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After a short hike today we finally arrived at the exit gate of
Kilimanjaro National Park and meet up with more of the Dik Dik staff who had prepared a wonderful lunch for us. It took about two hours to reach the Lodge where we greeted by all of the lodge staff outside awaiting our arrival singing and dancing. It was a very warm welcome and left everyone with big smiles.
As you can guess there were hot showers for all and a few naps too. We finished the evening with a celebration dinner and handed out summit certificates to everyone.
Now it's time to enjoy the success and do a little animal watching!
Safari starts tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Hello from
Camp 1. Today we made a bid to get to high camp but we had to turn around due to thunder storms.
We had planned on moving directly up to high camp today and foregoing our scheduled acclimatization day in order to get in front of a storm that is suppose to hit the mountain soon. That wasn't to be however.
The team made a great effort and had camp packed up and ready to go before 9am. There was a cloud cap on the mountain and as we started the climb toward
Lentz Rocks, the cap dropped and big thunderheads moved in.
We made the conservative call to retreat. After rebuilding our camp the thunder picked up and we had some hail and rain. Right now the wind has picked up but the sky has cleared. Even with the lull we're committed to staying in camp for the rest of the day.
We have plenty of food and fuel and we'll just see what the weather brings in the next few days.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
We bailed out of high camp this morning without too much difficulty. It stayed calm and wasn't even all that cold as we got up, but then snow clouds formed up and blotted out the sun and we felt the true temperatures. We got moving downward at 11:15 AM. The fixed-rope section was strenuous with our heavy packs but conditions were good and so we made fine progress. We were on the last hill overlooking basecamp at 4 PM when we saw and heard a Twin Otter flying out of VBC. This was a good thing, but it was also a little surprising as there was a good deal of cloud and fog hanging around the lower glacier. When we marched in to camp, it was great to see John and the other climbers again. We were told that the Twin Otter crew was intent on flying out to Vinson two more times in the evening and that we were slated for the second of those flights... But as that would be four or five hours off in good conditions -and conditions were deteriorating, we simply built camp again (we are getting fast) and had a pleasant dinner. Sure enough, it socked in and there were no more flights, but we didn't mind much. We are happy to be down safe and happy that the biggest part of our hard work is finished. We'll see what tomorrow brings but now things are largely out of our control.
The team had a fine day of climbing to reach Barranco Camp at 13,100 feet. When we woke and ate breakfast at Shira Camp this morning, there was a mean looking lenticular cloud on the summit of Kilimanjaro. It looked like it would have been a very difficult day to summit. Luckily, we had different plans for the day. We set out at 8 AM walking toward Kibo (the central peak) and gaining altitude gradually. Before too long we passed 14,400 ft and shattered the previous high altitude records for everyone on the team. We cruised right on up to the Lava Tower at 15,200 ft and rolled down the other side to where our amazing chef Benson had prepared a picnic lunch for the team. By this point the clouds had cleared and we had full views of Kibo’s ice fields and massive cliff faces just above. We got walking again after lunch and made fine time hiking down into the gardens of Barranco Camp. At 3 PM we cruised through the last of the Giant Senecios and into our camp. We switched to relaxing with tea time followed by a nice dinner in our colorful dome tent. Tomorrow we take on the great Barranco Wall.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Today we continued our acclimatization with a hike of
Rucu Pichincha (15,411'), a peak nearby in Quito. A teleferico (gondola) carried us to about 13,000', where we began ascending. Although a light rain greeted us on our arrival, the precip quickly gave way to a pleasant mixture of clouds and clear skies. The team made the summit in good style, but unfortunately the clouds obstructed our views. We made it back down to the gondola just in time to avoid a torrential downpour, and returned to the city to relax and prepare for our move to Otavalo. The team is in great spirits and everyone handled the altitude very well!
RMI Guide Taylor Bickford
Hello everyone in the lowlands! It's Team 2 up here at Camp 1 on
Aconcagua. We just found some prime real estate at 16,200 feet. It's a sunny day with some scattered clouds, which made it comfortable climbing.
Everyone is doing great and we are now relaxing in the sun drinking water and eating to recover.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
We had a nice leisurely start to the day today and met at 8:00 for breakfast and more importantly COFFEE! There was no rush today as our agenda was to visit the market of
Otovalo. It just happens to be one of the largest open air markets in all of South America. There were hundreds of vendors selling everything imaginable. Lots of handmade goods and endless nick-nacks. Everyone enjoyed the market and had fun practicing their bargaining skills.
After the shopping spree we loaded up the vehicles and made our way towards
Cayambe, which is the third largest mountain in Ecuador at 18,997'. It was a long and bumpy drive through the rural countryside. We stopped just short of the hut that we will base out of the next few days and hiked the remainder to further help with acclimatization.
The team has just finished a nice pasta dinner and are currently sipping some hot drinks and making our plan for the next few days. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to training tomorrow.
Casey,
Adam, Jaime ( our wonderful local guide) and crew.
The RMI Teams reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today! The Four Day Summit Climb August 6 - 9 led by Mike Walter and the Five Day Summit Climb August 5 - 9 led by Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7:00 a.m. PT. The teams enjoyed a beautiful day on the mountain with clear skies and light wind. They began their descent from the crater rim shortly after 8 a.m. en route to Camp Muir. The teams will continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
The Four Day Summit Climb June 27th - 30th reached the summit of Mt. Rainer today. The teams were greeted with clear skies above 9500' and strong winds. RMI Guides Dan Windham and Tyler Jones and teams began their descent from the crater rim at 9:20am in route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams.
Namaste from Namche Bazaar,
After a much deserved night's rest we left Chukung early this morning, leaving the high glacial moraines of the Imja Khola and making our way down the valley. Our good fortune with the weather continued, despite menacing clouds that rolled in yesterday evening. The morning was clear and warm, giving us amazing views of the mountains as we walked.
We soon left the cold reaches of over 15,000' and descended into a world of color again, first passing juniper and other short green shrubs, then into forest of pines, and finally into a riot of blooming rhododendron trees that accompanied us all the way to Namche - it is a far cry from the ice and rock of the Khumbu Glacier and Island Peak.
After over a week and a half in the high thin air of 14,000'+ the sudden immersion into blooming vegetation, thick air (and we're still at over 11,000'!), and the seemingly bustling streets of Namche has been notable. In Namche we treated ourselves to hot showers and an excellent meal. Despite a long day today the group is in fine spirits, happy to be making our way downhill and looking forward to making our way back to Kathmandu. Tomorrow we hike out to Lukla where we plan to catch an early morning flight back to Kathmandu the following day.
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That certificate will be framed and hung in a place of honor!
So proud! Have fun on your safari! Love you!
Posted by: Tracy O. on 9/12/2013 at 7:52 am
A JOB WELL DONE
Posted by: randy on 9/12/2013 at 5:29 am
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