Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is known for its abundance of animals that call the crater home, some estimates are as high as 30,000 mammals.
We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few of the big cats before the heat of the day.
There were many sightings today of hyenas, zebras, wildebeest, Cape buffalo, ostrich, and countless other birds. We managed to see several lions, including 2 up very close. Apparently it was date night, and things got a little exciting.
We also saw two Black Rhino not too far in the distance, which have become very rare due to poaching.
We wrapped up the day with a visit to a Maasai village not far from the crater rim. The Maasai people are a semi-nomadic tribe that exist almost entirely off of their cattle. The team spent time asking questions and enjoyed being shown around their small and simple village.
We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge
The Four Day Summit Climb August 12 - 15 led by RMI Guide Dave Hahn along with the Five Day Summit Climb August 11 - 15 led by RMI Guide Seth Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today! The teams were approaching the crater rim at 7:20 a.m. PT. They reported clear skies and sunshine, cool temperatures and moderate winds. The teams will descend to Camp Muir and continue down to Paradise later today.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams and to Seth Waterfall for his 101st Summit Climb of Mt. Rainier!
What a difference a day or two can make. The team walked out of Namche and down through the farms and fields of Phak Ding the other morning. In short order, we'd gone from snow, ice and rock to wheat, barley and happy little kids in school uniforms crowding the trails. Erica Dohring and I took the standard six hours to cover the walk from Namche to Lukla under mostly cloudy skies. Compared to the Lhotse Face or the Khumbu Icefall, the stroll to Lukla is not terribly difficult...but sure enough, it ends with uphill just when most tired Everest enthusiasts would prefer for it to be downhill. Through good luck, we didn't get a downpour until we were in the Lukla suburbs and heading for the inn. Our gang was assembled in a spacious and warm dining room, already shuffling cards and drinking tea and settling in for the "airstrip hang" that begins and ends so many of the climbs we frequent. That is the point at which you've done all that you can do with your legs and it is now up to weather and pilots to figure out the rest. I believe our team was ready for the hang to take days since the post-cyclone pattern seemed a lot like pre-monsoon already (translation: clouds giving way to clouds) Pilots in these mountainous regions are known to favor visibility and smart passengers don't quibble with that preference.
We wiled away the afternoon, looking out on the rainy strip of tarmac without much angst over schedules...it being our belief that the team duffels were still buried in basecamp snowbanks anyway and that onward travel without some change in that status was going to be limited. Lam Babu burst the duffel-induced-lassitude around dinner when he announced that he'd received word from Tendi that all of the loads had actually left basecamp as of that very afternoon. We went to sleep in Lukla once more believing that it was possible to get a little lucky on weather. And sure enough, yesterday morning came around sparkly and clear...so much so that during breakfast we watched four planes buzz in and out on the tilted strip. Lukla airport is something similar to a sinking aircraft carrier. There is just room enough for a short-takeoff-and-landing plane to touch down at the lowest end at full speed, flying upward...reverse prop pitch in a rush of air and noise... Jam down the speed to nothing and then quickly taxi into a little corner at the top of the apron so as to get the heck out of the way of the next plane. The aircraft tend to land and takeoff in waves of three and four at a time, every two hours or so (allowing a Katmandu roundtrip) and our scheduled flight was to be part of the second round. Clouds showed up and gathered on the peaks and began to fill the valleys...but not enough to spoil our day. Our flight went off without a hitch or a hiccup and by 11 AM we were checking into hotels in big and dusty Katmandu.
Haircuts, shaves, neck massages, showers, internet, taxi-rides, telephones, televisions...it all came flooding back, just like that. At least a version of it all came back...Katmandu amenities are not exactly the modern comforts that we are spoiled with at home, but they are very welcome, none-the-less. We won't actually head for the international airports without the aforementioned duffels and those -we hope- are on animal backs approaching the Lukla outskirts right now...but then they are subject to the same delays as people (cargo planes don't do any better in mountain-filled clouds) In any case, we expect to be on bigger (less weather-dependent) airplanes in a few days time, winging it over the Pacific. The climb is over. The team still has a few fun get-togethers, including a big dinner with the Sherpa staff this evening, but for the most part now, we go back to being on our own.
There is souvenir shopping and tourism (yesterday happened to be the 56th anniversary of Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary's summit...there were festivities and observances), but then there is also just plain easy hotel lounging. We've all got tons of catching up to do on current events and email. Personally I don't mind the slow pace of waiting for duffels...it isn't simply that the past 10 weeks of Everest climbing were hectic and charged with danger and the fear of failure, it is usually the 10 weeks before that as well, when Everest hangs in the future and must be constantly and vigorously prepared for. By contrast, this after-Everest-and-before-home-limbo-period is quiet and slow-paced. The monkey is off the back for a little while...the rat has been fed, etc. etc.
It may be time to go back and read up on the Everest experiences of the teams that surrounded us for the past season...or to peruse even our own accounts (now that it all can be put in some perspective). Such study and reflection may give us closure...-or possibly aggravation- one never knows...but it will be time to wrap up our thoughts on Everest 2009 in any case. We've all got other mountains -of one sort or another- to climb in the near future.
My hope is that in sharing our trip via text, photos and video, we've given an honest and entertaining glimpse of a place and experience that enthralls us. Having accomplished our personal goals of challenging a big, dangerous and magnificent mountain while keeping safe and coming down as friends, I also hope that we've succeeded in our "business" of demonstrating conclusively that Eddie Bauer is back in the expedition game... to stay.
Thanks very much for following the trip through to its end and for the many thoughtful and friendly comments that have been passed our way.
RMI Guide Mike Walter checked in to say the Mt. Shuksan - Fisher Chimney August 6 - 8 team reached the summit and have completed their descent back to the trailhead.
We spent another day sitting out the wind and snow at 11,000' Camp. We killed time playing trivia for hours in the cook tent. We will continue to patiently wait for the best weather window to move up to our 14,000' Camp. Thanks for following along!
Hello again.
We woke to another beautiful sunny day here in the Khumbu. We started early to beat the traffic and the team made good time, yet taking time to enjoy this peaceful and majestic place.
There were still dozens of loads headed for basecamp as always, because much of the needed supplies arrive via plane or from a few days away by mules.
We also ran into several more friends on the trail headed for Everest and it was nice to say hello and wish them the best.
With a little luck we hope to be back in Kathmandu tomorrow morning!
Keep your fingers crossed for us.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Buenas Tardes! The team is all here and excited to kick off the Mexico's Volcanoes trip. Everyone arrived today and we had our first team meeting in the evening. Some of the group went on to bed while the rest of us went out for a delicious Mexican dinner.
We made an early night of it since tomorrow we hit the ground running and head for our first destination, La Malinche.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Capitalizing on a break in the weather the high winds subsided just long enough to allow us to move up to 17,000 feet for our high camp on Denali. After moving in last night we hunkered down with some full bellies and awoke to a little bit higher winds than we were hoping for, but we're in good shape sitting tight up here at 17 just sort of waiting and watching the weather, so that's all from 17K camp. And I will be checking in soon. Alright. Bye.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Jake Beren checks in after the team's move to 17,000' Camp
Jake, I was just thinking about your BIG day tomorrow and checked in to see if you were still up on the mountain… looks like you are holding strong up there. Sending you some sunshine and awesome weather tomorrow. Hopefully a summit and down for steak and cake soon :) Happy Birthday! hugs, C
Posted by: KC on 6/25/2011 at 9:10 pm
Jake! Happy Birthday!! Once again you’re on a mountain top at the time of your birthday—so no presents for you, my Beemish Boy. I hope your clients are aware that they lucked out, when they drew you as a guide. How does the the iPad respond to the cold? Stay warm!
Love,aged P’s
but we still got up early and went hiking. It would have been hard not to get out of bed with a stunning sunrise lighting up Kwangde - the giant and jagged peak across the valley to our west. We hiked up a steep hill (everything out of Namche is steep) to Syangboche and then traversed through yak pastures until we reached a tea house at 12,400 ft for our first views of Ama Dablam and Lhotse. There were some clouds playing through the area that prevented our seeing Everest. We sat outside, drank tea, and watched. At one point we could see Everest’s South Summit, but the true summit never quite cleared for us. We packed up and headed back down into Namche to rest and browse through the many shops for the afternoon.
Tomorrow we’ll push a little higher in our move to Thame.
RMI guides, Jack Delaney and Jackson Breen, had good news to report from Sandy Camp this afternoon. Their team navigated late season conditions on Mt. Baker and made it successfully to the summit!
Wow such great pictures - you all look like you are having an epic time - once in a lifetime memories people xxx
Posted by: Deb Toft on 2/1/2023 at 7:25 pm
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