Entries By mark tucker
What a commute. It seems like I left days ago to get to the office, (actually, that is true). It feels so good to get on the trail. The charm of the city is OK but being here in the Everest region of the Nepal Himalaya, is tough to beat.
The flight into Lukla is always a bit hairy for us in the back of the plane but it is business as usual for the pilots. Local support has been stellar as usual. Thank you Sagar and Kili Sherpa of High Altitude Dreams for all your hard work in getting our team to this point. We were on one of the first flights from Kathmandu to Lukla this morning, not too bumpy. We were greeted by our Lukla staff at the landing strip. All of our gear arrived in good shape and we started along the trail, our first three hour tour in the multi-day trek to Everest Base Camp. We arrived in Phakding in good style. Looking so forward to what usually is my first real sound night's sleep to the music of the Dudh Kosi river, which is situated just outside my room. Location of couple of good sized floods, one in 1977 from an avalanche off of Ama Dablam, (a nearby peak standing at 23,355 ft) and in 1985 when a glacier lake broke loose. Not to worry, I won't miss a wink over it. Love to live on the edge!
-- RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Living on the edge (of the river) is the great adventure for the day. Well, maybe the exhilarating flight on the tiny airplane between two mountains was a greater adventure. The trail is great. It is plenty busy but not overcrowded. The hike was mostly downhill, which was a great way to ease us into this trek. We are enjoying the warm weather before we move up to higher & colder ground. Mark has been encouraging us to eat food often to keep our energy up. And the tea houses serve large quantities of food. It has become a running joke in the group since John is not a big eater. John keeps claiming that he is being force fed. All kidding aside, the team as a whole is in good spirits and is getting along well.--Kim
This has been a long day, but a fantastic start to the trek. We headed for the airport at 5:00 am, trading the crowded noisy streets of yesterday for more space and speed. Mark arranged for boxed breakfasts to ensure we were nourished and ready for the trail when we arrived.
We moved through the airport smoothly and quickly - which is saying something given the throngs of people all heading off on their own adventures. Mark and the High Altitude Dreams crew were all over the details and in no time we we in the air heading for Lukla. The flight was short, the runway was shorter. It took a few minutes to collect our gear and sit down in a nearby teahouse for breakfast - again.
After a couple hours on the trail we stopped for drinks and food with a great view of Kusum Kangguru. A couple hours later we arrived at our home for the night - and had lunch - again. The rest of the day we just hung out and relaxed, saving energy for our first real uphill push. I'm sure dinner is soon. -- John
On The Map
With over two days of flying behind us, our team has arrived in Kathmandu. All of the luggage has arrived and everyone is excited for the adventure to Everest Base Camp and climb of Island Peak.
We will meet for dinner tonight to discuss the details of the upcoming days. Our plan for tomorrow will be to take a tour of Kathmandu and then pack and organize our gear for the flight into the Khumbu Valley.
We will keep you posted on our adventures in Kathmandu!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Kim,
Thanks for the link to your trip. I remember your mention of wanting to do the Everest base camp trip. Kudos to you for making it reality! I am envious. Take lots of pictures so that those of back home can live vicariously through your experiences. Oh, one more thing, keep a journal. :-)
Michael
Posted by: Michael Brewer on 3/23/2012 at 9:30 pm
Kim Cavanaugh,
Good luck, take care, and I am proud of you!!
Paul
Posted by: paul mann on 3/23/2012 at 11:32 am
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hello this is RMI Guide Mark Tucker checking in from the Dik Dik Hotel in Tanzania. We completed our safari today after an exciting night at the Kikoti Camp. There were elephants just outside our doors last night and literally brushing up against the tent. We returned to the Dik Dik to collect all of luggage, rest and relax. We had another great meal here before being transferred to the Kilimanjaro International Airport for our out bound flights.
Thanks to all of our team members for a great adventure. We hope to you all another time!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker checks in as the trip comes to an end.
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo!
Today we visited the Ngorongoro Crater. It was a bit cloudy and cool on the way in this morning so we visited with the friendly Maasai Village for dancing and shopping. The hut life may not be for everyone but it is their way of life and they have adapted just fine. Visiting the village is a nice option to pick up some handmade trinkets and support the local economy, then down in the crater we went. Still a bit cool so we were all glad to have brought some of our fine First Ascent warm gear to make the safari vehicle ride more comfortable. The cats and rhino tried to hide but our pro spotter-of-a-driver was able to point out these magnificent animals. We were in awe of all the types of animals that lingered around the beautiful forest of huge Acacia trees. Luckily we spotted some lions just before we left the park entrance just beyond the crater.
The team is doing well and looking forward to our five-course dinner at the luxury Plantation Lodge.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
This group of climbers sure knows how to adapt to safari life.
After breakfast we set good bye to our home-bound teammates and jumped in our vehicle for the plains of Africa. We made a quick stop in the town of Arusha to fill our cool with refreshing beverages and then headed out of town. We arrived at Lake Manyara, our first of three National Wildlife Parks that we will be visiting while on safari. Lake Manyara National Park is not the largest park around but it is easy to get to and has a great number of wildlife. Personally, it is one of my favorite places as it is home to the Strangler Fig tree. Right as you enter the park these amazing trees are all over the place, and are homes for groups of monkey and baboon. When mature the pure size and color of the trees are amazing with huge fluted trunks to boot. We had a picnic lunch in the middle of the bush surrounded by nature and otherwise all to our selves. A few tosses of the frisbe for a little exercise and back to work looking for animals to fall prey to our camera lens. Elephants, zebra, Wart hog, giraffe, Rock Hyrex, Dik Dik, Impala, Water buck, Cape Buffalo, Hippo, Vervet Monkey and loads of birds under clear skies in the afternoon.
When we had taken lots of pictures and explored most of the park we headed off to the Plantation Lodge. We will spend the next two nights at the beautiful hotel near the Ngorongoro Crater. Tomorrow we will head down to the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater looking for cats and rhino, and other animals that might cross our path. After a climb of Kilimanjaro this is the life!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo from the Dik Dik Hotel,
From our last camp on Kilimanjaro we could see the upper mountain in the moon light. It always seems crazy that we were way up there just hours earlier. Probably only about five miles as a crow files but it seemed like a million after our long day.
We had a great dinner at Mweka Camp and everyone quickly retired into their sleeping bags. Sleep came easy back in the thick air of 10,000'. This morning we trekked the final three and a half hours to the Mweka Gate and enjoyed a nice closing ceremony with our mountain staff. It takes many local guides, cooks, porters and mountain staff to complete such an amazing adventure and we are grateful for their help and support.
We completed our paperwork with Kilimanjaro National Park and had a quick lunch in the courtyard before loading our vehicle for the drive back to the Dik Dik Hotel. After nice hot showers we enjoyed a wonderful celebration dinner at the Dik Dik's restaurant.
Tomorrow three of our team members will start their travels back to the U.S. For the rest of us, our adventure continues to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Parks for a game viewing safari. We can't wait! The Dik Dik Staff is already getting our Land Cruiser ready for our morning departure. Great trip so far and still more to come!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Our team had a great summit day on Kilimanjaro. As we left Baranco Camp, our high camp, at 15,000' on our summit attempt there was a thin layer of clouds that insulated us and provided a nice temperature for our midnight climb. The beautiful and bright moon lit our way and our headlamps remained in our pack. As we reached Stella Point, 18,680', the wind picked up and we added more layers of clothing as we continued our ascent. As we reached the true summit of Kilimanjaro, Uhuru Peak, the winds subsided and we enjoyed spectacular views in all directions.
We have now reached Mweka Camp at 10,000' and our last camp on the mountain. It has been a long day and everyone is tired from their efforts ascending and descending this mountain. I would like to thank the team for a great job on the climb and for the mountain for allowing us to stand on the summit today.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Congratulations on your successful climb. Donna we heard you on the phone call from the summit! Looking forward to seeing you and Doug and hearing (and seeing) about the climb. Have a safe trip home.
Posted by: Ken and Judee Fish on 8/15/2011 at 6:40 am
Sounds like a great start to your adventure John & Kim. Of course John makes it sound as though you are eating as much as hiking. Glad the team is in good spirits - stay that way! Love you two~
Posted by: Kerry Ann on 3/23/2012 at 9:07 am
View All Comments