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Our first rest day on McKinley. The sun was out all day today but there was a chilly breeze that kept us from over heating. The folks that have been stuck here for a few days are anxious to get moving and the Rangers broke trail to the top of Motorcycle Hill (a steep hill just above the 11,200 ft. camp). They turned back at the top, but a team of three from the Czech Republic pushed on ahead. That is s good sign for us to be able to carry loads to 14,000 tomorrow.
On The Map
The clouds were right down on top of us again as we started the day at the Arumeru River Lodge. We were ready to go soon after breakfast and so we set sail at 8:15 in the bus with a collection of duffel bags strapped to the roof.
The hustle and bustle out on the highway was continually interesting to us as a window into Tanzanian life. We studied the crops in the fields, the shops at roadside, the signs and vehicles and the people. This partially compensated for our inability to see
Kilimanjaro in the distance. After nearly two hours we reached the busy Machame Gate to the National Park at 6000 feet. After an hour in a chaotic mix of climbers, porters, buses, trucks, monkeys and backpacks, we set out walking with our local guides. John, Eric, Philip and Philbret led us up a path in the thick rainforest. By this point we were in the clouds and things were just barely drizzly enough to justify wearing rain jackets. The trail was a little greasy, but nobody slipped or tripped as we steadily gained elevation. We marveled at the giant camphor trees, decorated with vines and hanging moss. In six hours, we saw a few birds, but no other animals as we transitioned to a different type of forest in the “heather and mooreland zone”. At 10,000 feet we came into camp and were happy to see that our incredible staff had tents in place and all ready for us to move into. We retired to the dining tent for delicious food, some adventure stories and a little bragging about past trips... and of course some scheming as to a plan for the present trip. We look forward to a well-earned rest tonight.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
We’ve got the makings of a fine climbing team. Eight pals from Utah and one guide from New Mexico came together in Usa River, Tanzania these last couple of days to begin a
Kilimanjaro adventure. Today our program formally began just after breakfast in the gardens of the Arumeru River Lodge. We sat for a bit discussing strategies and priorities for our week-long attempt on Africa’s highest point. Then it was time for equipment checks and packing up back in the rooms. We want to be ready for departure bright and early tomorrow. All this preparation still allowed time for a combination of relaxing and exploring in the afternoon. Some braved the heat to walk the short distance into the nearby village while others explored the reclining chairs by the swimming pool. We’re each working through jet lag via our own methods. Kilimanjaro showed itself in the distance at sundown as the haze and clouds melted away. Just after dusk, we sat down to dinner on the patio while the super blue moon rose over East Africa. All are excited to get walking up a mountain tomorrow morning.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Namaste from Namche,
We enjoyed a day in this neurological center that is
Namche, old trading town, when the Sherpa from Tibet came to the southern slop of the Himalaya to commerce their goods.
In order to allow for acclimating, we took a good walk on the main trail of the Everest Base Camp route, to get astonishing views of the range, with Ama Dablam as the most imposing figure. A small museum with some Sherpa artifacts, as well as graphical descriptions of their traditions provided great education about this old mountain culture.
We ventured for lunch away from the tourists, and chose a local "Chia Pasal" where true locals eat their dahl bhat and momos (for a fraction of the price and double the smiles)
The afternoon was spent resting, and simply enjoying being in the heart of the biggest mountain range of the world.
Stay tuned for more.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Our last day in St. Petersburg!
The team had a great final day here in
Russia. We visited the very famous Hermitage Museum, where we saw paintings and sculptures by many well-known artists including Rembrandt, Michelangelo and even Da Vinci, to name a few. It's one of Russia's great treasures and houses several million pieces of art collected over the last few hundred years. It consists of five buildings, each with three floors, and has hundreds of rooms. We did our best to take in the highlights in a little over two hours.
We took a quick lunch before stopping by the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, that's decorated almost entirely with mosaics and then wrapped up the day with a wonderful evening boat cruise to see this amazing city by water.
It's been a wonderful adventure here in Russia, but it's time to say our goodbyes and return to family and loved ones.
Thanks for following,
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The
Four Day Summit Climb Teams for June 25 - 28, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning just after 7 am.
RMI Guides Kel Rossiter and Robby Young reported winds higher than expected but clear skies and an excellent route. The teams spent almost an hour enjoying the views from the summit crater. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break and then continue to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
Due to avalanche hazard, the summit climb teams, led by
Brent Okita and
Mike Uchal, were unable to summit
Mt. Rainier this morning. Both teams topped out at 12,800,’ and are headed back down to Camp Muir.
We look forward to seeing the teams back in Ashford this afternoon.
The May 3rd Denali Expedition led by RMI Guides Mike Walter, Billy Haas and Blake Votilla made the difficult decision to end their waiting game at 14,000' on Denali and start their descent. On Monday they packed up camp and began heading for Kahiltna Base Camp. On Tuesday afternoon K2 Aviation was able to land on the glacier and load up the team. Mike checked in from Talkeetna yesterday afternoon. We are glad they are back safely and hope they all enjoyed their Denali adventure.
May 19, 2016 - 12:07 a.m. PDT
Today was a beautiful day to go for a walk, so we grabbed our already packed packs from yesterday and headed up Motorcycle Hill. A thin layer of high clouds kept it from getting too hot, and we cruised across a smooth, and relatively crevasse free, Polo Field to Windy Corner, and then around to our cache site at 13,500.' After folding a shovel in half trying to dig through a surprisingly thick ice layer, we found and abandoned cache hole that had blown in and excavated that instead. With food and fuel buried, we made short work of the return trip to 11,200'. Should the weather be fair in the morning, we plan to pack up camp and head up to 14,200' to join
Mike Walter's crew. With luck we'll be checking in tomorrow from our new camp!
Do your favorite weather dance for us,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Jess Matthews, and Robby Young, and Crew
On The Map
Can we have a couple more beautiful days please?! I don't like to beg but if we can continue with weather like this we would greatly appreciate it.
A nice lazy start to the day was our plan in order to miss the traffic while climbing the Barranco Wall. The Barranco Wall is a series of rock bands just out of camp that gets your attention and requires your hands from time to time. At the top of the Wall we took some photos and gave each other some high fives before continuing on our way. We then traversed below the upper mountain for a couple hours to end up at
Karanga Camp (13,160') for the night. Camp is situated on a bit of a slope but our staff did a fine job of finding some pretty flat ground for the tents.
We continue to adjust both mentally and physically to this extreme environment; we're meeting the challenges head on. This team did there homework, taking training to heart prior to the climb and the investment is paying off. What a great group to climb with on Kilimanjaro!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
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Good luck Utah team! Looking forward to keeping up with all your adventures! Enjoy! Lee and Susie
Posted by: Susie and Lee on 2/1/2018 at 6:26 pm
Good Luck! Fingers crossed and thoughts are with you. You can do it.
Posted by: Lynette Elliott on 1/31/2018 at 3:55 pm
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