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The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide
Jake Beren reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team spent some time on the summit before starting their descent at 9:47am. Jake reported light winds and warm temps at the top of the mountain, with a cloud deck around 11,000'.
Congratulations to today's team!
Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 10:11 PM PT
Hey from 14K. We got an excellent day for moving up. When the 6 AM alarm went off down at 11,000', we peered out to see clear skies and no signs of wind. We pounced on the opportunity, hitting the trail at 9 AM. Hannah Smith led the charge today, bringing the team expeditiously up Motorcycle Hill, The Squirrel Hills and then the Polo Field. Just like when we carried, it began to cloud up as we approached Windy Corner and to snow as we went around. We moved right on past our cache site, which appears to be resisting the ravages of the ravens (we buried it deep in the snow). Hannah got us into camp at 14,000' in a very respectable 5 hours and 45 minutes. The tents went up fast and easy and about the time we’d completed setup, the snow quit. As we ate dinner, the clouds melted away and when we emerged from our deluxe dining shelter, we were treated to new and spectacular views in every direction. Foraker and Hunter, the other two giants of the Alaska Range were visible -for the first time- in all their glory. But it was the view of Denali, rising straight up in front of us for a vertical mile and more that took our breath away. Our world is now bound on the left by the West Buttress and on the right by the West Rib... which covers a lot of fascinating and historic... and slightly intimidating terrain. Just before bedtime, we listened to the weather outlook, broadcast via radio from Basecamp and more importantly to the trivia question for the night. Did you know that there are 21 bears for every human in Alaska?
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Good evening from Icchi Coccha "Small Lake", where we have pitched camp for the night on our way to
base camp, at 3800m. We had a very pleasant day, perhaps the best this guide remembers, as it is usually a pretty hot day climbing up the valley in the lower elevations. But the cloud cover provided the best temps to do the hike, so we're happy we didn't bake! We shared the trail with a few dogs, cows and of course, our donkeys. But the highlight was the curious fox that ventured into our camp. We're now about to enjoy the first of our meals from our cook, Emilo, in our dining tent. That's all for now, stay tuned for more!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Our
Safari and Kilimanjaro adventure came to an end today. But not with a whimper... it went out like a lion. And coincidentally with lions, as it turned out. We were up for an early start with great help from the friendly staff at Balloon Camp. Setting off in our Landcruisers, we hadn't gone more than a few hundred feet before seeing fresh tracks from lions and elephants in the dirt road. When we got to the actual wildlife: Cape buffalo, (barking) zebras, wildebeest, hartebeest, eland... we were interested to see that their behavior was markedly different in early morning than what we'd seen during midday. Our excellent naturalist/drivers Edson Kahangi and Juma Msangi explained that all the critters had been up in the hills hiding from predators in the night but were now a little desperate and nervous to get down to the watering holes and streams again. We eventually saw why... the predators were well represented down there. We saw a big mom cheetah and a cub having fun with each other and making a game of chasing Impalas. We saw a big burly male lion striding proudly over for a drink while all other animals sprinted away. We saw a lioness and her two cubs up in a tree for a snooze... nearby, a hundred vultures were cleaning up whatever the lions had breakfasted on. And then it was time for us to flee all the predators too. We had to get on the highway again, back toward Arusha. We made a final stop at the cultural center to make a few more purchases (Maasai blankets were a big hit) and peruse the great art museum, then it was on to the Arumeru River Lodge. We showered and repacked and had one last team dinner before most of the gang headed for the airport and ultimately home. We seem destined for reunions and future trips together... reliving the wild time we had way out in Tanzania. We made a pretty good team. Thanks for following along.
I'm going to snooze for a day and then start it all up again with another group. Our last Kilimanjaro climb of the season.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Good evening from
Alpamayo Base Camp. We have spent the last couple days hiking on the Santa Cruz trek to get here. We have had beautiful weather and incredible views that the towering peaks around us provide. Tomorrow our donkeys head home and we start the more serious part of the trip. Stay tuned to follow our progress in the beautiful and challenging peak!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Team Ecuador is excited to announce that we reached the summit of
Cayambe this morning at 7:30am. We woke up, or should I say got out of bed at 10:45pm to clear skies and warm temperatures. We began our ascent at exactly midnight and had great climbing conditions the entire way up. Having been on this mountain ten times I have never had a summit day this beautiful! Not a breath of wind, temperatures in the 30s and views that you rarely get to see.
The team climbed strong and performed really well, especially for reaching 19,000 feet six days after arriving in the country.
We were grateful to be finished early because as soon as we reached camp, the perfect weather that graced us up high took a 180 and began snowing, raining and sleeting on us. By the time we got to town, the downpour was so intense we couldn't hear each other at lunch because of the rain hitting the roof.
Now we are settled into the oldest hacienda in Ecuador and ready for a nap. We are relieved to have gotten the first big climb under our belts and look forward to Antisana in a couple days.
Stay tuned.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff
On The Map
Inside information, while illegal on Wall Street, totally ligit on the Inca Trail. We got up at 2:30am so we would be first in line to enter the trail leading to Machu Picchu when the gates opened at 5:30am. While we waited some Team members slept, relaxed and 4 of us continued a best of four Hearts game on top of a backpack.
With a little under an hour of walking to the site, we cruised through the "Gringo Killer", a 60 degree 50 Incan step section just prior to the Sun Gate. No Gringos were harmed in the filming of this section. The Team enjoyed an amazing sunrise across the cloud forest and in Machu Picchu.
In total we spent 2 hours walking around the immense complex. Listening to our local interpretive guides, Erick and Winder as they described what we were seeing. The Team was shocked at the shear size of the stone work and numbers of people who had arrived via bus.
While a trip like this can be about the destination, we all agreed the last 5 days on the Salkantay/Inca trail was more about the journey; consiting of remote valleys, Andean vista's and a variety of Incan sites.
We are back in Aquas Calientes, showered and resting. Thanks for following along and we will return to Cusco tomorrow evening for departure flights on Wednesday.
May 17, 2016 - 6:02 p.m. PDT
We declared a snow day today. We woke to what could be described as a heavy fall of snow, and our hopes of heading uphill diminished. An hour later as we ate breakfast, the sky cleared, the sun came out, and our hopes rose. Just as quickly, the clouds, snow, and blustery gusts returned, and convinced us that today was a day to remain indoors. And so we have, napping, snacking, reading, and watching movies. The weather hasn't relented either, reinforcing our decision. The low pressure that seems to be moving over us is hinting at moving out over the next few days, so we hope that tomorrow gives us a better opportunity to head up to Windy Corner and
cache. In the meantime, we'll take the opportunity to rest up and get ready for another round of big days. All for now from snowy 11 Camp.
Thanks for following!
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Robby Young, and Jess Matthes, and team
On The Map
Hi! It is our last day on safari and we are back in Arusha doing some last minute shopping. Our next stop is the Dik Dik Hotel to repack, shower and then head to the airport. We will of course be squeezing one more fantastic dinner in as well.
Kikoti Camp was a great place to spend our last evening in
Tanzania. The sunset was spectacular and the scenery there is great. This morning we had a nice game drive with tons of elephants playing in the Tarangire River.
I think we are all psyched to head home but it has been a real fun group and everyone has gotten along together amazingly well. All of us will be flying out overnight so for the family and friends following along... See you soon!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Despite having a rogue mule disappear with one of our bags last night, the group enjoyed delicious grilled chicken and Steve's famous pasta salad. The bag eventually rejoined our group late last night, thanks to the amazing gauchos that we work with.
We are relaxing at Plaza Argentina, 13,800 feet after a beautiful day with more views of the highest peaks outside of the Himalaya. The group woke early and rode Mules across the Vacas River, always a highlight on an
Aconcagua expedition. We are looking forward to our first rest day of the climb tomorrow.
Stay tuned to see how the group, "out chills" the rest day.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
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Congrats to Molly and Colleen!
Posted by: Mark Murphy on 7/13/2015 at 1:04 pm
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