Entries from Expedition Dispatches

Friday, October 11, 2024

After our rainy summit of Volcan La Malinche, our team was pretty excited to see sun pop up in the forecast. We headed toward Volcan Iztaccihuatl (Ixta) excited for our next summit. 

At our regular food and water pit stop in Amecameca (my favorite word) our local guide Allan had some bad news. The rains from Hurricane Milton had caused the park service to close the road, and we would have a 9 kilometer hike to our normal parking/basecamp area.  This was sad to hear, as it made a summit of Ixta a hard proposition. But we quickly brainstormed and decided we would trek to basecamp, then get as far up Ixta as possible. This would give us great altitude training for our biggest goal, Orizaba at 18,500’. 

The next day we hiked through pleasant tall grass meadows and pine trees and camped at our normal basecamp at 13,000’. In the morning we woke to a ‘practice’ alpine start at 3:00am, and were finally greeted by stars and the moon. 

On our climb to 15,500’ we watched a colorful sunrise and Volcan Popocatepetl puffing away across the valley. All in all a spectacular altitude training day. 

Trekking back through the pine tree meadows, everyone was excited to get to Puebla for pizza, a nice night in a hotel, then to our final volcano, Pico de Orizaba!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

The day had its ups and downs. We left Dhole (at 13,250ft) just after breakfast and continued our trip down the magnificent gorge. There were waterfalls everywhere and we enjoyed being back among trees, shrubs, and grasses. After a little more than an hour, we had bottomed out below 12,000 ft and needed to start climbing again. The team are old hands at going uphill in the Himalaya by now, and so we cruised the switchbacks and crushed any and all competition. 

It was delightful to take tea sitting outside where we crested at 13,000 ft. Once again, we were looking directly out at Ama Dablam (to say nothing of Kangtega and Thamserku) just across the valley.  For a time, we were back in the “traffic” of tourists, porters, and yaks on the main route to and from Everest Basecamp, but we ventured into much quieter terrain by taking a turn up toward Khumjung, a beautiful village just over the hill from Namche. We ate lunch there, next to the famed Hillary School, and then walked a final hour in swirling clouds to reach Namche Bazaar once again. 

The gang is happy to be back in the lap of relative luxury. Camp De Base seems like the Ritz to us now. Showers and shopping were in order, along with comfortable beds. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Thursday, October 10, 2024 - 3:04 am PT

As much as we were enjoying the high life up in Gokyo, it was time to get lower.  We got walking at 8:30 this morning down past the series of magical lakes pinched between giant mountains and a giant glacier.  The end of the glacier brought a dramatic change in the scenery as we were then traversing a steep gorge with a charging and churning river below.  The trail was in great condition, though it was still a challenge to keep from tumbling off as one could get easily distracted staring at the six or eight 20,000 ft mountains surrounding us.  It wasn’t particularly busy on the trail but we were careful to give room to the hard working yaks when they came through loaded up with propane.  The weather followed what we’ve come to think of as the normal pattern: crystal clear to start and clouding up after noon.  We pulled into Dhole at around 1:40 PM after 8.2 miles, so the gang was definitely ready for lunch and a few hours of rest to complete the day.  The rest -way down here at 13,400- ought to be a little more restful than we’ve had in recent days. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Wednesday, October 9, 2024 - 3:56 am PT

For sleeping at 15,700 ft last night, the team fared pretty well. All were present and conscious for breakfast… even smiling.  Some chose to actually rest on the rest day while others went for the more active program.  We set out after breakfast headed toward Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth highest mountain.  We didn’t mean to climb it.  There is a great view of the mountain from Gokyo, we walked toward it to stretch our legs and to see a few other big mountains.  Our route took us near “fourth lake” and “fifth lake” a few more in the magical chain of turquoise lakes along the enormous Ngozumpa Glacier.  After nearly four miles, we reached an excellent place to sit while gazing at Mt Everest, Gyangchungkang, Cho Oyu and a hundred other stunning peaks.  The team was reunited back at the Fitzroy in Gokyo by 2 PM, just in time for a meal and a nap. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Cho Oyu from Gokyo. PC: Dave Hahn

We woke at our quiet mountain cabins on the side of Volcan La Malinche to a cloudy sky, but minus the rain we had experienced most of the trip. 

After a quick breakfast we started up the trail, rain shells at the ready. Our forecast was for rain showers, courtesy of Hurricane Milton only 200 miles away. And as we neared 13,000 feet the rain started. But Etienne and Norbert weren’t too concerned with a little rain, and we pressed uphill, staying mostly dry in our Gore-Tex. 

We summited in a light mist, with sun poking through. 2 climbers, 1 guide and 3 dogs(2 from our cabins, one from part way up the mountain, so not sure if she gets a summit). 

We made it quick on top, and as we started downhill, Milton made its presence known, and we were soon in the heaviest rain I’ve seen outside of a tropical rainforest. But we kept our cool, and with tired legs and absolutely soaked through, we made it happily back to our cabins in the forest. 

With a good night’s sleep and now dried out clothing and gear, we’re off to our next challenge, Volcan Ixta, with an improving weather forecast!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

Tuesday, October 8, 2024 - 4:09 am PT

The stars and satellites were twinkling when we left Lungdhen at 5:25 AM. It appeared to be a perfect morning for our big climb.  The trail was steep and unrelenting, right off the bat, but the team was moving well.  By the first rest break we no longer needed headlamps and the jagged peaks were bathed in splendid sunlight.  After the initial hills, we walked through rolling and sandy hills amid alpine lakes.  We began to encounter the snow that fell while we were coming into Kathmandu a week ago.  It got a little deeper as we got on the steep rock switchbacks and ledges that led to the pass itself.  It was tricky going.  There was no room for slipping or tripping.  But our amazing guide team of Tenzing, Lakpa Tenzing, Santa and Rai were vigilant and enormously helpful. The team had certainly noticed the 17,600 ft of elevation when we hit the pass, but it was so magical to be standing there in bright sun with no wind and the whole world seemingly revealed, that the gang smiled through whatever pain they were feeling.  Right there in front of us were Everest, Lhotse and Makalu (the first, fourth and fifth highest mountains in the world.)  We ate, drank and took pictures. It was easy to just hang out, gazing at a thousand mountains and glaciers, but after about thirty minutes it was time to get busy with a safe descent.  We’d made the pass at about 11 AM and were headed down the other side by about 11:40.  The snowy path through steep rock demanded laser focus, but things got easier as we descended.  We pulled into Gokyo 9.5 hours after we’d begun the day, having covered 8.7 tough (but beautiful) miles.  Our guesthouse sits on the edge of a turquoise lake at nearly 15,700 ft.  The team was happy to find their rooms in the comfortable Fitzroy Lodge. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

PC: Dave Hahn

Monday, October 7, 2024 - 6:18 am PT

We put in nearly seven miles of walking on our rest day.  But it was restful.  Lungdhen sits on the edge of a big broad valley with steep peaks on either side.  It was another blue sky morning and we set out up valley.  There were just a handful of yak corrals and not many buildings in our valley.  We came across zero trekkers.  The valley is pretty quiet since the nearby Tibet border is closed to any passage.  We went to about 14,900 ft.  A bit farther than intended, but we kept seeing new and beautiful peaks.  Even so, we were back at our tea house by 12:30PM, just in time for lunch, some naps and some packing and preparing for the Renjo La tomorrow.  It will be a big day in terms of distance, altitude, cold and most especially views.  We are planning an early morning start, so the team is already in bed at 7 PM.

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

PC: Dave Hahn

October 6, 2024 - 11:38 am PT

After a breakfast with a great view of Mexico City at a little place we found, the Mexico Volcanos team is headed to the rustic cabins at La Malinche. 

The weather has been a bit rainy, but we expect sun later in the week and we're excited to get on our first volcano tomorrow!

RMI Guide Joe Hoch

Well, we have gone off the map. Or at least out of cell phone range, and the internet is not working up here at 14,250 ft in Lungdhen, so we are coming to you via satellite. The team was -once again- surprised to wake in Thame surrounded by beautiful mountains. The normal pattern, clouds in afternoon and an evening with crystal clear mornings will produce that kind of morning surprise. Today the peaks were extra stunning at first light.

We set off at about 8:20 up the broad valley, pointed north toward the Tibetan border. We had left the trees behind, so today there were just low shrubs and grasses, and a big roaring tumbling river (as usual). Without coming to any single big hill, we gained altitude steadily through our 6.5 miles.  We sat for tea a while in Maralung before taking on the final push up to the Kwangde View Lodge in Lungdhen. We did one of our typical eat and rest afternoons as the clouds came around outside. It is a little cooler up here, and we aren't so far from the snow now.

 We will explore a little tomorrow and stay a second night. That should offer our best chance at proper acclimatization before we try to get over the 17,600 ft Renjo La. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Saturday, October 5, 2024 - 2:56 am PT

It was another brilliant blue sky morning in Namche, and so it was easy to get up and get going… but leaving comfy Camp de Base is never all that easy.  We were excited to start up the Thame Valley.  There were many many nice people on the trail from Lukla to Namche and the vast majority of them were headed for Everest Basecamp.  We took some satisfaction this morning in going out of town the other way.  We walked in forest for roughly the first three miles and then began to break out of the trees to see perfectly manicured small farms along the way.  Of course we sat for tea in Thamo, comfortable outside even as some clouds began to gather.  Then it wasn’t too much further to Thame.  We began to see the destruction caused by the recent outburst flood (essentially, a month ago a natural dam failed up valley, sending a wall of water and rock down upon this beautiful village).  As usual with such things it is jarring to see some farms and tea houses completely untouched while neighboring properties are simply gone or in ruins.  We were welcomed at the Paradise Lodge in early afternoon, having gone just over six miles from Namche.  A big lunch put the team in the proper mood for resting through the afternoon and adjusting to the “new” altitude. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn