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We had a beautiful night and a gorgeous day here on our trek into
Aconcagua. We bid farewell to
RMI Guide Mike King and team this morning. Great work by all of them and what a job Mike and his crew did on their successful summit. Congratulations!
We had some scattered clouds and not much wind, which made for a very nice trek of eight miles to our new camp, Casa Piedra, at almost 11,000 feet. Fresh chicken over pasta and salad for dinner with a big bottle of Sprite to wash it all down. In the morning we will have an early river crossing with the help of our mule team. This will make for a nice start to the day. It will be a big day but no problem for this group of hearty souls as they all continue to do well. Basecamp here we come!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
This was our
Kilimanjaro kickoff day... but it was also our Kili catch-up day. We began our climb by sitting down as a group just after breakfast and strategizing. We went through our itinerary and discussed goals and contingencies. Then we checked each climber's gear and clothing for the trip, finally we packed and weighed each load. We had lunch outside under the patio awning as dik diks (smallest of the antelope family) roamed the grounds and velvet monkeys played in the trees. Afternoon was the "catch-up" portion of the day as we rested and attempted to reset our day/night perceptions to fit our new setting -about nine time zones off -give or take. We'd take trips up the Lodge's observation tower from time to time in order to look for Kili on the horizon. Clouds kept it hidden today though. Tomorrow we'll set out for the mountain just after breakfast and will relay a team picture or two as we progress.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
July 8, 2017
Here we are back in Cheget! We had a very interesting climb. We started looking at the weather around midnight and made our plan to leave at 3 am with the help of a snowcat ride. It was clear above us with a mild breeze at camp and the forecast was calling for moderate winds. We woke the team at 1:45 am and got ready for our summit attempt. The wind increased as we ascended but it didn't turn us back. We were prepared for a big climb and that is what we experienced. We took a few photos on the
summit of Mt. Elbrus and then started our descent. We return to the huts where we spent the last few nights, had lunch, packed our gear and then continued down to the thick are of the Baksan Valley. Tommorow we will enjoy a day of rest and touring in Cheget before we head off to St. Petersburg.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
June 2, 2017
Hello, The team had an amazing day moving up to
14,200 ft Camp today. This team is doing some really great work with smooth climbing and great camp setup skills. We departed our 11,200 ft camp just after 8am and we able to use the morning shade and sun to our advantage, keeping us cool while climbing and warming us during our breaks. We arrived at 14 camp just after noon and enjoyed a sunny afternoon to build our camp. The views are amazing up here and we can see some of the challenges ahead, including the fixed lines. For dinner this evening, the team enjoyed another round of Chef Tyler's chicken quesadilla's served up with some spicy guacamole and Sriracha, who knew you could eat so well on an expedition! Tomorrow we will spend the day in camp resting, reinforcing camp and practicing some skills we will need for the days ahead.
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, JM Gorum and Bryan Mazaika
On The Map
Safari time!
Today was the first day of safari for us and we headed east to visit
Lake Manyara, which is known for its tree climbing lions, flamingos, and more than 400 different species of birds. We didn't manage to see any of those famous lions, but we had a very close encounter with a few elephants within just minutes of entering the park. Nothing dangerous, but they passed close enough that we could have almost touched them.
It was a pretty hot day here in Africa, so I'm sure that kept many of the animals hiding in the shade. We did manage to see wildebeest, zebras, Cape buffalo, giraffe, hippos, baboons, impalas and so many birds I lost count. It was a pretty nice introduction to the incredible bio-diversity that Africa has, and everyone enjoyed the day riding around in our safari vehicles.
We finished the day spending a few hours relaxing and exploring the grounds of our amazing lodge. Check it out for yourself.
https://www.plantation-lodge.com
We also celebrated another birthday here in Africa. This time it was for Sean McCroskey.
So a big happy 22nd birthday to him!
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew
It is safari time!
Starting at about 2:00 a.m., the team went in many directions - Europe, Kenya, the Serengeti, and here to the lovely Plantation Lodge. After a delicious breakfast at the Dik Dik, we traveled to Lake Manyara National Park. What a perfect introduction to the wonderful world of game viewing?! It took a little over an hour from the town of Arusha before we popped the tops on our Land Cruisers and let nature engulf us. We only about 2,000 pictures in our four hours of exploring this magical area. Just before we left the park our mascot, the dik dik (the third smallest of the antelope family), made an appearance and brought us and brought us to our photo quota for the day.
The eighth wonder of the world is top on the list for tomorrow...
Ngorongoro Crater. We are positioned just outside of the crater here at Plantation Lodge. I am sure we will have an amazing day of game viewing. It hardly seems that we were standing atop Kilimanjaro a few days go! can't wait!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guides
Katrina Bloemsma and
Steve Gately led their teams to the summit of
Mt. Rainier this morning. The weather report from the top was calm, sunny, and warming up quickly. At 7:15 a.m. they began their descent from the crater rim.
Congratulations to the teams!
May 16, 2016 - 3:07 p.m. PDT
Hello Everyone,
Despite a bleak forecast we woke to sunny blue skies today. This morning the team ventured further up the SE fork for some glacier travel and exploring around Radio Tower. While Base Camp below was busy with planes dropping off more climbers we enjoyed a birds eye view of the
lower Kahiltna, and a direct view of the north buttress of hunter. The air was hot and surrounding slopes reacted with constant wet slides and rockfall. Returning to camp was a sweltering affair, all of us sun baked by the relentless sun. Tomorrow we will stick around the area for some more skills training. We are still hoping for more of those sunny skies.
RMI Guide
Leon Davis & Team
Well we have definitely established a rhythm with
Kilimanjaro. It was very nice and sunny again this morning and at 9:30am the clouds started building. By 1:30pm it was raining heavily again.
The only thing different from yesterday is that we were out on the trail when the rain hit. It was only for about an hour so not a huge deal really, but it sure is nice to be in a dry tent now.
We covered the longest stretch f the whole trip today, other than summit day and everyone did a great job. We also reached a high point for every climber here at 14,900'. That's always a fun thing.
Now we have two easier days and after that we go for the summit.
That's all for now.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Hi everybody and welcome to the dispatch blog for this year's early January
RMI Aconcagua expedition. Billy here checking in from lovely Mendoza, Argentina, where the last of our team (and a bunch of missing luggage) has finally arrived. We had an informative meet and greet this evening poolside at the classic Nutibara Hotel, a haven for
Aconcagua climbers from all over the world, where we all got to know each other and run through some important details about our upcoming adventure. Afterwards we headed out on the town for our first team dinner, enjoying the steaks, wine, and Italian influenced food Mendoza is famous for. It looks like we have a very fit and experienced climbing team this year which bodes well for our chances up on the mountain. We'll check in again tomorrow from Los Penitentes where we'll be packing up our loads for the mules and finishing up the last of our preparations before heading onto the mountain.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Be Safe Justin Hersh. Love Clubbie!
Posted by: kathy guyette on 1/16/2018 at 11:22 am
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