Entries By dave hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Ben Liken, Bridget Belliveau, Hannah Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
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June 23, 2016 - 9:39 P.M. PDT
First day in our new home...The Alaska Range. We enjoyed a final night in Talkeetna and another great breakfast at the Roadhouse, but then we hustled out to the airstrip. There was no "hurry up and wait" today, more like just plain hurry up. The weather was good and the pilots were ready to go. Stan and Randy each piloted a big and beautiful Otter on skis into the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier and spit us and our gear out onto the snow...all before 10 A.M. We spent a calm day building camp and reviewing glacier travel techniques. We'd take breaks from time to time to sip water and stare at the giant mountain walls surrounding us. Cloud cover moved in to obscure those walls by our early bedtime. Our intention is to be up at midnight for an alpine start. During the flight in, we could see that the rumors have been spot on. The lower glacier is in excellent condition with very few open crevasses. Even so, we'll go at it early when the surface has the best chance for being frozen solid.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Ben Liken, Bridget Belliveau, Hannah Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 348'
June 22, 2016 - 12:17 a.m. P.D.T.
The final RMI Expeditions Denali trip of 2016 is kicking off. The team assembled in Anchorage today, with a few reunions and a few introductions, and made the traditional pilgrimage to Talkeetna. Bill, our Denali Overland driver, got the van out of the Anchorage rush hour traffic and out onto the open road with big views of the Chugach foothills and the Talkeetna Mountains. After a last stop for provisions in Wasilla, we cruised on up to epic views of the Alaska Range itself just before pulling into Talkeetna. We settled our climbing gear at the airplane hangar and checked in to the venerable Talkeetna Motel. Some of the team ventured out to sample local beer and appetizers, some went straight to the mattresses after long days of prep and travel. We'll dial down on pre-climb details tomorrow morning...Tonight it was unwind and get settled in the land of the midnight sun.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Best of luck Team 8, everyone from Texas to Grand Cayman is cheering for y’all and we’ll be watching as you make your way to the top! Safe climbing and enjoy the ride David Schnautz, love ya long time!
Posted by: Sondra Schnautz on 6/23/2016 at 7:29 pm
KirkMan - Proud of you Bro! Miss you already!
Posted by: Charles Holliman on 6/23/2016 at 2:51 pm
RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Ben Liken led their teams to the Mt. Rainier summit! After some light now and 5 mph winds for the ascent, the weather has improved to blue skies and no wind as they topped out. At 9:30 a.m. the teams began their descent back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Ben Liken made their summit attempt this morning but turned back after reaching 12,500' due to increased winds and cold temperatures. The teams have returned to Camp Muir were they will have a short break before continuing to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Good work teams!
Congratulations to the team! Climbing to 12,500 ft in those conditions is quite an accomplishment. Thanks to the guides for keeping everyone safe. We look forward to giving hugs and kisses to Team Medley.
Love you guys,
Lilly, Maddie and the moms
Posted by: Nancy Connolly on 6/9/2016 at 1:04 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Our last couple of Safari days were chock full of wildlife, natural beauty and exploring. Tarangire National Park certainly delivered. We saw hundreds of elephants dotting the landscape in family groups of fifteen to twenty. We saw thousands and thousands of zebra and wildebeest. Beautiful and exotic birds were everywhere. We saw several great sleeping lions and we looked in every acacia tree for more big cats. Despite the best efforts of our two dueling sharp-eyed naturalists; Driver Joseph and Climber Chris, we never did see the leopards and cheetahs although we were pretty sure they were watching us. Something left for next safari. None of us will soon forget this one though, and the peaceful night we spent out in Kikoti Camp overlooking Tarangire. We watched a troupe of baboons climb a sheer rock face that final evening for no other reason than to watch the sunset from the top of the rock. We'll keep their example in mind -it is often worth going out of one's way to see the wonders of this planet.
Today we are flying back around this gigantic planet toward home. Thanks for following along on our climb and safari.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Great days at Tarangire. Wonderful night at Kikoti Camp. Checked back in at Dik Dik for shower and dinner, then off to the airport. Busy times, but good times... I'll send a roundup from Amsterdam.
Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling in from safari in Tanzania. Hey, we had a great day in Tarangire National Park. We saw hundreds of elephants. We saw a million zebras, gazelles; we saw a couple of male lions sleeping. It was great day, wonderful day. We're at Kikoti Camp, just outside the National Park right now. Unexpectedly, we don't have internet tonight so I'm not sending a dispatch but thought I'd give you a yell and let you all know that we're all doing just fine. And we're looking forward to the very last day of our trip. Tomorrow, we'll go back through Tarangire and we'll make our way back to Arusha. But all is well and we'll be in touch. Thank you.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from Safari in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We spent the day cruising for wildlife in a caldera. Ngorongoro Crater didn't disappoint. There was fairly heavy cloud glued to the crater rim in the morning when we were working around the circumference, but as we dropped into the interior, we got under the weather and enjoyed fine visibility. We saw vast quantities of wildlife including herds of wildebeest, cape buffalo and zebra. There were hippos galore and a solitary black rhino. The big cats stole the show though. At one point a female lion walked out into the road and lay down against the hubcap of one of our vehicles. This was despite a bunch of us leaning out to take pictures and a small traffic jam of land cruisers forming to capture the event. She couldn't have cared less about car occupants. All she knew was that she was hot and that the hubcap was offering a little shade.
Bryson, our driver, had to maneuver very carefully to get the vehicle moving without running over the big cat tail.
On the way out of Ngorongoro, we visited a Maasai "boma", or village, and learned a little about the famous tribesmen clinging to their traditional lifestyle.
Tomorrow, we'll move over to Tarangire National Park.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
It was a little easier getting up and getting going today since we didn't have to crawl out of tents on a mountainside. The gang was on the road, leaving the Dik Dik Hotel by 8:15 AM. It took several hours to wind through Arusha's traffic and to get over to Lake Manyara National Park. But the drive was very much worth the trouble. We rolled back the roofs on the two Toyota Landcruisers and went looking for wildlife. Within minutes, we saw elephants and baboons and monkeys. We ticked species after species, had a great picnic lunch and then saw the main attraction: lions lounging in an acacia tree. It was hard to leave the pair of big cats, but eventually we moved on to see hippos and pelicans, zebras and wildebeests. As the sun got low, we left the park and headed for the Plantation Lodge, our accommodation for the night. All were surprised and pleased to find themselves in the lap of luxury in a beautiful garden setting. We've come quite a way from sleeping on a tilt on cold dirt.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Our last day of the climb started out with perfectly clear skies at Mweka Camp. The team got together for breakfast, mentioning sore muscles from the day before, but with everybody smiling and excited for the finale. After breakfast, our staff sang the "Kilimanjaro Song" while we clapped and recorded everything. A few short speeches were made and tips distributed, before we all headed down the trail. This walk was all in forest -an extreme contrast to our time up in the ice and rock alpine zone just a few hours back. As we dropped 4000 ft, we looked for monkeys and birds and marveled at giant camphor trees. At our finish line, the Mweka Gate, the Dik Dik Hotel had put on a splendid picnic banquet. With full bellies and tired feet we boarded the bus/truck for the ride through Moshi and back to the hotel on the outskirts of Arusha. It was then a relaxing afternoon of getting clean and trying out the hammocks of the Dik Dik. We enjoyed a memorable victory dinner together, recalling with laughter how we'd been utter strangers just a week before. In the morning, the main body of the group will go off on a game-viewing safari. We wish Keith safe travels on his way home and we are counting on spying Peter and Charlotte across some muddy hippo wallow in these next few days.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Congratulations! Can not wait to hear all about. Safe travels
Posted by: Elese Sifly on 9/9/2015 at 4:08 pm
Congratulations to All the members of this great team, including these brave local men. Thank you for sharing these beautiful moments, as always. And now, it is time for a well deserved SA FA RI ! Enjoy
Posted by: Chrystel on 9/9/2015 at 3:14 pm
Sooo excited for you guys! What an awesome experience! Get after it Hannah and crew! Best wishes for some good weather. Happy climbing :)
Posted by: Kate Kimm on 6/25/2016 at 2:42 am
Schnautz!! We are rooting for you! Kick ass buddy. We hope the weather stays perfect for Yall. Can’t wait to hear all about it when you get back!!!
Posted by: Ash, Rick, and TDub Egan on 6/24/2016 at 7:19 pm
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