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Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Leif Bergstrom, Erika Birkeland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,200'
Friday May 20 - 11:42pm
We made full value out of our rest day today. We woke late, had a brunch of blueberry pancakes and maple syrup, lounged for the better part of the day, and capped it with burritos for dinner. We have had no problem eating well.
Our main entertainment has been a very large team made up of members of the British military. We are all on a similar schedule, and subsets of their team have been filtering into camp the last couple days. As of today, our camp is encircled on three sides. The main constant in the wide variety of British accents constantly around us is the abundance of the F bomb. That word cuts through all accents and after our informal survey today shows up on average as every third word. There has been general hilarity listening to their banter through our tent walls and it was a main topic of discussion over dinner tonight.
We plan to move up to 14 tomorrow. Rested and refreshed after today, it should be done enjoyable climbing.
Posted by: JT Schmitt, Matias Francis, Jackson Breen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
Thursday, May 26, 2022 - 1:09 am PT
Today started with a classic case of the Denali waiting game due to another snowy morning at 11,000' Camp. After breakfast we waited (mostly packed) in our tents to see what the weather was going to do.
As we waited in nervous anticipation, the only sounds you could hear was the flit, flit, flit of snow falling against the tent, the occasional clang of a pot from somewhere in camp, and the ziiiiiip of a tent opening just enough for a restless head to peek out and look up the mountain.
At around 930 the clouds broke enough for us to see that the winds were not blowing around the newly fallen snow, so in organized chaos we finished packing up and departed camp.
We then spent the day in and out of the clouds which saved us from the heat we have become quite accustomed to trying to avoid.
And now we are all set up at 14,000' Camp and looking forward to some rest after a hard week!
RMI Guides JT, Matias, Jackson and the rest of the RMI team.
Enjoy your R&R at 14, and good luck when it’s time to move higher! Great following your excellent progress upwards!
Posted by: Henry & Kathy Huntington on 5/26/2022 at 9:11 am
AMAZING! Keep the post coming. They are a highlight of our day. :)
Posted by: Pat & Amy Breen on 5/26/2022 at 8:08 am
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls in from the Vinson Massif summit!
On The Map
YAY! Congratulations to the whole team. We cannot wait to hear all of the stories!
Safe travels back down the mountain.
We love and miss you and cannot wait to see you!
Lisa/Mom
Posted by: Lisa McGahan on 12/17/2013 at 5:36 pm
Congratulations everyone! Incredibly proud of you and incredibly happy for you! Stay safe and come home soon. Miss you, Sara and Bill!
Posted by: Martin on 12/17/2013 at 4:02 pm
Craig and Eric
Just found the blog today—-in time to wish you a Merry Xmas Sunny skies here in Palo Alto Will have a full house tomorrow with Jake Julia Anastasia Laurie Ryan and Katie
(no snow in Alta so CA is a nice alternative) We will be at Disneyland New Years Eve en route to the Fiesta Bowl on the 1-2nd Your expedition looks awesome and hope the weather and acclimatization allow you to summit! Tons of love and best wishes for an awesome remainder of your time on the mountain.
Posted by: Libby Heimark on 12/24/2011 at 9:00 am
Richard Fitz: opps! last comment was you!
Posted by: Linda Robertson on 12/24/2011 at 8:57 am
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro Climb. Just want to let everybody know that we're doing great here on Kilimanjaro. We've had some technology difficulties with our satellite modem, but luckily today I've got a little bit of cell service. So calling to let you guys know that the last couple of days have been great. We had a nice hike from the park entrance, on day one up to the forest. And yesterday we made it up to Shira Camp, up on the top of the Shira plateau. Today, Day 3, we made our way up to Lava Tower which was about 15,000', sort of a high point for a number of folks on the trip. I am hoping to get that satellite modem going here at some point and will try to get a few pictures out to everybody. Currently the team is doing really well and the weather's been pretty nice for the most part. We just wrapped up dinner here and we're going to head to bed shortly. Our game plan for the next couple days, in they off chance that we can't get a message out, tomorrow we're going to climb the Barranco wall and make our way over to Karanga Valley which will be our last camp before we move up to our High Camp and make our Summit attempt from there. Our goal is going to be to try to get to the summit around 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning on Sunday morning for us. So that'll be Saturday evening for a lot of folks back home.
Just checking in all is good, and we look forward to getting some pictures to everybody as soon as we get an opportunity. So keep your fingers crossed we have good weather for the climb and we'll check in as soon as we can.
Thanks for following,
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in from Barranco Camp, Kilimanjaro.
Just a few short years ago the climbing bug got you. It’s unreal you are ascending Kilimanjaro.
So incredibly excited and happy for you. Look forward to some great pics and stories. Wow!
Brian and Terrie
Posted by: Brian and Terrie Reed on 1/28/2023 at 3:57 pm
Kaitlin! Have an amazing time! Can’t wait to hear all about your adventures! Good luck
Posted by: Steve on 1/27/2023 at 11:13 am
YAY JJ! That’s awesome! I was on your rope with you when you completed your 175th in 2011, it was such a great time that I am coming to do it again next week. You’re a kickass guide! -Andy R
Posted by: Andy on 6/5/2013 at 3:55 pm
Wow JJ ... 200 summits. What an accomplishment! Congratulations!!! Fred K
Posted by: Fred Klingbeil on 6/5/2013 at 10:20 am
Brilliant decision, team and leaders: L’chaim!
Posted by: nsb on 2/19/2013 at 5:41 am
Hurray! Great job, everyone!
Posted by: Caroline on 2/18/2013 at 1:22 pm
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
A great day on Safari, according to our Kili climbing team. We got out early (7:15 AM) on the drive to Ngorongoro Crater. It takes a bit to drive the rough road up onto the crater rim, to cruise along that rim for miles and miles and then to drop down the steep road into the caldera itself. Immediately upon hitting the valley floor, we saw two male lions a few hundred feet from the road. But they might as well have been rocks. They were sleeping so hard that we never even saw an ear twitch. We moved on and began to encounter everything from wildebeest to jackals to hippos and Corey bustards. The abundance of zebra and Cape buffalo and gazelles was stunning. There were herds beyond herds stretching to the distant crater walls. We cruised amongst the ostriches and wart hogs for hours, at one point getting great views of a Cerval Cat on the prowl. Finally we stopped for a picnic lunch and then began our exit of the crater. We stopped at a Maasai village on the crater rim and spent an hour with the villagers as they danced, sang, made fire, threw spears and generally explained why they choose to hang on to their traditional methods in a modern world. Then we went back to that modern world, relaxing for the evening at the very comfortable Plantation Lodge.
Best Regards
Thank you Dave for the colorful and informative blog. We really enjoyed reading it and following you guys ,especially Andrew and Kylie, on this incredible experience.
Posted by: Bruce on 8/11/2022 at 6:09 pm
Posted by: Mark Tucker, Alex Van Steen
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Carstensz Pyramid
RMI Guide Mark Tucker Checking in from Ugimba
On The Map
The adventure continues. What a story. Much love to you all.
Posted by: Mom/Grandma on 6/30/2012 at 7:18 am
That sounds so incredible - thank you for sharing it all. We are sending good thoughts to all of you.
Posted by: lisa mcgahan on 6/29/2012 at 6:07 pm
If anyone sees the “BRIT” soldiers can you tell a certain ADAM OCONNOR that his mum and dad are rooting for him and the rest of the group that fingers crossed they get to the top…
Posted by: David on 5/23/2022 at 2:21 pm
Is Roy Kent climbing with the British group? :) Hello to Chris, Steve and Stu! Good luck on the next stage! Be a goldfish!
Posted by: Kimmy Romine on 5/21/2022 at 12:03 pm
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