Jambo from Shira Camp at around 12,500 feet. We enjoyed a rain-free day from start to finish. Early risers back down at Machame Camp claim to have seen Kilimanjaro's main peak before clouds hid her cliffs and glaciers. We ate breakfast at around 7:30 under partly cloudy skies and got walking at 8:15 under sunny skies. It was a day of serious altitude gain as we covered half of yesterday's distance but still got up 2,500 vertical feet. There were dramatic changes in vegetation as we came out of the forests and through various zones of plant life flourishing in arid conditions. A large part of the day was spent working up along a ridge of old and weathered lava. Eventually we saw our first Senescu and Lobelia plants. The first of what will be many. The climb finished with a traverse out to the west, where ancient lava flows built a broad flatland between Kibo- Kilimanjaro's main peak and Shira, its western satellite. The gang are all climbing well and continue to marvel at just how much dirt and dust will fit under human fingernails in this environment. Temperatures aren't so cold yet, despite our having pushed up to roughly 12,500 feet.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The climb is underway. We were up early today, carrying bags and packs to the magic bus/truck for the ride to Kilimanjaro. We enjoyed a last comfortable breakfast at the Dik Dik Hotel and said our goodbyes to the staff there as we climbed on board the great expedition vehicle. We were on the road just after 7 AM and at our destination, the Machame Gate to Kilimanjaro National Park by around 9 AM. Our expedition staff sorted loads and hired porters as we snacked, drank water and shooed monkeys from our staging area. Our climb began around 10:15 as we set out through the forest at nearly 6000 ft above sea level. Gaining 4000 feet over the course of about five and a half hours, we were encouraged to be on dry ground and good trail. There was significant cloud cover, but no rain until we'd very nearly reached Machame Camp at 9890 ft. Even then we only had a few minutes of sprinkles as we moved into our tents. An afternoon snack and a delicious dinner in our dining tent took us to darkness and the end of a fine first day. We were all happy to be finally walking in a pretty place after so many less than fun days of packing, traveling and preparing.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Kate and Erwin: the pictures are already amazing. Texts came through from Bill. All the family send love and are checking the blog daily. All the best to the entire group! Elizabeth
Posted by: Elizabeth on 9/5/2015 at 7:17 am
What an amazing journey both physically as well as spiritually! Safe travels to you all!
Our Kilimanjaro climbing team has come together at the Dik Dik Hotel on the outskirts of Arusha, Tanzania. The team actually assembled 24 hours ago, but it took until today for the guide to catch up and join the party. Couldn't get my rickety old 747 to start for the hop across the Atlantic. The team, in the drowsy grip of jet lag and the tranquility of the Dik Dik gardens, barely noticed my absence. Today was a day of rest and recovery... and of preparation for a great adventure. Eleven of us introduced ourselves and began the fun "work" of building a climbing team. We went through the various details of packing and getting organized for a journey through multiple climatic zones and a hoped for shot at the 19,340 ft high point of Africa. With just a few wonderful meals together, we're well on our way to being spoiled by the kitchen and dining staff at the Hotel. Our intention is to break away from all of this luxury in the morning...To get on the road by 7 AM, with the hope of being walking a few hours later. It will be great to replace the images of crowded airports and long security lines with visions of paths in lush forests and glimpses of distant snow-capped peaks.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
One day down, enjoy the incredible beauty during each hike and the rest at the end of each day.
Posted by: Jackie on 9/3/2015 at 2:38 pm
So proud and inspired by you, Charlotte! Hugs and prayers from CDS and wishing for a great adventure for all of you. Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anais Nin
In my mind, no matter what, you are all living a life of great proportion!
RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Solveig Waterfall led their Four Day Summit Climb teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Dave reported perfect weather on the summit - clear, calm, and sunny. The teams began their descent to Camp Muir just after 7:30 am. They will continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
Peter….Wow! Congrats to you for such an accomplishment! We are proud of you…hope to toast to you sometime soon.
Posted by: zoppetti - fischbachs on 8/1/2015 at 1:48 pm
Jeff, we are sure the sights make all the training worthwhile. Hayden was sure she saw you on the mountain last night when we viewed it from the Wallmart Parking Lot and Indi recognized your green eyes in the photo.
Summit!
The Mount Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Dave Hahn and Tyler Reid, were leaving the crater rim at 7:30 this morning. Dave reported great conditions: clear and sunny, with light winds.
Mike King and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons are returning to Base Camp today after a successful summit via the Emmons Glacier.
it was a real priviledge to get to know, sweat, hike, and rope together. Thank you Emmons team and expecially guides for making it worth it! allen (contact me any time)
Posted by: allen musil on 7/26/2015 at 11:10 am
Congratulations!!! Must have been an awesome sight at the top of the mountain!
Sunday July 12th 7:41 pm PT
The team woke at midnight to cloud and light snow at 11,000 ft. We got up and rallied anyway, packing and eating a hot breakfast. We set off into the murk at around 2:30 AM and snowshoed for several hours by Braille in the whiteout. Finally we got a little visibility down at 8000 ft, the base of Ski Hill. The glacier surface didn't freeze up last night and so we had some nervous moments crossing soft and saggy crevasse bridges. One of our team went neck-deep in a complicated hole just below Mt. Francis - one of the very last crevasses we had to deal with, actually. We plucked him from the ice, but not without a fair bit of grunting and cursing and straining at the ropes. Then it was a simple but strenuous uphill climb to the old site of basecamp (there is nothing there now -which is normal in late season). Quite literally, we'd just put our packs down, at around 11:40 AM, when two beautiful K2 Aviation ski otters landed and took us to Talkeetna. The afternoon was a busy one, drying and sorting everything around the K2 hangar and connecting to the world again. We'll have a victory dinner tonight at the West Rib, perhaps with a toast or two thrown in. And then we look forward to a comfortable night's sleep at the Talkeetna Motel. Tomorrow we'll leave each other and be out on our own for the first time in three weeks.
Thanks very much for keeping track of our climb.
Until Next Time,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Gary/Team Hahn: Congratulations on a safe and exciting trip. Finish strong. Enjoy the moments of satisfaction that mother nature has provided and allowed.
We’ll look forward to hearing all about it.
Now get eastward bound to St Louis. No hitchhiking, no motorcycles, and no sleeping in the wooods. All the best,
Chip
Posted by: Chip Sniffin on 7/13/2015 at 6:11 am
Thanks Dave Hahn and your co-guides for excellent job!!! I am so happy your expedition is safe now and saying goodbye&luck; to each other :-)
July 11, 2015 7:58 pm PST
All enjoyed the "low" altitude sleep at 11,000 ft last night. Such a relief from the past few days at higher and colder locales. As was always the plan, we chose to stay in place today in order to get on a night-time schedule for exiting the lower Kahiltna Glacier. It was a fine day for resting, even as the weather seemed to deteriorate around us. Our hope was that clear skies and a cool night would make travel safer (from a crevasse standpoint) and easier. That might not happen tonight as there is still plenty of cloud, but we'll get up at midnight and head for our pickup point anyway. As usual, we'll need good luck and good weather to get down and off the mountain.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
CONGRATULATIONS! Thanks to Dave Hahn and his assistants for the successful climb to the summit. Job well done by all. We deeply enjoyed the daily reports, Dave. Thank you. Gary, your Dad & I have been getting into shape to climb next year with Dave next year. Keep in mind we didn’t say which Dave. Looking forward seeing you in St.Louis. Come home safe. Hugs and Lots of Love.
CONGRATULATIONS! Thanks to Dave Hahn and his assistant making the climb a success for the team. Gary, we are super proud of your success. Dad & I are practicing the hill in Ohio, getting in shape to be on Dave’s team next year. Keep in mind we didn’t say which Dave. Looking forward to seeing our son in St. Louis. Hugs & Lots of Love.
Posted by: Dad & Mom ROSS on 7/13/2015 at 1:24 pm
Gary/Team Hahn: Absolute CONGRATULATIONS. Enjoy the moments of VICTORY!!!!!!!
Saturday, July 11, 2015 - 2:50 am PT
What a difference 24 hours makes. Yet again, we all worked late, yet again it is 1:30 AM. But we've got plenty to show for our labor. We began the day at 17,000 ft, blessed again with perfect weather. We are ending the day down at 11,000 ft in the clouds. It was tough work and we had plenty of dangerous steps to get just right, but we negotiated each of them safely. There was the airy walk along the crest of the West Buttress, the steep and strenuous fixed ropes, the awkward side hill of Windy Corner, the new snow to plod through on the Polo Field and Squirrel Hill and a few well disguised crevasses to sidestep on Motorcycle Hill. Done. Almost. Now for some rest and a cruise out the lower glacier.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Friday, July 10, 2015 - 2:14 am PT
Hey, This is Dave Hahn calling from 17,000 feet on Mt. McKinley. It's about 10 minutes after 1 in the morning. We had a big day yesterday, on the 9th of July. We summitted Mount McKinley! It was a beautiful day, start to finish, nice and calm and sunny, clouds down below. It was perfect climbing conditions, but it was hard climbing conditions, we had to break trail. We shared that work with a few of the other guided teams that were up here. That made all the difference; breaking trail through new snow and being able to trade off that job. But it still took a long time, I think we were out for 14 hours today. We were on the the top at 6:45 until 7:15. It was beautiful up there, really wonderful day, and all of our team made it. I believe that means that RMI is 100% for this season; all of the RMI summit teams have made it. That's just about it for the Denali season, the groups that we were going to the top with today were some of the last. I think there's maybe one more team that is a day from being in position. So far so good for us, we're up at 17k for now and we'll head off the West Buttress tomorrow. But, it really turned around, turned nice for us in these last couple days and we're very appreciative.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls from 17 Camp after reaching the summit of Mt. McKinley.
Hooray for everyone on Team Hahn. Impressive on any day, but especially digging new trail. What an accomplishment. Peter you rock!
Posted by: Laura Taft Paulsen on 7/11/2015 at 2:39 pm
CONGRATULATIONS to Gary and Team Hahn! Very glad your summit day was so beautiful. Can’t wait to heat the stories Gary. Hope your trek back is beautiful too. - Rob
Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - 10:51 pm PT
No forecast could have predicted a day as nice as the one we just had, and certainly none did. They were calling for more snow, and perhaps it was snowing below the immense blanket of clouds that we looked down on all day. But right from our 6 am start at 14,200' Camp, it was nothing but calm, blue sky and sunshine - where we were and up above where we wanted to be. We got climbing just after 9 am and made excellent progress, reaching our previous high point in a little over three hours. We then worked up the crest of the West Buttress, climbing steep snow with a hand on perfect granite from time to time. There was plenty to concentrate on to ensure safe climbing, but there were also moments devoted to pure pleasure, gazing down at ridiculously steep drop offs and at the gigantic faces of neighboring mountains. We rolled into 17,200' Camp after about six hours and fifteen minutes on the route. This gave us plenty of time in the strong afternoon sunshine to build a strong camp and eat a good dinner. We are all ready to go climbing to the top tomorrow if the great weather continues.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Congratulations! You did it. We’re mighty proud of you and the team. Thanks to the team guides. Job well done, by all. We are at Bill’s home using his computer. Dad called Karen to tell her, You made it to the summit. CONGRATULATIONS1 AGAIN AND AGAIN. May all of you follow the same FOOT PRINTS in the SNOW coming down the mountain. We Love You lots and lots. You’ll get a Super Big HUG WHEN WE SEE YOU.
Posted by: Dad & Mom Ross on 7/10/2015 at 8:20 pm
I hope everything went well and you made summit. Congratulation!!!! To all of you!!!
Keep safe and come back home
Posted by: Iza Smolokowska on 7/10/2015 at 6:35 am
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Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori ! Go Dori !
Posted by: Laurie on 9/5/2015 at 9:45 am
Yay Jenell!! Hope everyone stays safe.
Posted by: Leisa on 9/5/2015 at 8:12 am
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