It was an incredible day here in the Khumbu Valley. We woke up to blue skies and sunshine beaming in our windows. It was such a welcome surprise after a few days of rain. We quickly ate breakfast so we could get outside for some views of the great ones. We had a “choose your own adventure” day — some of the team climbed to Everest View Hotel while some of us walked to the Sherpa Culture Museum. No matter how we spent our active rest day - we all got to see MOUNT EVEREST! And boy, was she showing off. It was more beautiful than could ever be captured in pictures and a moment none of us will soon forget. Being surrounded at every turn with towering mountains makes you feel small in the very best way.
We all met back up for lunch just as the clouds rolled in. We spent the afternoon wandering the endless shops of Namche, picking up little treasures and learning more about the Sherpa culture. It’s been a bit colder than normal so we opted to get down puffy pants. We are happy to have these as we go higher and an added benefit is the highlighter yellow, blue and red makes it nearly impossible to lose each other. Another day comes to an end here in Nepal and we are all refreshed and ready to keep climbing towards our goal.
Sending lots of love and hugs to our family and friends back home.
This trek has been absolutely stunning so far! Feels like I could use some RaRa soup, some epic views of Everest, and a bright orange—or maybe even fluorescent yellow?—jacket right about now ....
Posted by: Some guy from Puyallup on 3/22/2024 at 10:38 am
All is well here in the Baksan Valley, at the base of Elbrus where we've settled into our comfortable hotel. We made the most of the local ski lifts, (to save our knees of course) and hiked up the neighboring peak to start our acclimatization. It started off a little cloudy today, but eventually cleared for some decent views of Elbrus. After our ascent we headed back down to town for a nice lunch and headed over to the local climbing shop to pick up a few last minute things. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, getting our bags packed and just wrapped up another enjoyable Russian dinner with some wonderful Georgian soup.
All is well here and we'll check in again tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
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
Love hearing about your adventures. What memories you’ll have!
Posted by: Sue Rentschler(Jason's aunt) on 9/1/2016 at 4:53 am
What an amazing day all of you had! A combination of generosity from the tribe and generosity from the wildlife - both contributing to what must be (for all of you) great, memorable moments.
All so well deserved…enjoy, take tons of pictures (can’t wait to see/hear) and know how proud we are of you.
Posted by: Kathy and Denny Meyers (Jason's Mom and Dad) on 8/31/2016 at 3:35 pm
June 4, 2016 - 5:02 pm PT
After yesterday's mission caching our summit kits at the top of the fixed lines, the crew is ready for a rest day. We went to bed last night to clear skies and low valley clouds rolling around Foraker and awoke to more perfect views above. Many of the slopes around camp are accruing ski tracks, and providing great entertainment!
Today's breakfast was high class gourmet, with salmon and cream cheese bagels and a side of cheesy bacon hash browns. The fresh food has spirits high as we hope for the great weather to continue. Until then we'll continue to chill and watch skiers enjoy the fresh snow.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
You guys are moving impressively fast. Keep listening to Tyler (especially about putting on your puffy pants before coming into the cook tent) and he will get you to the top!
- Devin Smith (Tyler Jones Denali University, class of ‘15)
Posted by: Devin Smith on 6/6/2016 at 8:10 am
Cream Cheese,
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
When’s your next coffee break? While you are resting, I am staying very productive, and going to church. Watching skiers sounds fun; typical powder hounds.
Remember, if we can do it, so can you! What I’m saying is, I’ll give you the money to keep going. It seems like they’re feeding you well, but if you’re still hungry when you get back, we can go to Arby’s.
Hey, this is Dave Hahn checking in from Kilimanjaro. We summited this morning. We had a beautiful morning. We left High Camp at about 12:30, and we were at Stella Point on the crater rim at 7 a.m. Perfect conditions up there no wind and clear, very nice. We were on Uhuru Peak, the highest point in all of Africa by 8 in the morning. And we all made it down safely to our high camp, Barrafu, and now we're going to continue on down, and we'll send you a dispatch from the Mweka Camp. All is well.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in after successful climb to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Jambo from Kilimanjaro everyone!
Today we let behind the comforts of the Dik Dik Lodge and set off for Kilimanjaro. We had a early breakfast then hit the road headed to the southwest side of Kilimanjaro where we'll be climbing the Machame route, also known as the Whiskey route because of its "intoxicating views". We arrived at the gate after two hours of driving through the beautiful rural countryside where we met up with the 40+ porters that will be helping us on this journey. We weighed all the gear, checked in with the park and hit the trail shortly after 11. It was a nice cool overcast day here in Kili which made for very enjoyable hiking temperatures. It took about 5 hours of hiking in the thick sub-tropical forest to reach our first camp which sits around 10'000ft. Once at camp we got things settled, then sat down to some much deserved tea and popcorn that our staff had prepared for us. A wonderful dinner followed shortly after that and we have all now climbed into our tents and are all looking forward to a good nights sleep.
Everyone is doing great.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Crew
More wind. Well we’re definitely all out of jokes to share now. Most of the books that we brought have been through at least three different hands. Except no one wants to read the epic tome on the history of oil that I brought. It’s OK that no one wants to trade, as the 1000 pages of ten point font guarantees me weeks of reading.
We’re all pretty much in tent mode as the wind is a bit high for outside lounging. A team of climbers tried to go to the summit today but turned around at 18,300’Denali Pass due to high winds. It’s too bad for them as this is their last day of food for staying at 17,000 and they will have to go down.
We’re all getting a bit down from all of the sitting. Our group has decided that tomorrow will be our ‘up or down’ day. If we cannot climb tomorrow then we will start heading down. It’s still two full days of work just to get back to the landing strip from here.
Move to 17,000! Today we awoke to the normal weather pattern... WIND. We decided to give it a go and try to move to 17,000’ anyway. The pattern had been for the wind to die down in the afternoon so we figured that it would be perfect for us as we would be on the Buttress proper when the winds were at their lowest.
Well so much for the best laid plans. The winds stayed high throughout the day making the climb tough, but we all managed to make it without suffering too much. We picked up our cache along the way so we’re here in camp with all of the food and fuel we’ll need through summit day.
Some unfortunate events occurred today as we entered camp. A team of two independent climbers had fallen from high above the normal route. The Rangers and some volunteers have gone to help them. We have had a rough time finding suitable snow to build walls for our tents. The high winds have stripped a lot of snow away and cutting blocks was extremely difficult. It’s amazing how the altitude makes simple chores more difficult. You have to be very conscious of not working yourself too hard. It’s easy to get light headed.
Namaste from the village of Phakding!
Our days on the trail have started, and we cover the first stage of our acclimatizing trek. After an uneventful flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, gateway to the Himalaya, we ironically walked the trail that makes the first day being downhill.
It is definitely special to be back in the Khumbu, and while we've haven't seen yet any major peaks, the change of pace from city to mountain, feels good and helps build up the excitement for the mission we have ahead.
Everyone is in great spirits, healthy and psyched about what we're discovering so far!
Stay tuned for more tomorrow, and some pictures. The game is on!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
The Four Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guide Casey Grom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier Early this morning. Casey reported beautiful weather and a great climbing route. The team is on their descent and en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to Today's Team!
Great effort by the group! Vivika, please practice your flower names and Phillip, no more shot blocks for you, your pace was pretty quick for dad. Casey I loved your bad jokes and your good ones too! Thank you for a terrific climb and RMI for being on top of everything. Have a good rest of the season, Greg
This trek has been absolutely stunning so far! Feels like I could use some RaRa soup, some epic views of Everest, and a bright orange—or maybe even fluorescent yellow?—jacket right about now ....
Posted by: Some guy from Puyallup on 3/22/2024 at 10:38 am
View All Comments