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After a good nights sleep and a wonderful breakfast we loaded up the bus and left our cozy hacienda for the famous Otavalo market! We wandered between vendors picking out souvenirs to bring back to all you lovely people reading this blog. With our new treasures in tow we headed to a beautiful restaurant for lunch on Lago San Pablo. After filling up on delicious steaks, seafood, and a variety of classic Ecuadorian dishes like ceviche we made the long drive to our spectacular hut on Cayambe. We rearranged some gear and had another delicious meal prepared by our incredibly kind Ecuadorian hut keeper. As I write this, people lay about, relaxing, reading, and sawing logs before we move yet higher again tomorrow!

RMI Guide Jackson Breen

The team showed up to play and brought their A game today. Today we made our way further up the mountain carrying a load up to Camp 1. We piled our gear under a rock, breathed in the thinning air at 16,200' and then strolled on back down to the comforts of basecamp where juice and snacks awaited. Everyone did a fantastic job. Our team looked strong and motivated. This is going to be a good climb. After a hard day's work, we are looking forward to our rest tomorrow which is also our last day at basecamp. Goodnight all, RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

The winds have calmed down here at Plaza Argentina. The Team is enjoying a rest day before we move up the mountain tomorrow. This second rest day is necessary for the Team to acclimate properly with the quick ascent to 14,000’. Aside from sorting some gear, working on tents and a few naps, we are all eager to head up to Camp 1. The winds are forecasted to build over the next few days so we will get our camp established at 16,400’ and see what the weather and mountain give us. RMI Guide Mike King

On The Map

Finally, an all around nice weather day. We made good use of it, carrying food and gear all the way up to our 12,000 ft high camp and then returning to Low Camp. It felt great to walk out of camp at 1:50 PM with crampons on and an ice axe in hand. About thirty minutes into the day, we started up the “fixed ropes”. We gained about 2,500 vertical feet climbing straight up a steep snow slope while clipped in to lines anchored to the hill. While the slope isn’t vertical or even close to vertical, it is certainly steep enough to fall down. After about three hours on the wall, we topped out to walk on an easier angled glacier to high camp. We made it up in just over 5 1/2 hours. Views of the surrounding peaks were magnificent, but there was still a sea of cloud and fog shrouding most terrain under 9,000 ft. Crucially, it was calm and sunny at high camp as we rested for a few minutes and cached our supplies. The descent of the steep slopes took a little time, even with lighter packs. We were back into Low Camp by about 10:30. Dinner took us to 12:30, but of course it is a sunny night so the hour isn’t a problem. Matt Brennan sends his best regards to Gayle Stafford’s reading class and to Karli L. He doesn’t have access to Instagram from down here, but he’ll be back in range when we hit South America. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The last hill into camp at 15,200' saw everyone rest stepping and pressure breathing almost religiously. Whether we felt good or were struggling just a little, we all knew by this time what was required to feel as good as possible to do well at this altitude. It was perfect to have our shortest day coincide with our going to our highest camp. A new altitude record for most everybody! Surprisingly, no headaches have been reported yet, a testament to how well folks are taking care of themselves. In the first few minutes that we were at camp, our mountain staff had our tents up and shortly thereafter had the dining tent up. An hour later our chef Tosha had amazingly whipped up lunch: French fries, sauteed chicken and vegetables, followed by a dessert of orange slices and his incredible chocolate bar creation. Hey you chefs out there, celebrity or not, you don't hold a candle to Tosha. What he does on a couple of propane burners with one assistant at 15,000' is magic! This afternoon we're getting ready for our summit climb, packing what we can and being as organized as possible for our push off just after midnight. Folks descending from the summit today commented on how nice the day was up there. I have a feeling we'll have similar conditions. Wish us luck, and I'll try to get out a voice dispatch from the summit. RMI Guide Brent Okita

On The Map

Saturday, June 23, 2018 - 10:26 PM PT This one started out differently. It wasn’t snowy at 3:30 AM and it wasn’t cloudy. In fact it looked pretty good for climbing. We were walking out of 7800 ft at 6 AM with a big view of Denali’s South Face and some of its classic climbing routes. Our classic climbing route for the day was on “Ski Hill”. Once again we had heavy packs and sleds, once again we used snowshoes and ski poles. The fact that the snow surface had frozen overnight was in our favor, making for good walking. The fact that ski hill is all uphill certainly made things harder, but such difficulties weren’t exactly unexpected. We rolled into our intended site at 9500 ft by 10 AM. Building camp was easy enough in strong sunshine and calm conditions. We snoozed away the warm afternoon, or snacked, read, chatted and hydrated. Dinner in the dining tent was a picnic in the dry and calm conditions. We can no longer see Denali from this particular angle, but the view down 43 miles of the Kahiltna Glacier certainly isn’t bad. Most were in their tents again and turning in by 8 PM when the sun went behind Kahiltna Dome. A little cooler up here now as we start gaining altitude. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We packed up after a stormy night at 19,600'. The evening was filled thunder, lightening and lots of snow. The early start had our hands and toes cold, but we were rewarded with a stellar sunrise and a quick descent through the snow and scree. There was gear to pick up at the lower camps and finally we got to Plaza Argentina to enjoy a warm afternoon of packing for the mules and some well deserved rest at lower elevation. Tomorrow we'll walk to Lenas, our first camp of the trek for the legendary asado and one last night under the stars. This trip has been filled with lots of laughs, better then normal weather and a great team. This will be our last dispatch of the trip, your loved ones will be in reach once we arrive in Mendoza on the evening of the 8th. Thanks for following along on our expedition to the top of South America. RMI Guide Mike King

We were up before the sun having breakfast by headlamp and quickly packed up camp to catch our mule ride across the Relinchos River. Shortly after 7am, we were making our way up the narrow Relinchos Valley on our way to thinner air. After two days of gentle terrain in the Vacas Valley, it felt good to head uphill and gain some elevation. We enjoyed another pleasant, sunny day with a light breeze that stayed with us all the way to Basecamp, and we had another brief Guanaco sighting. We are now all settled at Aconcagua Basecamp and getting ready to switch gears for the days to come. Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to seeing what the upper mountain has in store for us. RMI Guide Mike King

On The Map

The perfect climb continued in similar fashion. We woke under clear skies at 10,000 ft. Each climber commented on how nice it had been to sleep on level ground and at low altitude. We ate one last fine mountain meal and then met, across a clearing in the forest, with our entire 54 man support staff. Philip spoke for his men, expressing gratitude and satisfaction with a week's worth of hard work on our behalf. I spoke for our gang -attempting to express our amazement and gratitude at their efforts. A few songs were sung and gifts exchanged. We set out down the forest trail and before too long were in thick cloud and eventually rain. There was some discussion later though, as to whether it was actually rain or just a particularly wet cloud we were in. It didn't really matter though, as it didn't get us very wet and it didn't last so long. We picked our way down 4,000 vertical feet of slippery trail without mishap and hit the Mweka Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park. After some handshakes, photographs and documentation, we loaded the bus and cruised downhill. Our staff hosted one last amazing lunch on our return, just above the city of Moshi, and then we hit the highway. Gasps were heard when we finally could look back and see Kilimanjaro towering over the clouds. (We hadn't seen it at all before the climb). It didn't seem possible for a mountain to be so big. As good as the climb had been, nobody was sad to be back at our comfortable lodge with hot showers and fine food and drink. We relaxed away the afternoon and celebrated away the evening... within limits of course. The Safari awaits. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Hello again from Artesonraju Base Camp. We delayed one day our departure to Paria North due to bad weather this morning. We are hoping to launch tomorrow morning, as the skies are clearing up as we speak. That's it for today folks! RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos and team