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Posted by: Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Torres del Paine
We had a nice ride this morning as the Patagonia landscape opened before our eyes. There were a lot of guanacos, think wild alpaca running around the pampas. The view of the Torres was spectacular upon entering the park.
For the birders, seeing some harriers and Magellanic woodpeckers in the first hour of hiking kicked off this first day nicely. The "O" circuit goes counterclockwise around the park. The first portion is private property that the family manages for tourism in cooperation with the national park now. This side is dry grasslands with rolling hills along the Paine River which is a milky turquoise color and full from rain and snowmelt.
Approximately 8 miles brought us to Seron camp, a former ranching outpost turned campgrund. The team is doing well and enjoying some time in the newly installed rooftop style safari tents to get out of the strong wind that has been blowing all day.
We are excited to be out on the trail and away from the airports and hotels for the next 8 days, we will check in from Lago Dickson tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike King and Team
New Post Alerts:
Torres del Paine Trek, February 3, 2024
We woke up early today for the long hike to basecamp. The tents were wet from the fog that rolled through moments earlier and was still visible slowly making its way down valley. After a quick breakfast, we packed our duffles for the trip to basecamp began the longest walk of the climb. It would be 10.7 miles over dry, undulating terrain and across streams fed by snow and glacial melt as we slowly gained elevation. It was the clearest and sunniest day so far. Great for sightseeing, not so great when trekking through a high altitude desert. The summit of Aconcagua even managed to make a brief appearance once or twice along the way. After 10 miles of hard walking we made the final push straight up hill for the last .7 into basecamp. The team crushed the trek coming in two hours under the expected time, far outpacing both guides estimates. This team is Muy Fuerte, as they say here in Argentina. We are definitely feeling the altitude here at 14,500', but it’s nothing a rest day can’t fix. Tomorrow we relax and soak in the base camp vibes while planning our move to the upper mountain.
Today we hiked 11 miles through rolling forest and grasslands. The views of the Paine River and Lake were enjoyable. The team enjoyed sun, wind & rain. Often these happened all at once.
We are relaxing at Lago Dickson, a beautiful camp along a glacial lake that often has ice floating in it. All is well in Southern Patagonia.
RMI Guide Mike King and Team
Posted by: Mike Walter, Abby Westling, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
May 14, 2022 - 10:04 am PT
It was a bit breezy and chilly yesterday, but it made for great climbing weather.
We packed up camp and headed up Ski Hill, continuing up around Kahiltna Pass and into the 11k camp. Glacier conditions were perfect, and the winds abated as we climbed higher. Everyone is climbing strong and doing well. The plan for today is to go back downhill to retrieve our cache at ~9600'. We're sitting in a good position to start pushing higher on the upper mountain. So far, the weather is cooperating with us and allowing for steady progress. We'll definitely spend a few nights here at 11k to acclimate before moving camp higher, but we may try to get a cache in around Windy Corner tomorrow, as the weather is forecast to be pretty nice.
We'll keep you posted on our progress.
Glad to hear you continue to enjoy good weather. Thanks for the updates, they are really appreciated.
Posted by: Maria Alexandra Velez on 5/14/2022 at 6:18 pm
Posted by: Jeff Martin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
On The Map
Jane: So glad things are going so well! Stay warm. Must be amazing. Tell Laura hi.
Teri
Posted by: Teri on 3/25/2012 at 9:26 am
Enjoying the blog. Sounds like its starting to get colder at night, but we know you all are prepared for it.
Can’t wait to hear how the last leg to base camp goes for you all.
Weather here remains unseasonably warm and all flowers, azaleas, dogwoods, etc. blooming easy. They should all be in full bloom and ready for you when you return.
Posted by: john on 3/24/2012 at 12:06 pm
Posted by: Andy Bond, Jack Delaney, Joey Manship
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,000'
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Thursday, June 15, 2023 - 9:07 pm PT
Good evening and welcome back to The Bond Girls Late Night blog, where you get all your juicy mountain deets and feats. Today we woke up to the most astonishing scene of Hunter and Foraker, something this resident Alaskan only sees from time to time from the Fred Meyer parking lot. For almost all of us, it was a frigid night, you can bet for night two at 14,000' some of us will be breaking out the toe warmers. As the sun rose this quickly changed. We ate a big breakfast of bacon and crème cheese bagels and got on the move down to our cache at 13,500'. After about an hour and 40 minutes we were back at our new base camp, where we enjoyed some stretching, field baths, trashy realty tv and naps.
Please see below for all of our members and their spirit animals deemed by me:
Katherine - Tucan / Mongolian horse
Linhardt - earth worm (healthy) / Guinea pig
Joey - clownfish / stink bug
Andy - black footed ferret / sting ray
Scott - eel / camel
Stephan - porcupine / platypus
Andy (guide) - sloth bear / manatee
Jeff - musk ox / horn toad
Jack - north Texas hare / anteater
Steve - pigeon from Italy / moose
Mikayla - gull / sewer rat
Kevin - warthog / Airedale
Shout out to my girl Mack who’s completing a tour oversees here soon, and to all of my friends and family who helped and inspired me to get here.
PS Alex I know your birthday is in July I was just delusionally tired when I wrote that last blog lol.
Signing off for now, Mikayla (Pony Rider / Goldie Locks) and the rest of the girls!
Appreciate the shout out homie, can’t believe y’all’s journey so far! I’m so proud of you Mikayla! Y’all are absolutely killing it! You are gunna have to tell the story on these spirt animal picks when you get back haha!! Stay safe!
Posted by: Mack on 6/17/2023 at 4:42 pm
Hello to Stephan and the other team members. We really enjoy reading about all your adventures and are deeply impressed by your energy, perseverance and team spirit. We are looking forward to more reports and photos of this amazing expedition.
Your family
Posted by: Margret and Hans Schiffer on 6/17/2023 at 5:40 am
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Devin Guffey, Erika Birkeland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,200'
Hello readers,
We woke with hopes of people flying. It snowed over a foot during the night. A light fluffy snow, good for skiing. The clouds lingered and the sun tried to poke out here and there. The once fluffy snow soon turned into nice sticky snow for snowman making. In order for Plane to leave or arrive the runway needed to be stomped down so the planes didn't get stuck. All of basecamp came together on skis and snowshoes to consolidate the snow for the planes to land safely. By late afternoon, the plane that slept overnight revved up its engine and flew away. Five K2 Aviation planes made their landing and two RMI teams made it off. Before four of those planes could U-turn back the clouds rolled back in, and we were told they would try again tomorrow.
Snow began to lightly come down as we got back in our tents and ready for another night. Fingers crossed Saturday clears up and we too can fly off This mountain.
Still at Basecamp,
RMI Guides Hannah, Devin, Erika, and Team
Bags - we miss you and can’t wait to see you! Much love, Enzo and Liv
Posted by: Olivia on 6/4/2023 at 7:28 am
We love you Shihan (Eva)! We have enjoyed being on the journey with you and your team. Cheers to snowman making and the beauty of the journey and the views around you. Excited to see you home safe soon. Much love to all from The Fox Family
Posted by: The Fox Family on 6/4/2023 at 7:03 am
On The Map
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Peter Whittaker gives team's update on the RMI team's rest day
You’ve got a 71 yo man watching your progress ... hopefully I’m not too old to do this adventure did, Kili in 2017 without a problem be safe have fun
Posted by: Stephen WAHMAN on 1/15/2022 at 5:44 pm
Sounds & looks like a great start for the whole team! Greatly appreciate the updates. Safe climbing & take it easy on my old(er) brother;) Tommy
Posted by: Tom Dietz on 1/13/2022 at 7:14 am
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