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Jambo Everyone
Once again we woke to beautifully clear skies with even better views of Kilimanjaro since moving up on the mountain. Our morning ritual has been waking around 6:30 and getting everything in our tents packed up before heading into our very spacious dining tent for our breakfast feast. Normally there is fresh fruit, fried eggs, porridge, bacon, and plenty of hot coffee awaiting us, obviously we’re being well taken care of by our gracious staff.
Today our route took us up and around the well known and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000', setting a new altitude record for some.
We also passed by many of the giant groundsels and towering Senecio trees that made us feel as if we were in some crazy Dr. Suess story book.
All in all it was a really nice day with clouds gathering in the afternoon to help keep the temperature comfortable for hiking. We are now comfortably set up at Barranco Camp beneath the Great Barranco Wall.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
On The Map
We woke to crystal clear skies today at Machame Camp and so the team got their first views of Kibo, Kilimanjaro’s central peak. We could see the hanging glaciers and ice fields sparkling in the morning light. Way down below us, there were clouds, but they were minding their own business and didn’t seem capable of rising up to swallow us. After a fine breakfast, we hit the trail at 8 AM with Philibet leading the charge. It was a slow charge as the trail steepened and got a whole lot more rocky just out of camp. But we made good progress anyway, gaining altitude through a forest of giant heather. Directly behind us and out on the western horizon was the giant pyramid of Mt Meru, Tanzania’s third highest peak rising out of a sea of low cloud. We gained a ridge crest and traveled along it toward Kibo for a ways before banging a left turn and traversing a series of old lava ledges. Finally, at about 12,700 ft we turned a corner and walked onto the broad Shira Plateau. We finished up by dropping downhill briefly before coming into our new camp at 12,500 ft. We’d seen our first Senecios and Lobelias, some of the distinctive endemic plants of Kilimanjaro. We’d gotten the walking finished in about five hours which gave us plenty of time for a relaxing afternoon in Shira Camp. The team reviewed their Swahili vocabulary at 4:30 tea time and watched a fine sunset a few hours later out over the old volcanic towers of Shira. We filed into the big dining tent by headlight at 7:00 and were once again greatly impressed with the meal that Tosha had produced in his simple kitchen tent. It was another fabulous evening for stars and planets... and sleep as well.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
So excited for you all and this amazing adventure. Continued prayers for a safe journey. Love and blessings.
Posted by: Holly Gilliam on 8/11/2018 at 12:59 pm
Wishing you the best, Lory Beth.
Posted by: Leonard Brendel on 8/11/2018 at 8:37 am
Today was perfect from start to finish. Perfect for resting and catching up on our acclimatization and hydration. It was another cloudless and windless day, at Low Camp -that is- our radio check-in with basecamp revealed that they were in fog down below. But we had fine weather and a forecast for more of the same. We had a leisurely breakfast followed by prolonged snacking and napping. The troops were instructed to down a few liters each of water as their primary chore for the day. After a couple of longer, tougher days, this was a welcome change and we hope the rest sets us up well for the move to higher altitude tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
We packed up and left Cusco at 6 am and headed for the Salkantay trail head near Soraypampa. The drive took us over some high passes and down a very scenic river valley filled with eucalyptus trees and small subsistence farms.
When you describe to people the quality of food we eat on these Treks you get some doubtful looks, seeing is believing. Our Team feasted on guacamole and bread only to be followed by a pumpkin soup and rounded out with a main course of vegetable and cheese stuffed trout. That was only lunch, who knows what is for dinner.
Bellies full we set out into grey skies with a spectacular view of Cerro Salkantay and Humantay. Gradually the glaciers and snow covered faces disappeared in a light rain as we walked into camp, Ichupata at 14,846'.
Rain is coming down quite heavily now, the team is getting warm in their tents and we will check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike King
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
The Kilimanjaro Climb & Safari August 5 - 19 has come to an end. The team enjoyed our final night in Africa at the Balloon Camp - Tarangire. Today we traveled back to Arusha and returned to the hotel where we first met two weeks ago. We enjoyed one last meal together as a team, repacked packed bags and headed to the airport. Everyone will be traveling to their respective homes over the next 24 hours. We had a grand adventure!
Until next time,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Congratulations Team & a HUGE thank you to Mark Tucker for keeping us all so well informed. I really enjoyed knowing what was going on each day. Looking forward to seeing Jennifer & Geoff back in Seattle!
Posted by: Rhonda Bolton on 8/18/2017 at 11:14 am
Posted by: Steve Gately, Hannah McGowan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,200'
The team did an incredible job today with our Carry to Camp 1 (16,200ft). The route starts off traveling up the moraine to the Glaciar de Los Ingleses. The terrain is loose and awkward, peppered with penitentes as tall as 6 feet. Penitentes are towers of snow and ice that form from different melting patterns in the snowpack, specifically from wind transported glacial pumice. After that the terrain eases off as we pick our way through a maze of rock debris covering old glacial ice. We finish with what is normally steep loose scree but we had the pleasure of ascending snow which made the walking much nicer. This portion is a lot of work as we're carrying 40-50lbs packs and are entering an elevation of over 16,000ft. We reached Camp 1, left some gear, teased our bodies with a new high altitude to jump start the acclimatization process and took in the views. We're now back at basecamp and everyone is resting before another enormous basecamp dinner. Tomorrow we look forward to a well deserved rest day. Keep your fingers crossed the weather stays nice for us! Hasta mañana!
RMI Guide Steve Gately
On The Map
The RMI Mexico Team is nestled in their tents at 15,000' after a heavy move day to our camp. We woke early to beat the heat and afternoon storms. Our route today took us to the base of the "knees" on Ixta over four hours. The camp is dry so we had some porter help carrying water for two days.
We enjoyed views of the expansive golden bunch grass as the hills and rock features making up the lower flanks gave way to volcanic rock and scree. Being in and out of the clouds allowed for cooler temperatures and the team climbed well. We will head for the summit tomorrow morning if the weather holds. Coverage has been troublesome for longer dispatches, we'll get a longer one up from our day off in Puebla.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Hello all,
Just checking in from our camp at over 12,000ft in the barrels here on Elbrus. We had a mellow day resting up before our summit attempt tomorrow morning that we used to brush up on some crampon techniques and run through an ice axe arrest refresher. The weather has been funky for the last 24 hours with everything from snow and rain, thunder and lightning, to sunshine and blue sky. The forecast for tomorrow is good so our fingers are crossed. Not much else to report, headed to bed early for our early wake up.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Hi Sue & Team!
Hoping for good weather on your climb to the summit tomorrow! Have fun!
Laura & the gang back home!
Posted by: Laura Thompson on 8/11/2016 at 3:34 pm
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Eric Frank
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 16,404'
Hello from Paria high camp at 5000 meter.This is a satellite peak of Artesonraju we've decided to climb to acclimatize. So far it's a Mars like landscape. All is good, stay tuned for our summit dispatch.
RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos & Eric Frank
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Elevation: 14,400'
Expeditions into the great mountains of the world require an incredible amount of dreaming, planning, preparation, and finally, performing. The preparations our team has made leading them into the Cordillera Blanca culminated today with an alpine climbing school for the ages. We've trained and traveled, and finally put the finishing touches on our skill sets today with thorough instruction for the climbs ahead of us. Tomorrow, we perform. With stable weather building, we're setting our sights on the jagged 18,143' summit of Nevado Ishinca. With stomachs full of Lomo Saltado, we're bedding down early to rest our muscles for the work that lies ahead. If all goes as planned, we'll be calling from 18,143' tomorrow.
--Spanish Climbing Word of the Day: Hielo Glaciar - "Glacial Ice"
Buenos Noches,
RMI Guides Robby Young and Elias de Andres Martos and team
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Helping you breathe from our home elevation of 500’. Good luck on your final ascent. Love the log.
Posted by: Margot/Dick on 9/21/2018 at 11:18 am
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