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Hello from Casa Sol or the "sun house" located high on steep hillside overlooking a beautiful valley.
Today our team left the hustle and bustle of Quito and drove north in Victor's Magic Bus to a beautiful reserve called Mojanda. Translated this word means "black lake" but the lake we parked at was a deep emerald blue. Created by a sunken crater, lake Mojanda is surrounded by steep craggy mountain sides covered with a thick carpet of tall grasses and plants unique to this high altitude ecosystem.
One of these tall mountains was our acclimating objective for the day. Fuya Fuya, which would sound a lot better if you put the word Kung at the beginning of it, stands at close to the same height as Mt. Rainier but is much more easily climbed. After following the nice trail through those tall grasses for just over an hour the team reached a windy saddle splitting the mountains two summits. Banging a hard right toward the northern peak, we had to scramble over a challenging 10 foot rock step and then continue up a steep ridge for another ten minutes to a flat and welcoming summit. The entire team arrived together but only had enough time for a quick high five, group photo and a few personal pictures before being greeted by distant thunder advising us it was time to depart. A quick hour long descent was motivated by a laughing group of high school kids racing downhill both on foot and rolling. We were reminded by those playful youths that we can't take things too seriously because even with lightning and thunder around, smiles and fun can make any situation better.
After the hike we ate lunch at a nice local hacienda before driving to Casa Sol for the evening. The most exciting part of the day wasn't the lightning or thunder but watching Victor try and park his large mini bus in the cramped garage. The scar where he tore off a chunk of the gate still showed from last year. He made it, barely, so we all raised a cup and declared success all around.
Let's hope for a successful mission to Cayambe tomorrow.
RMI Guides Adam Knoff & Nick Hunt
On The Map
This is Mike and Team checking in after our return from Camp 1 @ 16,400ft. The Mountain got a lot of snow this winter compared to the past 10 seasons. This made for difficult climbing through snow features called 'penitentes' that form from dust, wind and sunlight. Today they were six feet tall in some places.
Combine the narrow snow features with heat and glare reflecting off the white snow and the Team had it's work cutout for them. We stocked our camp with food and supplies to both lighten our load on the 28th and to help acclimate.
Tomorrow is a rest day and everyone is looking forward to sleeping in.
Thanks for following the expedition.
RMI Guide Mike King
Posted by: Billy Nugent
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Hey, it's Billy here checking in from the Sulphide yet again on our Expedition Skills Seminar. We ended up not going for the climb today despite the perfect weather. There's a ton of new snow up on the upper summit pyramid. We figured we'd give that stuff a chance to sort of settle out and melt and see whatever it was going to do on the first truly hot day in quite a while. We let things just sort of mellow out up there, and we kept ourselves busy with ice climbing in and out of crevasses. We went for a little walk around the Sulphide Glacier and then capped off the day with some belaying and rappelling practice. Everyone is super excited for our summit attempt tomorrow. We'll call and hopefully check in from the tippy top and let you know what we run into up there. Alright. All for now.
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
RMI Guide Billy Nugent calls in from the Shuksan Seminar.
Hey everybody, this is Casey Grom checking in from the Kilimanjaro Climb. Just wanted to let you know that everyone's doing great today. Today was our big move. Today we left the Dik Dik Lodge and actually headed to Kilimanjaro itself. We drove for about an hour and a half to get to the park entrance where we spent a little bit of time getting our gear sorted and getting all our porters together and getting signed in. After all that was taking care of, we had a nice, leisurely hike, where we gained about 4,000 ft today as we hiked up to Machame Camp. So the entrance is at about 6,000 feet and we hiked up to just a touch under 10,000 ft and everyone's feeling great and doing really well.
The weather today was incredibly nice. We had mostly and overcast day which is really, really enjoyable for hiking as it kept the temperatures down. Just as we were pulling in the camp, we did get a small break and we got see a little bit of the upper mountain and some of the glaciers up high on Kilimanjaro. That was a pleasant surprise for everybody.
We just wrapped up our dinner and everyone is crawling into our tents. And by the sounds of it, I'm guessing we're gonna have quite a few folks sleeping well tonight. I think everyone worked hard and looking forward to [transmission lost].
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in after a successful first day on Kilimanjaro.
On The Map
Posted by: Eric Frank, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb Teams checked in at 7:40 AM as they were leaving the summit crater of Mt. Rainier. The group enjoyed blue skies and a really nice morning on the mountain.
Once they return to Camp Muir they will repack and continue their descent to Paradise. They will end their program with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
What a fantastic early Birthday gift Bob !! You made it, way to go. Love you
Posted by: Barbara on 8/4/2018 at 4:44 pm
Congratulations to all of you , what a great experience. So proud Bob
Posted by: Barbara on 8/4/2018 at 4:41 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Jess Matthews, Nick Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,200'
A thunderstorm skirted us late last night as we fell asleep to the occasional flash of lightning and clap of thunder. Luckily, it was short lived and we dozed off listening to the tapping of heavy, wet snow hitting the tent late into the night. As the sun hit camp this morning, we crawled out excited to see all of Camp 1 and the slopes above us coated in a couple inches of fresh snow - quite the refreshing contrast to the myriad of browns, tans and grays up to this point. The team enjoyed a long, leisurely breakfast and hot drinks to start off the rest day with some quesadillas to follow for lunch. Sometimes rest days can be just as tough, testing one's patience a bit, but everyone is doing a great job taking advantage of today to continue getting stronger for our next big push to Camp 2. We'll be keeping our eye on the weather which looks to have more snow in store for us, but in the meantime we're taking full advantage of some really beautiful, calm days here at Camp 1. Hopefully the next time you hear from us we'll be settled in at Camp 2 with a hot drink in hand, feeling accomplished, but still aware of the effort that lies before us high up on the Stone Sentinel.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Hello boss, we are following along back here! Hope the progress keeps moving upward and that the hands are staying warm!!
- Team CRS
Posted by: Team CRS on 1/10/2018 at 4:30 pm
My 1st born son Virgil - hope you are feeling good and having fun. Your bro and l would not have liked the thunder and lightening - the snow he could handle. We think of you everyday - maybe more like every minute of everyday for me. Miss you. Love Mom❤️
Posted by: Barbara(mom) on 1/9/2018 at 9:53 am
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Great five days in the North Cascades with two studs; Taylor and Jake came from Minnesota ready to tackle two significant objectives. Shuksan and Mt. Baker. Weather cooperated, and we did the first one from Lake Ann to Lake Ann in a stylish way. The next day, hiked out in the morning to find ourselves hiking into Baker that afternoon. Bed right away, and back at it in the early morning. The North Ridge of Baker is in usual late season conditions, and rotten ice plus intricate navigation, demanded focus and perseverance. Accomplished but tired, we hiked out yesterday as the sun still shined over the Cascades.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Lucas Haaland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 14,200'
We arose early this morning and fired up the stoves with the intention of packing up camp and moving up to 17,200'. At breakfast we kept an eye on the conditions on the upper mountain. The wind was blowing plumes of snow off of the upper mountain and the Buttress and we decided to pump the breaks. With a good forecast ahead of us, and plenty of food and fuel, we decided not to push it by moving up into stormy weather. We decided to wait it out down here at 14k where we are comfortable and are getting stronger.
Our team will remain on standby and hopefully tomorrow's weather will allow us to move up to high camp. Currently it is snowing lightly here at camp and we are resting, hydrating, and eating. We'll be ready when the opportunity presents itself.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
Hi Guys, Great progress! Waiting for the photo on the top.
Posted by: Lei W on 5/17/2017 at 7:50 pm
Posted by: Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Early up again. Why not, it's vacation. Your going to get home exhausted from the travel halfway around the world, so give it your all while here. We traveled a few hours from the Dik Dik Lodge to Lake Manyara, located in the Great Rift Valley. The first of three national parks we will visit on our safari. The introduction to our new challenge, sitting instead of hiking was well received. Nice four-wheeled Landcruisers carried us from one group of animals to the next. Hundreds of creatures near and far, above and below, right and left, fascinated the whole team with little interruption. We are now at the Plantation Lodge being very well taken care of in luxurious surroundings. We have positioned ourselves just outside our next park, Ngorongoro Crater, the eighth wonder of the world. Up early again. Why not, it's vacation!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Peru Seminar
Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. Copa taught us a great lesson about ourselves today; about how much trail we could break, how much wind we could withstand, route finding we could do, crevasses to go around, or in other words, what are we made of. The climb stopped for us at 5,850m, basically a few feet from gaining the summit ridge. But the team had been building up to the circumstances with the previous climbs, and we held it together until it was no longer the right thing to do. Regardless, the feel of accomplishment is very present, and we're celebrating at Base Camp with the most awesome of dinners our cook Emilio could collaborate, including homemade chocolate cake, which by the way, made at 14,800ft on a portable propane stove top, is big deal. We'll head to Huaraz tomorrow after loading our donkeys, and close up our program with a celebratory dinner.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Spanish word of the day: viento blanco (cloud cap)
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Rest and relax! We are thinking of you each day! Will and Syd think you two are pretty cool and amazing! Stay safe, breathe and know you are loved lots!
Posted by: Jo Kev Will and Syd on 12/28/2015 at 6:47 am
Hey Mer and Jeff! Glad to hear the climb is going well so far. Thinking about you guys this Christmas and we wish you all the best of luck with the rest of the hike! Remember: pole pole!!
-Doug, Pat, Russ, Elena, and Kaitie
Posted by: Russell Willmot on 12/27/2015 at 12:26 pm
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