Today team Ecuador departed from this countries capital. As stimulating and convenient as things are out the door of our hotel, it was time to say adios to the blaring horns, thick bus exhaust and raucous night life, which we never saw. So this morning we checked out and loaded some 30 giant duffle bags into the mini bus transporting us to our next acclimating climb. I figured if we were to stack everyone's bags on top of each other we could claim the world's tallest pile of mountain climbing stuff. Instead we just put a deep sag into the bus's rear tires.
Ecuador is a beautiful country with growing oil wealth which is obvious in many new infrastructure projects throughout the country. They still have a long way to go though so the 100 miles we drove today took almost three hours. Our stopping point was high above the beautiful town of Otovalo, where tomorrow we will buy all blog followers nice gifts at Ecuador's most famous market. We eventually reached Laguna de Mojanda, a beautiful high mountain lake, once a giant crater, and began our climb toward the summit of Fuya Fuya. The trail up led us through gorgeous grasses and flowers to a steep final section before reaching the 14,000 foot summit. Blessed again by fairly clear skies, we had great vistas of Quito in the distance and lush green mountain sides closer to us. The team got goofy for our summit photo so we chose to rename the mountain Fuya Kung Fuya. Seems to fit...
After returning to the bus we refreshed ourselves by washing up in the lake (no one took the skinny dip challenge) and headed to our house of sun or Casa Sol where we enjoyed cold beers and a delicious dinner. As of yet, no one is going hungry. Nick and I start cooking for the group tomorrow night so that could change.
But for now all is well. We look forward to putting our bargaining skills to use tomorrow and then heading up to our first BIG mountain.
Buenas Noches from Casa Sol.
RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Nick Hunt and Team Ecuador
Safari is over and that means the trip is coming to a close. We are all in a bus headed back to Arusha. We're planning one more shopping mission before heading back to the Dik Dik Hotel to get ready for our flights. Everyone is scheduled to fly out tonight.
It's been a great adventure that was capped off by a wonderful evening last night and a really nice morning game drive. We got extremely close to some elephants and got a great look at a female leopard. Everyone's still having a blast but the idea of heading home to our friends and family is taking hold. Hopefully our travels homeward are all as smooth as the rest of this trip has been.
I would like to give a big thanks on behalf of both my climbing teams this summer to the staff of the Dik Dik Hotel and tour operations and the RMI support team. The program here is excellent and everyone has really enjoyed their time in Africa.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Looks like earlier I posted this message on wrong climb.
Nice achievement, congratulations.
I just wanted to know about current ebola situation and did U guys feel any special effects of that, in terms of special screenings etc. We are planning on doing this early next year. Any information is well appreciated and did the climbers take any special travel insurance and if yes, which one. Thanks in advance
The team is back at the trailhead in the village of Pashpa. The bus is waiting to shuttle us back to Huaraz as soon as the donkeys make it down from the Ishinca Valley Base Camp. Tomorrow I will send a final dispatch and some photos.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Okay! First off...ARGENTINA...ARGENTINA...ARGENTINA!!! Yes, yes, the first 2014 RMI Mount Elbrus expedition is underway. Everyone arrived, everyone is cool, everyone's bags arrived, we are all going on a gorgeous city tour tomorrow of the Red Square and The Kremlin...but C'mon man! Argentina beat Belgium to enter the semi finals!
I can't wait to produce a video of tomorrow's city tour. Moscow is a beautiful place with beautiful people rich in history and culture. Stay tuned! But for now...for all my brothers and sisters in Argentina...Te Amo!!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Today we spent our last rest day of the trip laying around Helicopter Camp (our camp 2). There are actually pieces of a crashed helicopter lying all over camp! Bundles of electronics, sheet metal, etc. can be found scattered about and some creative climbers have even incorporated the debris into rock walls that serve as windbreaks for tents.
Our plan is to head up to Camp Cholera tomorrow morning and make a summit attempt on Friday morning, weather permitting. There is some concern about the wind but we'll see what kind of conditions we wake up to.
Dan would like to send his love to his family; Kristin, Britta, & Anson.
Thanks for following along everyone, we'll try and check in one last time before our summit bid.
Today we decided to take our rest day. All night the wind battered our tents and send snow swirling between the rain fly and tent body. The gusts kept up until the morning but later subsided and turned into a calm, bright, hot day. The team enjoyed the warm weather. They occupied themselves with a chess tournament. They are currently playing for seeding. Tomorrow we are looking to make our carry to 13,600' and Tuesday move to 14,000' Camp. Weather looks to be in our favor, so keep sending those good weather vibes our way the next couple days. Now we must catch some sleep for our day tomorrow.
Casey Grom here checking in with RMI's Kilimanjaro Climb # 2 of 2024!
All is well here in Tanzania and most of the team arrived yesterday morning after some very long flights. It was a short and uneventful ride to our Lodge that is nestled in between Arusha and Moshi and not so far from the base of Kilimanjaro. The team spent the day relaxing and getting adjusted to the nearly 12hr time change.
We had a leisurely morning today and had our first official meeting at 8:30 where we did a round of introductions and then discussed the program for the coming days ahead. We spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up, exploring the grounds of our Lodge, which is incredibly peaceful and has monkeys running around keeping us entertained.
We wrapped up the evening with another delicious meal and plenty of friendly conversations. Everyone is doing well and excited to hit the trail tomorrow and get a little bit of exercise.
Hello again everyone.
We had a slower start today to allow the many porters to hit the ever narrowing trail. Right out of camp we were faced with the only real technical obstacle right out of camp. This hurdle is the great Barranco Wall, which rises about 1,000 feet and looks as intimidating as it sounds. Thankfully there is a nice narrow trail that weaves its way up and through the wall and all the way to the top. Most of it feels more like steep hiking, but there are a few places that require the use of our hands to help us climb up.
The team did a good job of moving steady and allowing a few porters through with their loads precariously balanced on their heads. Which was astonishing to see!
After reaching the top we took a nice break and enjoyed the amazing views of the ice-ladened south face and valleys below. The team continued our hike for a few more hours up and down through a few valleys before reaching camp.
All in all, it took only about four hours for us to reach our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks and the peanuts that are grown far below in the valley.
We spent the remainder of the day relaxing and playing cribbage, which has been quite the hit.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the 2nd Kili crew
Hello everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in again from Kilimanjaro. We woke up to beautiful clear skies again today, which was very, very nice after a bit of rain and snow showers that we got last night. And, to be honest, that has kind of been the trend the last few nights. We've been able to get in to camp generally before any little clouds roll in and we've been getting some sprinkles and there were some snow in the evening, but we have been waking up to clear skies thankfully every morning. Today we left Karanga Camp which is about 13,200 feet or so and we hiked up to our High Camp, which is called Barafu and sits up at about 15,000 feet. Everybody did fantastic and again, we had super nice weather getting up here shortly after arriving at camp. same thing as the last couple nights, we had clouds roll in and start spitting a little moisture on this, but thankfully our gracious crew already had camp set up and lunch waiting on us so we able to pull in and stay dry and then fill our bellies full of good food up here. We took a little nap and then had dinner and then we also discussed the upcoming game plan for tonight's climb. Finally we're here and ready to do it. So everybody's all packed up squared away. They know what they got going on and what they're going to be wearing and bring with them tomorrow. The plan is going to be for us to wake up at 11 p.m.. It's a little busy up here so we're going to try to get out ahead of some some of the groups. So we're going to get up at 11. We're going to try and hit the trail about midnight or so after a small light breakfast with some porridge, and some maybe some fresh fruit and some toast and obviously plenty of coffee. Then we'll hopefully be walking uphill at midnight. If all goes well we should be at the summit somewhere between 6 and 8 hours. I'm guessing we'll be around 7 or so will be ideal and like the last trip. We can all get to get up there to bring the satellite phone and everyone's going to give a call to their loved ones back home, so if your following the blog and this makes it to the blog before we get to the summit, keep your phone handy again. We should be near this summit somewhere between 7 and 8 o'clock Tanzanian time. So if your phone rings, and you get a funny number, it's probably a satellite phone and someone is calling from the summit to say they miss you and wish that they had you there with them. Anyway, that's all for now time to get some sleep, and we'll check in hopefully from the summit and certainly when we make our way back down. Have a good night.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in from High Camp on Kilimanjaro.
Congratulations to the team for the successful summit. A special congratulations to my amazing duo, my husband Stan and son Conrad. I’m beyond proud of you two both for your accomplishment and for your special bond. Good job guys. Keep going! Waiting anxiously for your stories and photos.
Love,
Elena
Posted by: Elena Golovac on 1/28/2018 at 4:30 am
I want to give a big shout-out to my amazing father Randy DeBoer! While most guys retire and take up golf, my pop casually decided to take up mountain climbing and hasn’t looked back since. He always has been and continues to be an inspiration to his family and friends. We love you dad! Can’t wait to hear all about your amazing trip.
Love,
Ty, CC and Margot
Posted by: Ty, CC and Margot on 1/27/2018 at 5:22 pm
It was a great last day in Cheget. The team went trout fishing and relaxed in the rain! Thank goodness we went for the summit of Mt. Elbrus yesterday.
We are continuing to celebrate a safe and successful adventure with great food and good company.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Wow! You guys are having way too much fun! Great job, I’m so proud of you!!
love from Orange County, Mom
Posted by: Ondria Kernan on 1/10/2015 at 11:07 am
Following your adventures, best of luck and grand success
MOM
Posted by: Jane on 1/10/2015 at 4:53 am
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