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The Four Day Summit Climb August 9 - 12 led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning with clear skies, light winds and cool temps. The team enjoyed some time on the crater before beginning their descent just before 9 AM. There is a marine layer around 6,500' with clear skies above. We will see if that dissipates before the team descends to Paradise. Congratulations to today's climbers!

The team is all here in Quito! We began our day by enjoying our breakfast along side an abundant spread of fresh fruit and overloading on coffee while we made some group introductions. We had a number of stops during our city tour, some of the highlights include visiting the Equator monument, a panoramic view of Quito from the top of Panecillo Hill, the colonial Center and touring some of the historical churches. Today in Quito is the celebration of the capital’s foundation so many shops were closed and the plazas were busier than normal with locals celebrating the holiday. We are back at the hotel for a quick siesta before we head out together for dinner. This evening we will prepare our day packs for our first acclimatization hike up to Rucu Pichincha and we are hoping for the clear, sunny skies we had this morning so we can get our first view of Cotopaxi and Cayambe! RMI Guides Steve Gately & Bryan Mazaika

At exactly 8 AM -the targeted departure time- we left the Arumeru River Lodge and drove East. We did some people watching from our bus as we cruised the 90 minutes to the Machame Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park. That had to suffice since we had no views of the mountain. It was a solid carpet of cloud making things a bit gray, but we focused on the close-in views as we drove through a few changing vegetation levels getting to the 6,000foott elevation of the gate. As usual, it took a bit of time getting checked in and registered with the Park, but we finally got to the good part -the walking- by 10:50 AM. We set out in a big forest of moss covered trees. The trail was pleasantly dry and fine for walking -since I'd warned the team that it would be slimy and muddy. We gained elevation steadily as the hours went by. The team did admirably and walked well, but all were quite impressed with porters zipping by at twice our speed with heavy loads balanced on their heads. The gang was also impressed to come into a fully built, comfortable camp in the giant heather at 10,000 ft. Our local staff of fifty porters, camp builders, cooks and guides had been busy. We made it up in five hours and twenty minutes, surely a new world's record, which we celebrated with afternoon tea and then a dinner and story-telling session in our dining tent. There were many comments of surprise that Tosha, our head cook, could have produced such a great meal, so quickly, so far up a volcano. Rain sprinkles began intermittently just after we reached camp but of course that didn't bother anybody. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Our Kilimanjaro team of ten climbers and one guide showed up ready to get ready this morning. We met at 9 AM to introduce ourselves, and to review strategies, itineraries, policies. In short order, we'd completed equipment checks, weigh-ins for loaded bags, and general preparations for hitting the trail. This left team members with plenty of time for relaxing away the afternoon and chipping away at the evil jet lag. Most ended up wandering the park-like grounds of our hotel and checking out the wildlife. There were dik diks aplenty -the smallest of the antelope family. There were velvet monkeys and small gangs of mongooses. Occasionally we'd venture up the hotel's Kilimanjaro observation tower, but the mountain never showed itself on this otherwise cloud free, blue sky day. Too much haze and smoke toward the horizons. We had a quiet and fine dinner and turned in excited for the coming day. We get to walk uphill in a beautiful national park tomorrow. Best regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

All is well here at Meweka Camp 10,000'. It is raining a bit but we are dry in our tents. We had a very nice climb today. We started around midnight from Baranco Camp and reached the summit of Kilimanjaro at 7am. There was very little wind and clear skies. We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and a nice morning shadow of the mountain with clouds below. Once we returned to High Camp, we packed up quick and pushed down the remaining 5,000' of, at times, steep trail in a few hours. It's our last night on the big hill and sleep is going to come easy. Our mountain staffs preparing dinner. We have a great crew taking care of us. And I had the pleasure of leading a fine team up to the Roof of Africa today. Audio Message from summit of Kilimanjaro: Hey, Mr. Mark Tucker here on the top of Kilimanjaro. We left as a team from the High Camp and still on top as a team. Awesome job by the whole group here and little bit chilly, but wow very little wind so we had a very very very nice climb. So we're going to probably start heading back down here in just a minute, and we're all doing great. So we're going to head down hill and we'll get back to you a little bit later. Ciao for now. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

While we won't make it until the Ball drops tonight, we will have a nice dinner and do a little celebrating with the mule drivers. Our Aconcagua Team has arrived in camp after a hot day hiking with a nice breeze that made the heat tolerable. This first day is a lesson in patience. Picture walking six hours in the high desert covered in softballs. If your thinking, "not ideal" you'd be right, but this is our approach trail and our aching feet took a backseat to watching condors soar high above the neighboring Andean peaks. The team is resting and rehydrating and wishes everyone back home a 'Feliz Anio Nuevo"! RMI Guide Mike King

When I woke up to check the weather at 11 pm I could hear that the wind would not be an issue. I went outside to check the sky; it was perfectly clear and full of stars. I woke our team up immediately and reported the good news. We ate “breakfast” and packed our summit kits and were out the door by 12:15 am. The route on Cotopaxi is in great condition, with a well-worn trail in the snow for most of the climb. Some clouds moved in and out, but the weather remained good for our summit push. Our team climbed well, and efficiently negotiated the steeper slopes near the summit. We topped out at 6:30 am, snapped a few photos and began our descent. By 9 am we were back at the climbing hut. It was an awesome climb to close out an incredible week of climbing Ecuador’s Volcanoes. Now we’re in back in Quito and it’s time for a shower and a nap before we meet for our team’s final dinner together in Ecuador. RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Hello everyone We spent yesterday touring Tarangire National Park which is home to many elephants, in fact, it has more per square kilometer than any place on earth and it didn’t disappoint. There were plenty of other animals as usual, and we got close to a few big giraffe, which was amazing plus a leopard sighting too. We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds of Africa in and also last night's big thunderstorm. It's been a memorable experience for everyone and great friendships forged. But finally it's time to return home to our families. Jambo from RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!

The Four Day Summit Climb August 8 - 11 left Camp Muir around 2:30 AM hoping the winds would decrease. However, strong winds continued and the teams had to turn around and head back to Camp Muir. The teams are descending early from Camp Muir this morning and we expect them at Paradise around 9:30 AM.

The Five Day Summit Climb Team led by RMI Guide Jess Matthews reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at about 6:30 AM PST today. The Five Day team spends and extra day on the mountain using this day for rest and acclimatization. Today the woke early, retraced their steps from yesterday up to Ingraham Flats and climbed beyond to reach Columbia Crest. The team is on the descent en route back to Camp Muir. They will return to Paradise this afternoon. Congratulations Team!