Rob is in Arusha with four others from the original team of ten just doing some shopping and sightseeing. Clay and Samantha and the rest of the team headed off on safari with guide extraordinaire, JJ Justman! Rob’s catching the 7:30pm flight to Amsterdam tonight. In the voice dispatch below he describes the exhausting descent on Sunday to the Mweka Gate.
DAY 04: Rob en route to Machame Camp
DAY 05: Camping on the Shira Plateau with Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background
DAY 06: Rob at Barranco camp
DAY 06: Barranco camp
DAY 07: Scrambling up the Barronco Wall
DAY 08: Headed to High Camp
DAY 08: Inside the dinner tent with the team
DAY 08: Clay at High camp
DAY 09: Gun’s Up! Rob at Uhuru Peak.
DAY 10: The Staff needed to support the western expedition team for seven days
from the RMI expedition itinerary:
Day 10: After a much needed night’s rest the team continues the descent down through the forest, finishing our trek at the Mweka Gate (6,000′). After we load up the gear, our bus takes us back to the Dik Dik Hotel to rest and celebrate. Hiking time is approximately 3 – 4 hours.
So I just received this “Words With Friends” in-game chat message… awesome. Team Junell is back at the lodge, showered, and feeling accomplished. And Rob is ready for me to wrap up this three week long 500+ point game against him. Mission Complete!
Rob’s “Words with Friends” In-game Chat Message
Rob called from the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro around 1:30am est and said that everyone made it! Junellimanjaro! He said they hiked for eight hours starting at midnight saturday night and arrived at the peak around 8am. After a round of celebratory photography, they will head back down to Barafu Camp and spend the night and exit the park monday morning. That descent will burnnnnn and its rapid… like 10k feet in just a few hours. Pole Pole, Team Junell!
Macheme Route to the top of Kilimanjaro
from the RMI expedition itinerary:
Day 9: Summit Day on Kilimanjaro! Today we ascend to the Roof of Africa at 19,340′! We will get an early alpine start, planning to arrive at the crater rim by sunrise. We continue hiking along the crater rim, and in one more hour find ourselves standing on the highest point in Africa, Uhuru Peak. After celebrating on the summit, we start the descent back to high camp. We will pack our camp and continue descending to Mweka Camp, which is located down in the lush forests at 10,000′. Hiking time is approximately 12 – 14 hours.
The “High” camp (aka Barafu Camp) is the last stop before the summit attempt tomorrow (Sunday). They are going to eat early and hit the sack. Then after a quick rest they’ll gear up at midnight and head on up to Uhuru Peak, the tippity-top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The voice dispatch cuts out mid-sentence at 2:47.
Lead RMI guide JJ Justman is also leaving satellite phone voice dispatches on the RMI blog.
Rob says, “Things are going great, bye!”. The team scrambled up and over the steep Barranco Wall today. Lots of up and down. He says the weather started out sunny, but by afternoon they were back in the clouds. Mid-30s fahrenheit for temperature.
The sun was out as they popped out of the forest zone as they ascended the Shira Plateau past the Lava Tower and down into the Barranco Valley. Lots of people on the trail. The weather is cold tonight. The last 25 seconds of the voicemail is illegible due to poor signal.
Rob, Clay & Sam hiked across the stark magnificence of the wide and rocky Shira Plateau. They ascended thru mist and clouds to Shira Comp – a vertical change of about 2680 feet over a distance of 2.7 miles – a short distance, but plenty of upward scrambling. Temperatures are in the 40s F. The team is ten strong (2 women and 8 guys). Rob reports that everyone is having a good time and getting along well. Tomorrow, they head to Barranco Camp past the iconic “Lava Tower”, a trek of 5.7 miles.
The Shira Plateau on the left extends wide all the way up to the peak.
Lots of drizzly rain and mist on the first day of the actual climb. They hiked for five hours from about 10am til about 3pm. Tomorrow they will walk across the Shira Plateau and above the clouds. All the details and a healthy positive voice from Rob on the voice dispatch below. Unfortunately, the voice dispatch cuts off at the 3 minute mark.
Machame Route Height Profile
email from Rob 07/29/13
Spent the day recovering from the 24 hour marathon flights. Breakfast at 9am after a great sleep. Big mosquito net surrounds our beds. After breakfast our guide, J.J. Goes throughout equipment list and comes to our rooms to make sure we have everything. We pack our bags and load them on the vehicle that will take them to the trail head tomorrow. I take off with one of our porter's, Oswald, to climb a tower and look above the forest that surrounds our lodge. Then we go on a 1 hour walk to explore the next village and see some of the farms where they raise fresh fruit and vegetables. Come back to the lodge and crash for a one hour power nap. Clay gets word that their bags have arrived at the airport so he goes to pick them up.
Tomorrow up at 5 am. Breakfast at 6. Leave at 7 for the trailhead. Our starting place is the Machame Gate at 5,900 ft and we have a 6 mile hike in the forest to Machame Camp at 9,890 ft.
Tutaonana (See you later in Swahili)
Rob
Our team at lunch: Samantha in pink and Clay on the right at the Dik Dik Lodge in Moshi, Tanzania
Check out this weird video Rob shot of monkeys in the pool.