Entries By grayson swingle
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - 9:01 PM PT
Today started out much the same as yesterday. We hurried through breakfast and headed to the airstrip to see what the flying conditions were for the morning. We received an optimistic thumbs down due to fog in basecamp. The pilots told us to be on standby because the weather was on an improving trend. After hanging out for a couple of hours we got the word that we could fly.
After an amazing flight over the lush green Alaska terrain and into the stark mountians of the Alaska Range, we were delivered to basecamp safe and sound. We spent the day getting everything organized and ready to move to our next camp tonight. We travel at night in the lower glacier because the crevasse bridges are more firm and the sleds drag much easier when things are frozen. Let's hope the weather keeps improving.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
Monday, June 17, 2019 - 11:43 PM PT
We were excited to fly up to
Denali Basecamp this morning. We hurried through breakfast and headed to the hangar where our gear was organized and ready to go. Even when we got the word that there was too much fog in basecamp to fly, we were optimistic that it would happen today. We waited into the afternoon when we finally got our chance to fly on. We got everyone and all the gear loaded up and headed to the mountain. About halfway there, the pilots could not find a way through the clouds and were not about to poke around in the big mountains without visibility. We thank them for trying and for using good judgment.
We are currently in a holding pattern and definitely not flying today. Hopefully tomorrow will be our day! Fingers crossed.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen & Team Siete
Monday, June 17, 2019 - 1:06 AM PT
After a rainy arrival in Talkeetna last night, we had a nice day to get our massive amount of gear ready to be flown on the glacier tomorrow. Our meeting with the Denali National Park rangers was great as always and we were rewarded with 20 CMC's (clean mountain cans) to make sure that all of our human waste gets removed from the mountain.
Denali is a pristine mountain and the park service does an incredible job of making sure it stays that way.
We are scheduled to fly into base camp tomorrow morning. The group is hopeful that the weather allows us to fly at some point tomorrow so our adventure can begin and all of our climbers' hard work and anxious packing can start to pay off. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen & Team Siete
Sunday, June 9, 2019 - 1:42pm PT
RMI Guide Mike Walter checked in via SAT Phone from camp on the
Easton Glacier of Mt. Baker. The team reached the summit this morning and enjoyed an almost 4,000' ski descent off the top of Mt. Baker. The team plans to spend a little time in camp recovering before they pack up and head to the trail head where they will return to town for a successful post-climb dinner!
Congratulations!
Congratulations to the team who was the highest people in North America today, assuming no one is climbing Denali or Logan. We had a restless night of sleep listening to the winds howling but by the time we awoke at 11:30pm they were just gusting. The team did a great job taking care of themselves and climbing well.
One of our favorite parts of this trip has been the people in this group. The other night at dinner we came up with trail names for everyone. Breezy is an up for anything Appalachian Trail through hiker. Flama Blanc is a high energy positive Greek restaurant owner. Payday is a world traveler and mountaineer who makes everyone feel comfortable. Lorenzo is the backbone of our team, supporting us with snacks and good advice. Posh is a calculated climber who can take on whatever he wants. Major Tom is a photographer who captures the beauty in the land and smiles on our faces. St. Ronaldo is a fun loving athlete who makes a ten-hour day look easy. Data is a brilliant and curious life long learner who always has a great story to share. Endurance is the calm and confident leader who everyone wants to follow for his perfect form. Baklava is a smart trail chatter who is great for trail distractions. Then the guides: Muel has the strength of a lion and the courage of a bear, Doc is a determined and amazing leader, and lastly me named Jefe, who has the pleasure of traveling and climbing with this great team!
Thank you all.
-Jefe
On The Map
After a full day of rest in the historic and colorful city of Puebla the team is ready to attempt to reach the
highest point in Mexico! We left Puebla this morning for Tlachichuca and Señor Reyes' climbing hostel and former soap factory. Here we ate a hardy lunch and admired the climbing history that has passed through on the way to Orizaba before loading up in a 4×4 truck to making our way to our camp for the night at 14,000 feet. Its sunny up here with gusty winds and clouds below to the East. Now we are getting ready for some sleep before waking up to climb through the night.
RMI Guide Grayson Swingle
On The Map
After a good night of sleep, lots of coffee, and a two hour breakfast the team explored the city of Puebla today. We love this city for its charm, beautiful churches, and friendly people. The hotel we stay in has a huge rooftop terrace that gives us a view of
La Malinche to the North, our last climb to the west and our next goal to the east. Yesterday, as we descended Ixta, our group was tired, wind blasted, and hungry so talk of another mountain was not appealing. But, today is a different story, our team is well fed and rested and happy to embark on the next climb. Here are just a few quotes from the group today: "I've traveled to over 50 countries, and Puebla is blowing my mind!" And, "I'm in a great mood!" Yep, we are lucky to have these folks to climb with.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
The team is in fine form today as we loaded our heavy packs onto our strong backs and hit the steep trail up from La Joya to
Campo Alto Ixta. We all moved under the hot Mexico sun as a tight unit of perfectly timed rest steps. A small dog, we later named Ixta, decided that our group is great company and came with us all the way to 15,500 feet. Now we have our tents up and are treating ourselves to an hour of rest before firing up the stoves and making a hot dinner. We'll be turning in early because we'll be back up in the middle night for a climb to the top!
RMI Guide Christina Dale
On The Map
This morning we left La Malinche for the Altzomoni Hut at 13,000 feet on
Ixta. The team was able to stock up on water and last minute snacks in the town of Amecameca before we begin our two-day attempt on Ixta. We've got all of our equipment sorted for our move up to our high camp at 15,000 feet tomorrow.
RMI Guide Grayson Swingle
On The Map
Today the team left the lively Zona Rosa district of Mexico City bright and early to make our way to the mountains. A beautiful drive through the Mexican countryside took us up through a cloud layer that blanketed the City to sunny skies above.
Once we arrived at our home for the night,
La Malinche, the team began our first big step towards getting our bodies acclimated for the peaks to come by hiking up to 13,700 feet. Here, we got our first views of the surrounding volcanoes including our next objectives
Ixta and Orizaba.
Tonight we will enjoy a much deserved authentic Mexican dinner, sleep at 10,000 feet and try to catch a glimpse of the Lunar Eclipse.
RMI Guide Grayson Swingle
The exciting expedition is now underway! Best wishes to all.
Posted by: Kathy Kikendall on 6/19/2019 at 6:24 pm
Wishing the entire team a safe and successful trip, and friendly skies!!
Posted by: Deborah Flinn on 6/19/2019 at 3:44 pm
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