RMI Expeditions Blog
August 26, 2024
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, George Hedreen, Raymond Holt, Tom Skoog, Miles Watson, Hannah Billings
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb August 23 - 27 led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer & George Hedreen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams enjoyed clear skies, a funky cloud and a light breeze for their climb and were able to enjoy some time this morning in the summit crater. The team began their descent from the crater rim around 9:30 am. They will return to Camp Muir and enjoy another night on the mountain. Tomorrow the teams will pack their gear and descend the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise.
Congratulations team!
PC: George Hedreen
Hola hola hola!
This morning, some of us woke up early just one more time - we took the buses back up the hill, went through the entrance of Machu Picchu and climbed Huayna Picchu.
You know the mountain in the background of all those iconic photos of Machu Picchu? That’s Huayna Picchu! We rallied (even after 6 days of trekking!) for just a *few* more steep stairs to the summit.
We were greeted with sunshine and full views of Machu Picchu and all the surrounding landscape. We celebrated a birthday (HBD Courtney!!) and took all the photos. It was beyond remarkable and a great way to wrap up this trip.
This afternoon on the 4-hour train from Machu Picchu back to Cusco, we had some time to reflect on our adventure. We stepped out of our comfort zones to explore new cultures, new altitudes, new food and so much more. We came together as a team and learned so much about ourselves along the way.
Tomorrow we’ll all fly home but we’ll carry everything — the hard moments, the funny moments, the inspiring stories of the Incas and their ancestors — with us for a lifetime.
Until next time, Peru!
RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the Machu Picchu team
PC: Jess Wedel
Sign Up For Machu Picchu August 15, 2024 Emails
Ok we didn’t get eaten by lions that last night in Tarangire National Park. There were fresh overnight Hyena tracks in the dirt where we were loading up the Landcruisers though, so we’ll count it as a close one. It was still dark when we ate breakfast at Nyikani Tent Camp and just beginning to get light when we drove away -on the prowl again for a final morning of wildlife viewing. Our excellent naturalist guide/drivers Johnson and Chacha kept finding (and explaining) the good stuff, including a big python on an overhead branch, and “strangular“ fig trees taking over baobobs. Safari couldn’t last forever though, so at 10:30 we left the park finally and began making our way back to Arusha. We made a final stop for shopping, some culture and a picnic lunch before returning to the familiar Rivertrees for the afternoon. By evening the team was going separate ways; some to Zanzibar, some to the Serengeti and several of us back into uncomfortable airplane seats. We shared a fun and memorable adventure on the roof of Africa…more than making up for airline/airport tediousness.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Sign Up For Kilimanjaro Climb & Safari August 10, 2024 Emails
August 25, 2024
Posted by: Jess Wedel
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Machu Picchu
Elevation: 7,972'
Sunday, August 25, 2024 - 3:26 am PT
We made it to Machu Picchu!
Wow, what a day. We woke up and walked the final few hours to the Sun Gate. It was a little cloudy but we still had views of Machu Picchu below.
We spent the morning exploring the different sites - the Sun Temple, the Palace Quarters, the Temple of the Condor and so much more! Then we took the bus downhill to Aguas Calientes where we all enjoyed a shower and delicious dinner.
Tomorrow, we get to go back to the park and climb Huayna Picchu. For now, we are sleeping happily in warm beds.
RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the team
Sign Up For Machu Picchu August 15, 2024 Emails
August 25, 2024
Posted by: Henry Coppolillo, Mike Bennett, Seth Burns, Calvin Jiricko, Rosie Hust, Claire Pennell
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Although Paradise remains in a bit of a cloud this morning, it is sunny and clear above Camp Muir. The Five Day Climb August 21 - 25 led by RMI Guides Henry Coppolillo and Mike Bennett reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams found a bit of new snow on the upper mountain but the route was in good shape and the weather is beautiful, so they had a great climb to top. They started their descent from the crater rim around 7:20 am. They will return to Camp Muir for a quick break and continue down to Paradise. Their program will conclude this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
August 24, 2024
Posted by: Sam Hoffman, Mitch Valaitis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 9,127'
Led by Sam Hoffman and Mitch Valatis, the RMI team summited mid-day Thursday. With the anticipation of poor weather, the climbers adapted and climbed a day-early. The push paid off and we enjoyed sunshine on the top!
Congrats team.
August 24, 2024
Posted by: Jess Wedel
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Machu Picchu
Elevation: 8,700'
Saturday, August 23, 2024 - 6:52 pm PT
“Good morning my friend!” Elbin says every morning as he wakes us up with hot tea and coffee at our tents with a big huge smile. Today was no different. We woke up looking into a valley of moving clouds, packed all our stuff, had a quick breakfast and hit the trail. One last big day was ahead.
We stopped at archeological sites, went up and down two more passes and finally arrived at Winay Wayna - our final camp before Machu Picchu. We were on the trail for over eight hours walking the 600-year old stone path. Tonight, we celebrated all the people that helped make this trek possible - our porters, cooks, and local guides! Complete with a freshly baked cake. We can’t say enough about how incredible they have made this experience.
Tomorrow we have just two hours to walk until we arrive at Machu Picchu and we are all looking forward to it.
Woo hoo!!
RMI Guide Jess and the team
Sign Up For Machu Picchu August 15, 2024 Emails
August 23, 2024
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Robert Whyte, Avery Stolte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
The Mt. Baker Easton Glacier Team led by RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier were unable to climb due to thunderstorms in the area. The team is hanging in their tents doing their best to stay dry!
Congratulations team on a real mountain adventure!
Hi dear readers!
It was our first day joining up with the Inca trail and what a day it was! Up, up, up we went from 9,800 feet all the way to nearly 14,000 feet at Dead Woman’s Pass. Step by step we walked together. Everyone did awesome and the views were spectacular. The sun was beating down on us for most of the day but just before the pass we got some reprieve as clouds moved it and cooled down the temperatures. Then we descended into our next camp, Pacaymayo, which means “hidden river”. It’s a beautiful and remote camp with views looking into the valley and no one around for miles.
We were greeted by our incredible support team with smiles and cheers! Every day we arrive to camp with our tents already set up and water ready for drinking. We couldn’t do this without them!
RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the Machu Picchu team
Sign Up For Machu Picchu August 15, 2024 Emails
Always tough to leave the Plantation Lodge in Karatu. It is only made possible because we then get to move on over to Tarangire, home of the Elephants! It is hotter and drier once we left the Ngorongoro highlands, but we had a thin cloud cover for much of the day, so the sun wasn’t oppressive. Within minutes of entering the park today we were looking at a pair of lions. A big male sitting regally beneath a shade tree and a female who seemed to have the hunting job for the day. A few minutes later we began seeing the elephants. Tarangire has a million big baobob trees, every one of which has been scraped by elephant tusks in search of moisture. We saw family groups everywhere, with plenty of youngsters staying close to their moms. As we got deeper into the park we saw giraffes and Cape buffalo (zebras and wildebeest barely rate a mention anymore, but we saw thousands of them) we saw antelopes of all shapes and sizes, from Dik Diks to Elands. We just barely saw a leopard (a tail hanging down and a couple of paws as the cat lay sprawled over a branch within a thick canopy). And we just barely saw a cheetah -or cheetahs if you believe those that think there was another speckled thing behind that bush.
It was a great day in a great big park. And we look forward to one more morning of Safari. But we are still in the park tonight, experiencing a “tent camp” out in the bush. There is no fence separating us from the wild animals tonight. If there is no dispatch tomorrow, you’ll know what happened.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
PC: Dave Hahn
Jeff Miller and team we are super proud of you ! What an accomplishment to achieve in your life ! Way to lead the wolf pack ! Gus has the drinks ready !
Posted by: Gus on 8/25/2024 at 8:34 am
Congratulations!! Way to go team!!
So proud of you Jeff ❤️
Posted by: Jaimie on 8/25/2024 at 8:33 am
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