Entries By jess wedel

“We look like a bag of skittles,” Jenell said as we started our morning leaving Phakding.

It had rained all night and the colors surrounding the Dudh Khosi River were saturated. Amongst them our bright rain shell jackets and pants seemed especially loud.

Did we stop at the bakery just a few minutes outside our teahouse? Yes. Yes, of course we did! Pockets filled with pastries we made our way to the base of the Namche hill. It stayed cloudy and  drizzled on us as we officially entered Sagarmatha National Park and soon took a quick break for lunch. The drizzle turned to a full-on rain as we stood at the base of the hill looking up at the Hillary Bridge. We got in formation, one step, and then another right behind the person in front of us. Taking deep breaths and climbing steadily. The rain didn’t let up and the mud was epic but this team stayed positive and many laughs were had along the way.  We stood to the side of the trail as the train of mules slipped and slid their way past us. We listened for their bells to know when they were coming.  The rain turned to a quiet snow as we hummed along those final few hundred vertical feet to Namche.

Namche Bazaar, the city on a hill. Somehow made even more magical covered in a dusting of fresh snow. What a place! We climbed a little higher through town to our teahouse, Camp de Base, and were greeted with big pots of hot chocolate and popcorn. What a day!

One of our Sherpa guides, Dawa, said to me this evening, “this is a strong team” and I couldn’t agree more. Conditions were tough on an already hard day and everybody absolutely crushed it. We are one step closer to our goal but very much looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

P.S. Diane, we miss you!

Hello from our teahouse in Phakding!

At 3:45am, our alarms went off and we woke up - ready with our duffel bags and all the excitement (and maybe some nerves) for our flight to Lukla.  Everything went smoothly and we were first in line at the airport. After security checkpoints and the duffle shuffle, we were called to board our plane. It was a little cloudy out so we crossed our fingers it was clear in Lukla! And boy, was it our lucky day.  We made it in and we were one of the only flights that did.

We were so excited to finally be hiking, the trails were quiet and the clouds hung around to keep the temperature perfectly cool. We meandered down the path, passing ancient mani stones and crossing our first suspension bridges. After three hours, we made it to Phakding! Our home for the night. Warm RaRa soup (the Nepal version of a hearty ramen) filled our bellies and we spent the afternoon resting to the sounds of the Dudh Khosi river out our windows.

All is well and everyone is doing great!

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

Namaste!

Hello from Kathmandu – where the whole team (and all of our bags!) have arrived.

We spent yesterday recuperating from the long flights and trying to make sense of that 12-hour time difference. Everyone stayed awake long enough for our first of many team dinners on the rooftop of Mezze. 

We had a full day today preparing for our trip – going over the schedule, checking all of our gear and picking up any last-minute items we needed from Thamel.

This afternoon, we hopped on the bus and explored Kathmandu. We started at one of the largest spherical stupas in the world – the sacred Boudhanath. We learned about the ancient art of Thangka and received blessings from the llama. Then we headed to other side of town where we held our water bottles close as we walked the steps to the top of Swayambhunath temple – also affectionately known as the Monkey Temple. I’m happy to report no monkey was able to snatch anything from this team.

We ended our day with a meal at OR2K in Thamel where we enjoyed huge platters of delicious hummus, falafel, and buttery naan. Trust me when I tell you, we will all sleep well tonight with full bellies and so much anticipation for what’s to come. 

It’s always lovely to spend a couple days in the vibrant, sound-filled city of Kathmandu but we are all looking forward to the peace of the Khumbu valley.

Tomorrow we’re off!

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Sam Marjerison and team

Hello everyone,

Today we headed to Tarangire National Park known for its abundant elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many we saw, but it was quite a few, and we got pretty close to boot.  There were lots of giraffes, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many, many birds. We did manage to see a leopard, unfortunately it wasn’t that close and seemed to just be napping in the afternoon heat.

We are spending our last night here in Africa at Nykani Tented Camp, which has beautiful tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African bush in. Everyone is doing great and hoping to see a few more big cats on our way out of the park tomorrow morning. Then it will be back to our main lodge near Arusha for a brief stop before catching our flights home.

Thanks for following,

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jess Wedel and crew!

Day 2 on Safari had us visiting the world famous Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is what remains of a once massive volcano that erupted. In the two million years since then, hundreds of animals have taken up residence and have created one of the best safari options in Africa.

We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few more animals before the heat sent them in search for shade. Not long after descending down into the crater we came upon several lions with three cute cubs. We continued driving around trying not to stop at all the zebra, wildebeest, and Cape buffalo that were nearly in the way.

There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. One of the highlights was seeing seven Black Rhino which have become very rare.

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge and are looking forward to what tomorrow may bring as we head to Tarangire National Park.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew

Our first day on safari brought us to Lake Manyara. A small national park that boarders Lake Manyara known for its tree climbing lions. The team spent about four hours driving around the park and saw a fair amount of wildlife. Zebra, Cape buffalo, hundreds of baboons, Vervet monkeys, Blue monkeys and lots of exotic birds. Everyone had a great day and enjoyed just relaxing while taking in the views. 
We then headed to our home for the next two days at an amazing lodge called The Plantation Lodge.

The team just finished a wonderful meal and are off to bed as we are headed out early hoping to see some big cats!

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jess Wedel and the Safari crew  

100% on top

Team is doing well. Tired but in great spirits. 

We’ve descended back to high camp where we’ll have lunch to refuel and then hit the trail and head to thicker air. 

Tonight we’ll spend our last night on the mountain before heading out of the park tomorrow. 

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jess Wedel and the summit team!!!

Saturday, January 27, 2024, 7:26 am PST

We've arrived at high camp! Summit push tonight!

It was a short and uneventful move from Karanga camp up to Barafu camp, which is our launching point for the summit. The team did great, and we arrived in just over 3hrs with amazing views most of the way.

We've had our summit talk where we discussed our plan and the teams strategy for tomorrow. Final packing is taking place as I write this and we'll have dinner shortly, then it's off to bed for a little sleep before the climb. Weather permitting, we'll be up at 10:30pm, have breakfast, and hopefully hit the trail around 11:30pm. As per usual, I'm expecting the ascent to take around7-8 hours with breaks to the "Roof of Africa".

Keep your fingers crossed for us, and there's a chance, if time allows some of you back home might receive a satellite phone call from the summit. So keep your phones handy. My best guess is we'll be on the summit around 7-7:30 in the morning, Tanzania time.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kilimanjaro Crew

Hello everyone 

Right out of camp we were faced with the only significant technical obstacle for this climb. This hurdle is the great Barranco Wall, which rises about 1,000 feet and looks as intimidating as it sounds. Thankfully, there is a narrow trail that weaves its way up the wall and all the way to the top. Most of it feels like steep hiking, but there are a few places that require the use of our hands to help us climb up.

The team made incredible time and we were rewarded with tea and cookies on top. We took an extra long break to take in the amazing views of the ice laden south face of Kilimanjaro above and green valleys below. 

The team continued our hike for a few more hours up and down before reaching our end point. 

All in all, it took only about four hours for us to get to our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks. 

We enjoyed a restful afternoon - taking naps and playing cards to the sound of rain on our tents, made more sweet by the fact that we were inside and staying dry.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Jambo Everyone

All is well here on Kilimanjaro!
Today we woke to beautifully clear skies with even better views of Kilimanjaro and clouds obscuring the valleys below. Our morning ritual has been waking around 6:30 and getting everything in our tents packed up before heading into our very spacious dinning tent for quite the feast.

We hit the trail once again around 8 am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 15 minute break, then back on the trail for another hour. All total today we hiked for just over six hours before reaching camp which is set up and ready for us. 

Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000', setting new altitude records for some and we also chatted with a few other climbers who are on the same schedule with us. All in all it was a really nice day with clouds gathering in the afternoon to help keep the temperature comfortable for hiking. 

That’s all for now. 

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jess Wedel and the Kili crew