Another long, but amazing day out on the safari circuit for the Taos team. We had a relaxed 9 AM departure from the Plantation Lodge. Adamson and Makubi took us to a Masai village for a brief tour. We danced a little, jumped high, and got inside some small, earthen dwellings to understand how this prominent Tanzanian tribe lives without modern conveniences. Then it was on to Tarangire National Park. Before long we were deep within this immense network of winding dirt roads, baobab trees, twisting river valleys and animals animals animals. We no longer stopped for individual zebras and wildebeest, since we were seeing thousands of them. After the hundredth giraffe and the five hundredth elephant, we started reserving our picture snaps for the babies in the bunch. We covered mile after mile, exploring and watching out for wildcats, water bucks, elan, impalas and gazelles. Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater were each wonderful, but both were discreet areas with natural borders hemming them in. That isn't the case with Tarangire. We could see wildlife spread out to the horizons in all directions... the Africa we'd dreamed of. By day's end, we pulled into Balloon Camp, an excellent "tent" hotel out in the bush with armed guards to escort us from one tent to another. Those guards stood vigilant as we enjoyed an outdoor campfire and sumptuous barbecue buffet under the stars (and clouds). No lions, leopards, or cheetahs intruded on our wonderful dinner but we are still hoping they'll come for breakfast. It will be our last morning of Safari and we are still excited to see just what might be out there.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
June 23, 2017 10:30 pm PST
Greetings from 14 Camp on Denali!
Our team took advantage of stable weather and strong legs today to retrace our steps back up to 14,200 feet, this time with tents and sleeping bags in tow. We were excited to ascend the steeps of Motorcycle Hill and Squirrel Hill for the last time, and lucky for us, windy corner proved not so windy after all.
The rest of the day was devoted to digging in our new camp, which is looking dialed and styled. The team is looking forward to having some time to relax and adjust to the new altitude tomorrow, with a non-zero chance of Horiskey-style blueberry pancakes.
Ciao,
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
The whole group is here and today we put skis on our feet for the first time. We found some nice corn on the lower flanks of Lonquimay that made for smooth turns. Now we're settled into our casa at the Suizandina Lodge here in Malalcahuello, next to a warm fire. The crackling of logs is interrupted by sizzling water droplets, vaporizing as they fall from our damp skins onto the hot stove. Life is good!
RMI Guide Tyler Reid & Chile Ski Team
In climbing, like the rest of life, patience and flexibility will pay off in the long run. And yesterday both our patience and flexibility were tested as the weather toyed with our emotions. We were at the hangar and ready to go by 8 am, and only needed a break in the clouds to get onto the glacier. So we waited... and waited... and waited. By 11:30, hunger had set in and we ordered some pizzas, which of course was the step we needed to take to get our chance to fly. Half the team powered down a couple of slices and changed clothes, and hustled over to the Otter to try our luck. Within minutes 6 of us were airborne,
heading up the Kahiltna under low clouds. Unfortunately, due to low clouds and no visibility on the glacier, we were turned back about 20 minutes out of Talkeetna. So back to the hangar for more group bonding and ping-pong.
By 7pm, we had exhausted our entertainment at the hangar and headed out to the river to enjoy the rest of the evening. That's when the phone rang; the K2 team thought there was a shot and wanted us to mobilize ASAP! So we sprinted back to the hangar and had half the team suited up and ready in even less time than before, and were airborne again for the last try of the day. But the clouds hadn't cleared across the passes or up the Kahiltna glacier, and the plane turned around shortly after takeoff.
Today will be more waiting to fly, but we'll be spending our timeworking on our climbing anchor and crevasse rescue skills. We're hopeful to get on the glacier, but prepared to wait until it's just right. Cheers for now from soggy Talkeetna!
RMI Guide Garrett Stevens
We could hear it before we could see it, the dreaded wind. It woke us this morning, before we saw it moving snow all across the mountain. We drank some coffee, and watched to see if the winds would die down - but they stayed elevated. Drifting snow all around camp. By 10:00 am it became obvious it was going to be a weather day here at 11 Camp for our team. We had another egg and hashbrown scramble and then spent a few hours out of the wind in our tents. By the mid-afternoon, we layered up and reviewed some of the skills that will make the next day of climbing go smoothly - from running belays, to cramponing techniques, it was nice to get a refresher. After sharpening our skills we rolled into another dinner of mac and cheese and loaded our packs with the group loads for tomorrow. Though there's a little snow in the forecast, winds look more favorable for carrying.
Greetings,
A beautiful rain-free day was finally had here in the Cordillera Blanca. The sun came out and stayed out today, which was perfect for an acclimatization day here at Base Camp at 14,200’. We got up and attempted early this morning to take a quick walk up to the Tocllacoccha overlook (Lake Toclla) to admire the beautiful glaciers pouring off of Tocllaraju into the sparkling bluish green lake below. It stressed our bodies just enough and took us to 15,300’ as we continue our acclimatization process. The afternoon was quite chill, as we took some siestas, and reviewed all of our knots and hitches for our climbs ahead.
On top of all our fun today, the culinary adventure continued. Today, our cook, Emilio, prepared for us Cornish hen eggs and hash browns, potatoes, green beans and avocado salads, popcorn, beef and rice, chickpea soup, and quinoa pudding. All in one delicious day of eats. We’re living so large with our food up here that people down in town would be jealous.
Tomorrow, our process continues as we hope to head to 16,200’, to the toe of the Ishinca Glacier to do some more acclimatizing and and training. We’ll let you know how the views are!
Until then, good night!
RMI Guide Robby Young and Team ‘Well Fed’
Summit! RMI Guide JM Gorum with 100% of his team are standing on top of Mt. Shuksan. The views are beautiful and the weather was great. No wind and blue skies for this crew. They will begin their descent shortly to camp and check in with us later today.
Our Five Day Climb radioed in this morning to let us know they were standing on top of the highest point in Washington State! They reported bright and clear conditions. The team took advantage of the extra day built into our Five Day Program for an early summit in better weather. They will spend one more night at Camp Muir and will make their descent back to the land of fresh food and hot showers tomorrow.
Congratulations climbers!
The Taos Team crushed it today, hitting all the targeted times for being up and packed and ready to roll out of the comfy Arumeru River Lodge. We hit the road at 8:15 and rolled along in our bus under cloudy skies. We never did catch a glimpse of the well-camouflaged Kilimanjaro, but the cruise through corn fields and villages was interesting none-the-less. As the road climbed higher we seemed to be passing thousands of banana trees mixed with coffee shrubs. Finally, at the 5,900 ft park entrance -the end of the road- we were simply in a thick and foggy rain forest. After a bunch of paperwork, at long last we were properly permitted, in place and ready for walking. We began shortly after 11 AM. The gang, accompanied and coached by an all star cast of local guides, gained altitude steadily. In fact, we came up 4000 feet in six miles, taking just five hours. The clouds were with us all day but that seemed to keep things comfortably cool. The trail was a little greasy and muddy from recent rains, but we got through without a slip.
We arrived to find our camp already built by our capable staff. After moving in, we got together in the dining dome tent and had an afternoon tea and then a sumptuous dinner while we chatted and laughed.
Philip, our lead guide, gave a thoughtful talk and laid out plans for tomorrow's journey.
All agreed that day one was a great success. Tyrone, in particular, wanted his pal, Makaela to know he was thinking of her and that the climb was going forward as planned.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Congratulations on your achievement, thus far. The last photo was stunning beyond words. Mother Nature has been good to you. Bon chance! Brenda
Posted by: Brenda on 6/24/2017 at 8:38 am
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