Our time in La Paz was short, as we awoke to another beautiful day here in Bolivia and made the three-hour drive to Lake Titicaca to take in the scenery and get acclimated to the 13,000’ altitude.
We walked amongst old Incan ruins and small farming villages surrounding the lake. The Bolivian Andes mountains on one side and Perú off in the distance across the lake to the north.
Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. We took the opportunity to take a couple of ferry rides across the lake to different islands including driving through Copacabana. To get to our final destination for the night on Isla del Sol “Island of the Sun” we took a short boat shuttle to our eco lodge overlooking the lake and surrounding mountains.
The views are incredible as we got to watch the sunset light up the mountains across the lake. As we head to bed the near full moon is glistening on the water. We look forward to another day tomorrow walking around the island and all that it has to offer.
RMI Guide Andy Bond
The honking horns had subsided and the streets were nearly bare this morning at 5 am, when fellow guide And Bond and I got up to make the chilly trip up to El Alto Airport at 13,400' on the Bolivia Altiplano. Three out of our six climbers arrived on the same flight, and after clearing immigration had piled their duffel bags next to an airport coffee shop, awaiting our arrival.
After a quick round of hand shakes and high fives, we grabbed a cup of coffee each and headed outside to hail taxis into the city. The soft beds at Hotel Ritz provided a few hours of rest before we had a late morning meeting to discuss the plan for the day.
The point of today, along with the next few days, is to play tourist and allow our bodies time to acclimate. After leaving the hotel, we visited several neighborhoods by using the new citywide teleferiquo system, a series of gondola lines that crisscross the city. The views of Huayna Potosi and Illimani from the gondola cars were incredible.
On the walk back to the hotel we were serenaded by loud music from a passing parade. This weekend is the Fiesta del Gran Poder (festival of the great power) which is one of the largest festivals in Bolivia. We watched thousands upon thousands of dancers, marching bands and people in traditional costumes stream by.
Tomorrow morning we launch north toward Lake Titicaca and Isla de Sol.
RMI Guides Eric Frank, Andy Bond & Team
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir May 13 - 18 led by RMI Guides Eric Frank and Jenny Konway reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team reported beautiful clear skies and great climbing conditions on their summit attempt this morning. The team ascended to Camp Muir on Monday and has spent the week with training and instruction near Camp Muir. They will return to Camp Muir for their final night on the mountain. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp tomorrow.
Congratulations to all the climbers!
Hello, this is Eric Frank and team up on the North Side of Mt. Shuksan. I just wanted to send a quick note and let everyone know that we reached the summit this morning. It was a textbook climb in perfect weather conditions.
We intend to descend to Lake Anne later this afternoon, and work our way out to the trailhead in the morning.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Eric Frank and JM Gorum reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Eric reported clear skies all the way to the top! The team will spend some time enjoying the views
Congratulations to today's team!
Hello, this is Eric Frank. Just giving you a call from Mount Shuksan. Wanted to let everyone who is following along that we are safe and sound back in camp. We had a good day of climbing up on the glacier and the summit pyramid. Unfortunately we were not able to reach the summit. The rain from yesterday kind of lingered late into the evening. There was a big, wet cloud that hung over the glacier that didn't let us get out of camp until mid morning today. But we did climb up the glacier, got to the base of the pyramid, and got to go through a little bit of that terrain, and experience what that climbing is like. We then made the safe call to come back down before things got too late in the day, and we had to come down in the dark. We enjoyed ourselves. We're all happy and doing quite well. Hope everyone out there is doing well, take care.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Good afternoon. This is Eric Frank calling in from the south side of Mount Shuksan. Just sitting in my tent here listening to the rain pitter patter on the outside. On the plus side, I would assume that most of the smoke from British Columbia has been knocked down. It's been raining here since around 11 p.m. last night. It rained hard throughout the night, well into the early afternoon today. We were able to get outside to do a little bit of training- built some anchors, did some crevasse rescue before the cold and heavy wet mist chased us back into our tents. So we have our fingers crossed that things are going to be looking up for tomorrow. Right now we're just getting prepared, doing our part to get ready to go climb Mount Shuksan in the morning. So hopefully we will be calling you mid-morning with a report from the top and hopefully some better weather. Looking forward to it then. Bye.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
Hey, this is Eric Frank with the Shuksan Seminar. Just wanted to let everyone know we're doing well. We moved up to the toe of the glacier had a good day of training today, and now the weather is turned a little bit the clouds are rolling in. I think we're in for a little bit of rain. We are tucked in and we have a nice camp and we're planning to train tomorrow as much as we're able given the weather. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank checks in the Shuksan Seminar.
Friday, August 11, 2017 - 6:59 pm PT
Hello, this is Eric Frank calling in from the South side of Mt. Shuksan. I just wanted to let everyone know we're doing well. We had a good day of climbing through the old grow forest and we have settled into our little bivy camp here for the night. So far the team is just getting camp set up and relaxing. We are going to make some dinner, watch the sun go down and enjoy ourselves a little bit. Thanks for following along. We will check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Eric Frank
RMI Guide Eric Frank checks in from their first camp on the Mt. Shuksan Seminar
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led by Eric Frank and Andy Bond, reached the summit at 6:15 a.m. With good weather and light winds, they are on their way back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!
I’m enjoying learning and seeing the beauty of Bolivia
To All
Enjoy
Be safe
Posted by: Tina /John zabinski on 5/28/2018 at 6:43 am
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