyone's happy and look forward to getting down to even thicker air down there at 11,000'. I'll get some pictures out then. Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Hello Everyone
It's incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and the mountains are grandiose. We've been very comfortable hiking each day in the sunny weather, then bundling up in our warm sleeping bags each night as the temperature drops.
Once we've arrived at our new village for the night we check in to our rooms and take a small nap/break. We then often meet around 5pm for a little tea, popcorn, and card playing.
Dinner is often around 7 pm and the menu is pretty much the same at every tea house with plenty of soups, simple pasta, potatoes, and typical Nepalese Dal Bat.
After dinner we relax and have a brief review of the day ahead and then it's off to bed.
A few of us also hiked up Kala Patar to get a better view of Everest.
Spirits are high as we push closer to Everest Base Camp and if the weather cooperates, we should arrive tomorrow.
That's all for now -
RMI Guide Casey Grom
On The Map
Dereesa, What an experience you must be having, it looks like a a trip you will never forget! Wonderful pictures! Take care, see you soon! Suzanne
Posted by: Suzanne Diers on 3/27/2019 at 10:44 pm
Hey! I met Casey last year in Pheriche at the tea lodge we were lunching at in Pheriche. He was leading an expedition and we were trekking to EBC. It was so nice to meet him and the other folks on his expedition.
I’ll be back to the Solo Khumbu region again next year in 2020 to trek the Gokyo Lakes route. It’s off to Macchu Picchu this spring for me.
Good Luck on your Everest summit Casey! Happy Climbing:)
Cheers.
Jamie
Posted by: Ms. Jamie A. Groth on 3/26/2019 at 1:22 pm
All is well here on the trek!
Today we left Pheriche and hiked further up valley to Lobuche. We slowly made our way along the winding path that we share with other trekkers, porters heavily laden with loads bound for Base camp, and yaks who aren't as keen to share the trail. We made good time and enjoyed the astounding views before reaching camp for the night.
In the afternoon we took a short walk to an overlook of the Khumbu glacier where we could just make out Everest Base Camp far in the distance.
Everyone is currently relaxing in our tea house enjoying the warmth of the fire. There's been lots of cribbage and plenty of good conversation with our team and other trekkers on the same journey as us.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
On The Map
Friday, March, 22,2018
Hello everyone,
All is well here in the beautiful Khumbu Valley. Today was a scheduled rest/acclimatization day, so we did just that. After breakfast we made a long slow climb up the big hill that’s just behind our tea house. We climbed just up over 16,000ft to help our bodies adjust to the upcoming altitude of Everest Base Camp. The team did great and throughly enjoyed the amazing views in nearly all directions. We could see Cho Oyu the 6th highest and Makalu in the far off distance which is the worlds 7th highest mountain, as well as countless other huge mountains. It’s very surreal to be higher than anyplace in the continental US and be surrounded by so many big mountains.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing at the tea house chatting with other trekkers and recovering from our day’s outing.
Some of the team took showers again and the rest of us rewarmed ourselves by the big wood stove that burns dried Yak dung, just as the Sherpa people have done for centuries. We are a little ways above tree line and firewood is scarce, but Yak dung is plentiful.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
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Be safe, please tell April we miss her and are so happy and proud she got to experience this amazing trip
Posted by: CHRIS ALLIS on 3/27/2019 at 4:30 pm
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