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Jambo,
After the long day of travel, we decided to take full advantage of sleeping in this morning. We sat down for breakfast around 9:00 am, and then started in with our first team meeting of the trip. The last member of the team arrived this morning, which makes a total of eleven in our group. For most, this will be their first climb. For everybody, this climb will break all previous trip altitude records.
We spent much of the morning going over the details of our Kilimanjaro climb, covering the route, distances, and elevations of the camps, how to best pack all of the gear needed for the mountain, and the daily routines that we will need to use in order to climb efficiently at altitude. We ended the meeting with a thorough equipment check for each climber just to make sure we have everything needed for the next seven days.
We headed into Arusha after lunch and spent several hours exploring the main market, with its many vendors selling everything from Maasai medicines to some of the biggest avocados one has ever seen. Then we made our way to the tourist part of town to buy some small souvenirs and local handicrafts.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was already dinner time and we sat down to a wonderful 5 course meal. It's early to bed tonight as we have an early wake up call in the morning. Our hope is to be driving to the Machame Gate at 7:30 and walking the first stretch of trail by 10:30.
We'll check in tomorrow from Machame Camp.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
The Four Day Summit Climb July 2 - 5 led by Chad Peele reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. It's a beautiful day with light winds, warm temperatures and clear skies. The team began their descent from the crater rim at 8:30 a.m. en route to Camp Muir. They will return to Paradise later today.
RMI Guide Casey Grom led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz July 1 - 6 to the summit today. The team reported great route conditions and a beautiful day on the mountain. This six day seminar will return to their high camp at approximately 10,000' for their final night on the mountain. The group will finish their training and descend to Paradise tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
Weather forecast was right. Winds picked up last night and didn't slow down until 8 am this morning. We estimate that the wind speed was a steady 30 mph and gusts of 50 mph. The good news is that besides a few cut guidelines, our tents stayed in place with no damage. Nobody slept that much so this morning our stoke score descended a few points. Once the wind slowed down we had a late breakfast and packed for the carry to Camp 2. The first hour and a half we walked uphill on a steep trail up the col Aconcagua-Ameghino (17,500'). Once we got to the west side of the col we were exposed to the cold wind that was still blowing on that side of the mountain. It took us 2 more hours to reach Camp 2. The descent to Camp 1 was very quick, just 1:10hrs.
As I write this Garrett is cooking dinner, which smells great, so our stoke score will get to 8 points! Hot drinks are ready so we will be sending a new dispatch tomorrow during our well deserved rest day at Camp 1.
Gabi and the RMI Aconcagua expedition
The clouds cleared last night, and we had a beautiful view of a moonlit Cotopaxi and a starry sky (with views of both the North Star and the Southern Cross) as we went to bed. After a restful night and a great breakfast at the hacienda Chilcabamba, we headed off into Cotopaxi National Park. An hour hike from the end off the road led us to the Cotopaxi climbers' hut--a spacious, clean, and comfortable hut at 16,000'.
This afternoon we are resting, drinking hot tea, and getting used to the thin air at this altitude.
Tomorrow we will hike to the glacier to review essential climbing skills before our summit attempt, which will begin with an alpine start tomorrow night.
Today we went for our first acclimatization hike to Rucu Pichincha, one of the volcanoes that frame in Quito. We took a Gondola from 10,000' to 13,000', and then hiked to around 15,200'. The weather was very nice for hiking: a bit breezy and cloudy in the morning, and then sunny and warm in the afternoon. We had views of the impressive glaciated volcanoes Cotopaxi, Cayambe, and Antisana on our descent. Everyone did very well with our first venture up into that type of altitude - and it was an altitude record for many on the trip- hopefully there will be a lot more of those to come!
Last night we dined at a very nice restaurant that served typical Ecuadorian cuisine. Everyone sampled different local dishes, including cuy (guinea pig)- an Ecuadorian delicacy.
Tomorrow we are off for another acclimatization hike to the climbing hut on the Ilinizas, and we'll spend the night at a hacienda before heading on towards Cotopaxi.
I will check in tomorrow.
Today the entire team was assembled for the first time. With a couple last minute emergencies, the group is now down to eight. We are disappointed some folks had to cancel, however we are happy to report that all who planned to make it here are in country with luggage in tow.
After a quick orientation we were shuffled onto the bus for a tour of Quito and a trip to La Mitad del Mundo (The Middle of the World). This is not a reference to Middle Earth, but instead is a museum at the Equatorial Line. We were treated to a variety of scientific representations of the Coriolis Effect. Two members of the team were able to balance an egg on a nail. In reality, this is possible anywhere in the world but Dustin keeps a close eye on this activity for when it comes time to assign rope teams.
Our tour then proceeded to El Panecillo and old town Quito. It rained for most of the day, but we made the most of it and it cleared up just enough on top of El Panecillo to have a great view of the city.
By the time we returned to the hotel most of us were pretty exhausted. Many team members' flights arrived late last night so people were given the choice to run around town or just relax in the rooms. I think most chose sleep!
We are all in good spirits, healthy and ready for our first acclimation hike tomorrow up Rucu Pichincha.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
The
Five Day Climb led by RMI Guide
Alex Halliday reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team experienced good weather and a good route for their climb this morning. The team left the summit crater of Mt. Rainier shortly before 8:00 AM. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon and hearing about their time on the mountain.
Way to climb!
Today we visited the famous
Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is home for more than 25,000 animals that reside here year round. We stared seeing the 25,000 with the not too elusive herd animals. We saw seemingly hundreds and then thousands before we knew it! Soon enough the world of big cats became the focus. A couple of nice sightings of large meat eaters got the team's attention. Many hyenas, jackals, ostrich, plus countless other huge birds brought us to our spot by a hippo lake for lunch.
Just after lunch we observed a small pride of lion trying to take down two different Cape buffalo. The second one ended up against our Land Cruiser. And in the battle our vehicle was charged and dented by the bullet proof horned skull of the Cape buffalo. A mark of bush life not many wear. While our vehicle bears the scars of this battle, we were unscathed.
We are back at the fantastic Plantation Lodge for the night. Tomorrow we will venture to Tarangire National Park for more game viewing.
RMI Guide
Mark Tucker and team
Hello from Shira Camp,
It rained a little last night, but when we woke up this morning, the sun was trying to shine through the cloud cover. While the sun never completely came out, we had a dry day with perfect temperatures. The weather even cooperated so that we could have a nice lunch stop along the way to our camp. We got out of camp early today in hopes of getting a little head start and be in front of the other climbers and porters. But we weren't the only group trying this strategy, and we ended up having a fair amount of trail traffic getting up the first climb out of camp. It's a narrow trail, so we just took our time and enjoyed the views around us. On the section after lunch, we got to see quite a few flowers starting to bloom, thanks to the recent rains. Usually this is a pretty dry portion of the trail as we traverse west towards the
Shira Plateau, but today there were numerous little streams which were all flowing with water. The mountain above us is still covered in the dusting of snow from a few days ago. It is really beautiful and is giving us lots of great pictures.Today was a short day of hiking and we made it to camp with plenty of time to enjoy the Shira Plateau. Of course we had popcorn and other snacks waiting for us when we arrived. And we spent a big chunk of the afternoon snacking, drinking tea, and sharing some stories. A perfect reward for the 2500' we climbed today.
Tomorrow, we are going to set a bunch of new altitude records when we go to 14,900', at the base of Lava Tower. Stay tuned for our next dispatch from Barranco Camp.
Best regards,
RMI Guide
Jeff Martin and Team
On The Map
Jambo from the Dik Dik,
We are still one bag down, but otherwise this group is ready to leave early tomorrow morning. We did spend the day going through all the details about our climb and what we might expect along the way as ascend the mountain over the next seven days. Next we focused on gear and equipment, discussing the difference between nice to have and need to have, as well as what to pack in our mountain duffel and what is carried in our day packs. This group did an excellent job in bringing all the right gear so we did not have to spend too much time doing the equipment checks and weighing our mountain duffels.
It was raining most of the day, so rather than go out for an afternoon hike, we stayed indoors, with time well spent recovering from the eleven hour time zone difference, and sending out those last few emails before leaving behind the last of the wi-fi connectivity that we will have for the next week.
We sat down for our four-course dinner, and had a special treat tonight. Two of our climbers are celebrating birthdays. The staff prepared a wonderful cake for this occasion and rolled it in on a cart after dinner with all the candles lit up and everybody singing. Our two climbers were definitely surprised.
We have set our alarms for an early wake up, and hope to be driving towards
Kilimanjaro National Park by 7:30 am. Tomorrow, we'll check in from our first camp on the mountain, Machame Camp.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Congrats Spencer Guinn! I will cook you a steak when you get back.
Posted by: Brandt Dooley on 7/5/2011 at 9:40 am
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