Hard to believe we were at 10,000' in the "Giant Heather Zone" just this morning. We had a big blue sky overhead, which hasn't been exactly common on this trip. It rained at some point in the night, cleaning the dust out of the air and making everything fresh and new. After breakfast, we watched as our 57-man support team sang and danced through an excellent song about our shared adventure. We were once again amazed at the talents of our porters, cooks, guides and camp staff. The morning hike down 4000' to the Mweka Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park was easy, by our standards. We quickly got into the forest zone and the big trees and listened to birds singing as we walked. We reached the end of our climbing trip by mid-morning and were amazed and surprised to sit down to a fine outdoor picnic set up for us at the park gate. The ride back down through Moshi and along the highway toward Arusha kept each of us glued to the windows, gazing at people, shops, farms and Tanzania in general. Coming back to the Dik Dik Hotel was quite relaxing. We were greeted as friends by the staff and made very welcome. It was an afternoon of showers and catching up with the electronic world. Our victory dinner was a chance to take stock of the trip so far and an opportunity to say goodbye to Richard and Kurenai who will fly out tomorrow as the rest of us go on safari.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The day went like clockwork. We had a great breakfast and then hopped in our vehicles for a short drive to the entrance of the Ngorongoro National Park. The day was cloudy and cool to start, but by the time we descended some two thousand feet, to floor of the largest unbroken and unflooded caldera in the world, the sun was a shining. I would guess that we only saw about 20% of the 30,000 animals that live in the crater. On our way back to the amazing Plantation Lodge for another night we stopped into a Masai Village for a tour and some special shopping options. Tomorrow brings us to the home of more elephants per square mile than anywhere else in the world, Tarangire National Park. Somebody has to do it, wish you were here.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hello everybody. This is Jake calling in from Boston Basin up in the North Cascades checking in after a great day of mountain adventure. Eric Frank wanted to let everybody know that they are working well on Torment-Forbidden Traverse and they were on the top of Torment, I think around noon today. Nice work fellas. Thomas Greene and I are out with James, James and Steve up out on Sharkfin Tower today and heading for the West Ridge tomorrow. So cross your fingers for good weather and we will be checking in tomorrow afternoon. That's it from the Basin.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Coffee and Quesadillas is what rest days are all about! This is team #1 here on Aconcagua at Camp 1 (16,500’). After our carry yesterday the team definitely earned a day to acclimatize, rest, and recover after a good long day’s work. Everyone is doing just fantastic. We’re continually eating up quesadillas, drinking coffee, telling stories, and just having a good time.
The weather is pretty decent a little bit of wind. It looks like there might be a bit of a change, but overall not too bad. So tomorrow our plan is to wake up early, break camp, and then move to Camp 2 at 18,000’.
Everyone wants to say hello to friends and family back home and thanks for following along. We will touch base with you again and let you know how our move to a new altitude at Camp 2 on Aconcagua goes. Take care everyone!
Ciao from Argentina,
RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team
Sounds like the climb is going great & the food fantastic.
Robert, Lillypoo keeps looking out the window for you, You better bring her back a big Argentina steak bone!
South Col - 26,000 feet
After the early dinner, and into the sleeping bag full of boot liners, socks, water bottles and miscellaneous items you don't want frozen, which is another reason why it's an uncomfortable place to be.
Wake up call 10:10 pm.
Some climbers get a couple hours of sleep, others not. Lucky for the team, no interruptions during rest period. Seems like the other groups are taking care of their own issues, or the South Col climbers are not yet aware of anyone in need of help. Always a tough place to feel very relaxed, but in the tent and horizontal for a few hours will help get some strength back for the climb ahead. I remember one time at the Col, a guy who had just come down from the summit the day as I arrived at the Col, he just opened up my tent, stuck his head inside and started talking to me and my partner for at least two minutes before he realized that he did not know who we were. Scary, I promised myself never to be that out of it.
They have been breathing oxygen while resting, so dry mouth and feeling a bit rough because of the extreme altitude, are par for the course. You just have to shake it off and start getting ready. Fire the stoves for more tea, coffee, hot juice whatever you can choke down and don't forget the calories, you are going to need them. It's not optional, it's mandatory to get some food on board, no easier way to make the summit almost unreachable than no gas in the tank. How many layers? Did I put new batteries in my headlamp? Are these my special summit socks I have been saving? Goggles, sunscreen, sunglasses? Top off the water bottles, lunch packed? Extra gloves, rip open hand warmers to get them started, knife in pocket? Did I pack my lunch and some treats in easy to get at pockets? Camera, where's the camera? Oh, right here where it's supposed to be. All this and more in under one and a half hours because it's game time at midnight.
I wont bother them again until 12 a.m. As news becomes available you will be the first to know.
This is so cool! What's next?
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Perfect day for moving on up. We took advantage and climbed to 17,200. The team was already roped and moving toward the headwall at 8:30 AM when the cold shadows still covered the entire basin. We got much needed sun at the first rest break. It was a pleasure as always to top out the ropes at 16,200. We broke into our cache for a few essentials... just to make sure the guide packs were heavy enough for climbing the West Buttress. The spectacular walk up the crest went smoothly for us and we rolled into 17,000' Camp at 3:15. As usual, it was tough to build a solid and safe camp at such a high elevation just after arriving. But we got it done and sat down to a nice dinner inside our dining tent. Snow conditions on the route to Denali Pass are still unstable so there is no chance for us to go for the summit tomorrow.
We'll keep evaluating to see whether we get a chance on following days.
Another big day out in East Africa. It was tough to leave the comfortable Plantation Lodge this morning, but we had things to do and places to see. We stopped for some plain old tourism in the morning--shopping for gifts and souvenirs. Next up was a visit to a Maasai village. The Maasai are famous among the many tribes of Tanzania for holding onto their traditional ways. The villagers demonstrated their chanting and singing. They showed how high they could jump and invited our team to join in the competition. They brought us into the central corral, built of thorny branches and trees arranged in a tight circle, where their cattle are protected from predators each night. After demonstrating building a fire without matches, they explained a little of how their families are structured and welcomed us into their well-built but very small homes made of sticks, mud and dung. Our team tried bargaining for some of the handmade craft pieces the Maasai women were offering and then we got on the road for Tarangire National Park.
Tarangire is a vast park encompassing three parallel river courses. As soon as we were past the giant baobab trees that mark the park entrance, we began seeing zebra, impala and wildebeest in such numbers that we began taking these animals for granted. We got selective, only wanting to slow down for giraffes and elephants. None of us were casual or blasé about seeing a big sleepy leopard draped over the branches of an acacia tree. He or she (there was some debate) was exceedingly beautiful. We spied a lioness watching the world from a camouflaged clump of brush on a riverbank. And we saw many elephant families of mothers with their young ranging from 6 months to a year or two. We watched them feed and rest in the shade, we saw them using their trunks as straws to pull water from underground. We saw grassy savannas and thickets of trees and palms. Essentially we saw wildlife and wilderness from horizon to horizon. When we were deep within the park, we entered Balloon Camp, our lodging for this, our final evening together. We savored an evening watching sunset, moonrise and “bush television” (a campfire) before dinner.
The adventure isn’t finished just yet, we still hope for new discoveries in the morning...but everyone has airplanes to catch at some point tomorrow.
Best Regards,
Dave Hahn
Thursday, June 20, 2019 - 11:09 PM PT
Well, we did it and several entities tried to tell us it wouldn’t happen! Last night the weather forecast failed to mention the building high pressure and instead called for mostly cloudy skies, snow and light wind. We got up at 5 am and there were clouds over the summit and blowing snow. At 7 am the upper mountain was blue bird with a few clouds out to the North. We got the Team going and then the 17 Camp traffic jam merging onto the Autobahn formed right in front of our eyes. It’s like driving down the highway and you're thinking, “damn I am making great time” then 30-car pile up in the blink of an eye. We pumped the brakes and saw an opening, waited about 15 minutes in the sun and 15 in the shadow of Denali. A guided group had an issue and there were three ropes pulled over so we swooped into the HOV lane only to experience an average commute to Denali Pass.
From the pass we ascended towards Zebra Rocks, a steep rocky ridge that is comprised of white granite and a black rock, it’s name escapes me due to altitude, sun, exertion and a little CO from the stoves. After topping out in the mellower terrain above Zebra we meandered towards the Football Field with views of the Farthing Horn and Arch Deacon’s Tower formations. The group had put in a big effort and there were a few who thought they had reached their high point, only problem was that it was more mental then physical. We rolled through the small hills into the Football Field for a warm break just below Pig Hill. Once up Pig Hill we were in the cold wind on the Southside of the summit ridge as we rounded the Denali Horn. A short stint brought to the Northside of the corniced ridge and we were in calm air and warm. We topped out at 4:15pm and enjoyed amazing views of the lower glaciers and really all of North America cause there was nothing on terra firma higher than us.
It’s been a great expedition and the summit on a great day is just icing on a 20,320’ cake. Tomorrow we descend to 14 Camp and from there the weather and fatigued legs will dictate when we hit the airstrip. There’s still a lot of terrain to cover and we have to collect all our cached gear, food, trash and human waste. The full packs and sleds to the airstrip will be a rite of passage for the Team, they don’t know yet but their hearts are going to break on the last hill into the airstrip but beers and burgers heal all of Denali’s aches and pains. Thanks for following along, this isn’t the last post but we might not get to another one until we hit Kahiltna Glacier Regional airport...no fake prestige airline clubs just some buried treats in the snow for an amazing group of climbers who have been an absolute pleasure to spend the last 16 days with.
RMI Guide Mike King & Team
We had a near perfect day to make our carry to Camp 1 (16,200'). Waking early to beat the heat, we bumped a load of food and equipment a few thousand feet higher on the mountain. This will allow us to move to Camp 1 with reasonable weight so that we aren't too spent by the time we get there. The team managed the carry well today and our plan is to patiently rest tomorrow and recover for our upcoming rotation up high. Another day to build our acclimatization so that when we move higher we are prepared for the effort to climb this beautiful mountain.
RMI Guide Jake Beren & Team
Hearing your voice today warmed my heart. Your girl is very proud of you and she is counting the days until you summit and return home. I love you baby. 143
Sherri
Posted by: Sherri on 12/28/2013 at 2:38 pm
Bill and Team! WOW! I have been enjoying watching this trek from afar. You’ll have the best stories to tell. Onward and upward!
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Sounds like the climb is going great & the food fantastic.
Robert, Lillypoo keeps looking out the window for you, You better bring her back a big Argentina steak bone!
Miss you,
Jo
Posted by: Jo on 12/14/2012 at 4:12 pm
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