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Hello, this is Elías and the Machu Picchu trekking team. First of all, we want to apologize for the lack of communication yesterday, but we were in such a narrow valley that our satellite phone wouldn’t pick up the signal. However, we had an awesome day crossing the Continental Divide, from the Pacific side to the Atlantic and dropping to an amazing valley, where we saw herds of llamas moving around. And we had awesome views of Nevado Salkantay, a 6,000+ meter peak, and amazing glaciers. Today we merged with the classic Inca Trail, where we are today. We are just camped here, perched on a terrace right above treeline, and it’s been an amazing day! We went from the dry Andean landscape to the rainforest we have just crossed, and we’re having an awesome time discovering this amazing land of the Inca. We’ll keep you posted tomorrow, as we have our second journey into the classic Inca Trail, and again, we have left behind the three days of incredible hiking up mountain passes in the Andes. That’s all for now! We’ll check in again tomorrow. Bye. RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

June 8, 2014 - 10:49 pm PT The team broke camp for the first time in three days this morning. We loaded our remaining gear into our packs and made the climb up to 14,000'. Even though the sun bore down on us for the last few stretches, we climbed strong and were in camp by mid-afternoon. As a group we are working on efficiency in building camps. So far we have had plenty of time and warms temperatures to put up tents and get organized. We are very strong and efficient when climbing, but on the upper mountain we can't wast any additional energy setting camps. I'm confident we'll get there. Light snow is falling and we are all tired from a long day. Good night. Thanks for following our progress, RMI Guides Eric Frank, Geoff Schellens the UWR team Andy sends love and hugs to his lovely wife Vivian and kids Jessika, Milli, Jayden, Jaylyn and Devon

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Today we packed up our camp at 7,600' on Mt. McKinley and began climbing at 8:30 AM under perfectly blue skies. Our team was strong and did very well on the move, despite the hot temps once the sun was high. 11,000' Camp is currently the size of a small town with all the climbing teams that flew on the same day that we did. After setting up our new camp folks enjoyed an afternoon nap before dinner and hot drinks. We are all happy to be here at 11 camp. Thanks for following along with us - The Upper West Rib Team

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May 22, 2014 - 6:51 pm PT We've been in and out of the clouds all day here at our 14,000' camp on Mt. McKinley. Despite the clouds and requisite light snow, the solar is pumping, and it feels like we're in a greenhouse. We woke on the later side, giving the sun time to make it to us, and ate another big breakfast of hash browns, eggs, and bacon. Anything to get calories in. After a bit of camp tending, we set out for a quick jaunt to our cache at 13,500'. We retrieved all of our food and personal gear, then turned and headed back for camp. The afternoon was for relaxing, drying sleeping bags and clothes, wet wipe bathes, and general self care and rest. More than likely we'll be resting tomorrow and training for the fixed lines. Thanks for reading, RMI Guides Pete, Robby, and Josh

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We awoke in Campo Colera to clear blue skies and light winds this morning, ready for the big pack down back to Plaza Argentina. Within a few short hours we were packed up, ready to roll and heading downhill. There's nothing like using gravity to ones advantage, and the crew did just that throughout the day. Unfortunately we did have to recover all the gear we cached along the way, so our packs got heavier and heavier as we descended. By the time we got to Plaza Argentina, though, the weight didn't matter, and we bellied right up to waiting juice, crackers, olives, and cake bites as soon as the packs hit the ground. Despite being tired from the past couple of days of work, the crew is doing well and still has the energy for yet another spirited round of hearts. Everyone sends their love and thanks for following along! Until tomorrow.,, RMI Guide Garrett Stevens

Our team has all safely arrived in Quito (the capital city), and is presently getting accustomed to the new environment and the high altitude here. Today we went on a city tour of the historical parts of Old Town Quito, where we saw much of the colonial center of town. We learned a good bit of interesting Ecuadorian history from our very knowledgeable and enthusiastic local guide, Jorge. After various stops at historic points of interest we traveled to the hill in the south of Quito known as El Panecillo, where beautiful weather afforded us expansive views down on the city of Quito, as well as views of the mountains we will attempt to climb: Cotopaxi to the south and Cayambe to the north. Next we headed south to the equator, where we were able to stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere! We also visited a very interesting ethnographic museum at this site and we learned about the very diverse cultures of Ecuador. The day ended with a delicious dinner in the relaxing atmosphere of the popular Magic Bean restaurant. Tomorrow we will take our first of two acclimatization hikes. We will take a gondola ride from Quito to 13,500' and begin a hike up the Volcano Rucu Pichincha. The hike will take us up over 15,000' and (weather permitting) will allow for views of the Avenue of Volcanoes. Everyone is doing well here in country, and we're looking forward to getting some exercise on our hike tomorrow. I will check in tomorrow to update you with the events of the day.

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Hello followers!

Today was a big day! Skies were clear which meant we would be flying. The team got their last lattes and drip coffees before making their way to the hanger. The pilot told us half the team would fly then he would come back for the rest of us. This gave the team time to get dialed with sled rigging and tent set up before arriving on the glacier and for those on the glacier time to learn too. As always the flight in was amazing. The views are stunning. The peaks of the Alaska Range are rocky and snowy and big. A bumpy landing got the team all safely on the glacier. The pilots are truly amazing at what they do. After some quick work shuffling gear and rigging up we hit the Kahiltna glacier running. Well not running. Slowly waddling in our snowshoes and heavy packs. We crushed the downhill and made smooth work of the uphill. You can tell the team did great training and it sure paid off with the smooth sailing we had getting to camp. It's all a learning curve right now, trying to get in a groove setting up camp. In a couple days we will be smooth as butter at it. Pizza for dinner always makes the heart and stomach happy. Our outdoor seating had amazing views of the surrounding peaks. Tomorrow we will hopefully do a carry to 9,600' give or take. We are hoping the storm stays away or at least gives us the morning/early afternoon. As for now, we are all getting our gear organized and into our sleeping bags for a well deserved rest.

Goodnight everyone!

RMI Guide Hannah Smith

Wednesday, May 29, 2024 - 4:15 pm PT

Hello again from 17,000' Camp. The views up here have been rewarding.  Our camp is settled above the clouds and other Alaska range peaks. We went to bed early last night with high hopes of getting up for our final summit push. Unfortunately we awoke to less than ideal winds at camp and windy spindrifts on Denali Pass. We started the day with breakfast and hot drinks in our tents to stay out of the elements and have been hunkered down to avoid the cold winds. We’re patient, we’re staying warm and we’re very motivated for another attempt tomorrow!

RMI Guides Lacie, Dustin, Dan and team

Thursday May 9, 2024 – 8:09 PDT

We're back at camp after a good day on the Kahiltna Glacier. We carried a cache of gear and supplies up Ski Hill to around 9700'. Yesterday we had great views and warm temps. Today was quite different, as we were navigating inside a ping pong ball and breaking trail all day. We're hoping for good weather tomorrow so we can move camp up to 11k.

We’ll keep you posted.

RMI Guide Mike Walter & Team

Greetings from 10,000 ft on the flanks of Kilimanjaro. My team hasn’t actually seen Mt Kilimanjaro yet, they are taking it on faith that there is a big volcano hidden somewhere in the clouds. From the Arumeru River Lodge at 7 AM breakfast, there was no sign of the mountain and we didn’t get even a hint of a sighting during our 1.5 hour drive to the Machame Gate of the National Park. Along the highway and under the clouds, there was plenty to see. We watched Tanzanian kids going off to school and their parents heading off to work. We saw people laboring in corn fields and vegetable gardens. We watched plenty of buses and taxis stopping to let folks on or off. As the road steepened closer to the mountain, people were tending to banana groves and coffee plants. The park gate itself was a busy place as trucks and buses unloaded and porters were issued loads and signed up for their week of hard work. We got signed in with the National Park and were issued our permit. At 10:20 AM it was finally -after months of planning and training and after days of travel, packing and prepping- time to start walking. Our local guide staff, Naiman as leader, Freddy and Philibet, Jorome and Gamma led us up a road into the big trees. The road became a trail after 30 minutes and the trail eventually started going uphill steadily. It was all made slightly easier by the cloud cover keeping the sun off of us. In fact it was a perfect temperature for walking. We came up 4000 vertical feet in five hours, which included a few lunch/rest breaks. In the process we got out of the big, lush forest and into the “giant heather” of the Moorland vegetation zone. The team took it all in stride -so to speak- and we pulled into Machame Camp close to 3:30. We were pleased and surprised to see the fine camp our staff had already built while we hiked. Our sleeping tents were ready for us to move into and a snack and hot drinks were waiting for us in the dining tent. There was time for a welcome rest between tea and our 6:30 dinner. Chef Tosha came into the tent as darkness fell and dinner was served to greet the team and introduce his assistant cooks and wait staff. We were amazed and pleased to have such a fine meal halfway up a mountain... assuming again that we really are on a mountain. Maybe we’ll see it tomorrow. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map