Most Popular Entries
May 19, 2017
The rain fell as we debarked from the plane after touching down at Anchorage International Airport. With three hours before meeting the team Christina, JT and I reviewed paperwork and plans for the trip.
Then, one by one folks started showing up, with everyone gathered well before our 4:30 departure. A good sign of things you come.
We had plenty of time to get to know each other while awaiting our shuttle to
Talkeetna and I was struck by the ease of conversation between everyone right from the start.
Having climbed with most everyone already it was fun to catch up with folks. By dinner time the mood was even looser as we enjoyed a nice meal at the West Rib.
Most of the team showed restraint in passing up calls to have 'one' at the world famous Fairview Inn, but for those of us who showed weakness and entered those decadent halls, a proper tradition was upheld. The music wasn't half bad either.
It's now time for some rest as tomorrow promises to be quite busy as we prepare for our flight on to the mountain on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to getting that one step closer to the climb we've all been waiting for for so long.
Goodnight from Talkeetna, elevation 300'.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Hey, it's Billy checking in from
High Camp, Plaza Colera. The whole crew is back down safely, and we are super psyched that we all had the chance to stand on top of Aconcagua today. We're a little beat up, but ultimately no worse for the wear. We'll check in again. We have a long walk down to Base Camp tomorrow, and then the journey continues until we hit the road in Mendoza in several days from now. So a lot of activity coming up, but we'll try to keep you guys posted on our whereabouts.
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Today was a day of rest and preparation for our team here at
Aconcagua Base Camp. We spent the morning reorganizing and sorting out communal food and equipment for the upper mountain, and the afternoon finding a way to make it all fit into our packs. Along the way, team members found time to take a brief stroll around the base camp vicinity to acclimate and enjoy the perspective, and a few lucky climbers snuck in a nap or two. Everyone is excited to carry a load up to Camp One tomorrow, and officially launch our assault on the mountain!
Bye for now,
RMI Guides Mark Tucker, Pepper Dee and Team
The safari gets better and better. Today we were up early -before sunrise- for our visit to the
Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. It was cloudy and cool as we entered the gates and began the drive up to the crater rim. That rim was cloudier and colder still at 9000 ft above sea level. We stopped in to a Masai village where we got to watch (and join in) as the residents performed traditional songs and dances, made fire and showed us into their simple homes (made of sticks, dung and ash). The Masai are just one of Tanzania's many distinct tribes, but they are prominent because they've held on to so many of their own customs and have largely stayed away from modern conveniences. We were impressed that the herdsmen protect themselves, their families and cattle herds with nothing more than spears. We were even more impressed a half hour after leaving the village when we got to see ten big lions down in the crater. Six females and four males, walking wherever they pleased... apparently without any worries or fears. The zebras and wildebeests wandering around them reacted sharply and obviously upon discovering so many kings and queens of the crater in one place. They seemed to be guarding a kill in the shrubs, driving off the odd hyena who came sniffing around. We were amazed at the vastness of the caldera floor and at the size of the herds of zebra, wildebeest, antelope and Cape buffalo that wandered about. Before long, we'd seen four of the "big five" (lion, elephant, rhino, Cape buffalo) and were looking hard for leopards to complete the set. No luck there today, but that didn't phase anyone. We were enchanted with the setting for our picnic lunch, on the edge of a lake full of hippos, with a big bull elephant casually walking through without paying any attention to all of the Land Cruisers and tourists in the designated lunch spot.
The clouds cleared completely by mid-afternoon and things finally warmed up. That made the ride back up to the crater rim all the more memorable as we could then see the entire amazing valley.
We enjoyed an easy evening ride back to the Plantation Lodge. Cocktails out on the veranda were accompanied by lots of show and tell of the excellent pics taken today. Then it was time for a fine buffet dinner and some birthday cake in honor of both Tom and Tim.
The team is excited to move on to Tarrangire National Park tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide
Dave Hahn & Team
May 19, 2016 - 2:44 p.m. PDT
One plane is flying up in ten minutes, and with luck, the rest of the team will follow shortly thereafter. Here we go!
The pilot gives us a 30% chance of actually getting to the mountain. I think otherwise. More like a 30% of having to return to
Talkeetna, but good to have a sober expectation of our chances.
RMI Guide
Brent Okita
After long journeys from all over the US we finally gathered at our hotel in
Mexico City. Excitement and anticipation were high throughout the group as we discussed the upcoming trip. We then made our way through the noise Saturday night streets of Zona Rosa, Mexico City, to an authentic Mexican restaurant called, El Refugio Fonda. After a decadent meal, we picked our way back to the hotel to pack and get some rest before we set off on the first leg of our trip tomorrow. Thanks for following along with us here in Mexico.
RMI Guides Geoff Schellens & Eric Frank
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer & Tyler Reid radioed from the crater rim of Mt. Rainier at 7:04 am. Their
Four Day Summit Climb Teams were going to start their descent shortly after. Tyler reported nice weather with winds from the SW and a cloud deck at approximately 8,000'. The teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climbers!
Today was our first day of safari and we headed to
Lake Manyara National Park. It took a little over 2 hours to get there as we drove through Arusha and then the vast rural savannah of Tanzania. It's situated at the base of the eastern Great Rift Escarpment, and is home the the famous tree climbing lions, over 450 different birds, huge troops of baboons, hippos, and most of the other African animals.
It's been rather dry this year and unfortunately we didn't see the famous lions, but we did see plenty of other wildlife up close.
After spending a couple of hours of safari we made our way to the wonderful Plantation Lodge where we've been enjoying being spoiled and just finished another fantastic meal.
Everyone is doing great and are excited to see what tomorrow brings as we head to Ngorongoro Crater.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Mike Uchal reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 5:45 this morning. The teams spend about an hour on the summit before beginning their descent. Tyler reported colder temperatures and breezy conditions on the summit. The teams are currently descending through warmer temperatures and clouds that reach down to around 12,000’. We look forward to seeing the teams when they return to Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations Climbers!
Thursday June 25th 10:16 pm PT
Hola from a sunny day up here at 14k. We enjoyed a lazy morning with a good coffee session in the posh before getting down to the business of retrieving our cache down near
Windy Corner. A couple of hours was all it took and we were back in camp up in the Genet Basin in time to greet
Mike Haugen's crew on their descent from high camp after their successful summit bid yesterday. Tomorrow's plans call for our first complete rest day of the trip that will hopefully set us up for a strong performance as we venture onto the upper mountain in the coming days. The weather may get a bit funky but hopefully it'll be nothing that will slow us down. More on our story as it develops...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Previous Page
Next Page
.jpg)
Great news. Looking forward to the details. Stay safe!
Posted by: ROGER COFFEY on 1/30/2017 at 11:55 am
View All Comments