01/28/2009: SUMMIT DAY
Greetings folks it is Eric Murphy calling in from Kilimanjaro, it is
Wednesday the 28th of January at about 1:00pm here at 15,500 feet on
Africa’s highest peak. We have just returned from our summit bid, it was
very successful day for the group. Everyone is doing well, we just had
some lunch and we are in the process of packing up our camp so that we
can move down the mountain to our last camp tonight which will be at
Mweka at around 10,000 feet so that is another 5,000 feet of descent for
us. A very full day for folks but again a successful one, everyone is
doing well and we will give one more cybercast for this group either
calling in from the last day or emailing from town tomorrow when we
return to Arusha. Thanks for following along, cheers.
01/27/2009
Hello friends, it is Eric calling from Kilimanjaro, it is Tuesday the
27th of January about 6:15PM and we are all well situation here at
Kosovo our high camp at about 15,500 feet. We just finished meal with
spaghetti, meat sauce and a happy birthday cake for Scott. Everyone is
bedding down right about now and getting ready for the summit. We will
be waking up at 11:00pm and departing at about midnight. The weather
looks pretty good right now; it has definitely improved from what it
was. Gary sends greetings from high camp, he is feeling very well and
positioned for a summit bid tonight and in general the team is doing
well and everyone send love and hugs back home. We will check in with
another report after our summit climb tomorrow. Thanks for following
along.
01/26/2009
Hello there friends, it is Eric calling in from Kilimanjaro on Monday,
January 26th about 9:00pm. We are here at camp IV at Karranga camp at
about 13,200 feet. We had a very rainy and wet day today on Kilimanjaro,
probably the most rain I have seen thus far this season. We had a short
day fortunately to get here at Karranga, we enjoyed a lunch in camp and
a lot of resting and leisure time this afternoon, time to get ourselves
in preparation for the summit. We are hoping that the weather is going
to clear and tomorrow we will be moving up to high camp at Kosovo at
15,400 feet. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather for us tomorrow
and for our climb. We will be leaving for the summit around mid night
tomorrow night. We have got one message from Scott, he wants Katharine
to know that he is a rock star for his birthday and the summit, love to
her, Holden, Ashley, from Scott. That’s all for now from Kilimanjaro.
01/25/2009
Winter comes to Kilimanjaro; Hello folks it is Eric calling in from
Kilimanjaro on Sunday, January 25th at about 8pm. We are all at Barranco
camp, at the end of day three, elevation about 12,900 feet. Today we had
some winter time on Kilimanjaro, we were experiencing about 3-4 hours of
some pretty extreme hail, turned the mountain white and for a little
while it stayed that way and it looked like winter here. Everyone is
doing well today, we had a rather long day, about 7 ½ hours and we just
finished dinner, pasta and meatballs with some vegetables on the side
and some sweet pancakes for dessert. Tomorrow we are looking forward to
a shorter day to camp IV at Karranga. Gabriella would like to say hakuna
matata to all of her friends and family and to tell Miles that she
misses him very much and she wishes that you could see the beautiful
skies with here. All is well here at the highest mountain on Africa and
stay tuned for more.
01/24/2009
Hello friends, it is Eric Murphy calling in from Kilimanjaro Saturday
January 24th 8:45PM. We are currently just finishing our second day of
climbing we are here at Shira camp, located on the Shira Plateau at
12,400 feet. We had a shorter day today, about five hours or so with a
nice lunch break. Yesterday we had a little bit of a longer day, closer
to six hours. All said we have climbed just over six thousand feet in
the last couple of days, the team is doing well and everyone is feeling
well and enjoying the climb. We had a little bit of rain today but
nothing too dramatic. Hopefully we will have some clear skies tomorrow
for day three, one of our longer days with some beautiful views of the
mountain and getting up to the 14,000 foot level and possible as high as
15,000 feet if we continue up to Lava Tower. Everyone sends their best
wishes home to friends and family and folks following along on the
cybercast and please do stay tuned for more.
01/19/2009
Hi folks. Team #4 has arrived here in Arusha, Tanzania. We are:
Jeanie Fisher
David Fisher
Jason Fuller
Gabriel Lawson
Vicki Peckham
Hoyt Sutphin
Casey Flowe
Gary Kelson
Hillary Burton
Scott Gibson
Eric Murphy - Trip Leader and Guide
We spent most of today, Thursday 1/22 going over orientation, gear
checks, and other necessary logistics to prepare for the mountain. We
are currently waiting on a few late bags, after enjoying a nice dinner
together as a team. Hopefully the bags will show soon and we can finish
preparations. Tomorrow morning we will depart at 8:30 AM for the Machame
gate, located in the forest zone at 5,800' on the Southern slopes of
Kilimanjaro. From here we will sign in with the national park, and begin
our hike of 4,000 vertical feet, and approx. 11 kilometers, arriving at
Machame camp after 5-6 hours. Jeanie and David have a special theme for
their climb. They are hoping to raise $10,000.00 for donation to the
Salvation Army, to help those less fortunate. (Salvation Army Columbus
Ohio). Please follow along as team #4 cybercasts each day from the
mountain.
Best!
Eric
Team III.
01/21/2009
Hi folks,
We made our return to Arusha yesterday (Tuesday), after a 5 hour hike down from Millenium camp located at 12,000 feet. The team enjoyed lunch at the Mweka gate, and we returned just in time to miss a large rainstorm. Last nights celebration dinner completed the climb portion of the trip, and this morning the team departed for Safari, beginning with Tarangire NP, home to the largest concentration of elephants on earth! This team worked very hard to make the trip a fantastic experience for all.
My thanks go out to everyone. Our Tanzanian staff also deserves praises for all of their hard work, they are truly amazing, hard working people. All my best from Equatorial Africa!
Asante Sana
Eric
01/19/2009
Hi friends and family, it is Eric calling in from Kilimanjaro, Monday
the 19th of January at about 1:00pm. We are all safely back at high camp
here at Kosovo about 15,400 feet after a very successful summit day. 13
out of 14 climbers were able to make the summit and we had in general
very nice weather conditions. We just finished some lunch here and we
are in the process of packing up so that we can head down to our last
camp tonight which will probably be Millennium at about 12,000 feet and
tomorrow we will make our way out to the gate and Mweka Gate that is and
back to Arusha by 3:00 pm or so where folks will get a chance to shower,
clean up. We will have a dinner together and then the next morning
people will be leaving on safari while other folks are showing up for
the next Kilimanjaro climb. We will send in one more cybercast from
town. Thanks for following along and thanks for your wishes for success
for the team, cheers.
01/18/2009
Hi friends it is Eric on Kilimanjaro on Sunday at about 6:00pm, Team 3
has made it to high camp at about 15,500 feet. We just finished our
dinner and we are going to bed early, we are setting ourselves up with a
little bit of rest before we get up at 11:00pm and make our way to the
summit. The weather is good right now and everyone is doing well.
Jessica would like to send big hugs and kisses, the knee is doing good
and I am feeling strong. Rest assured we are in great hands, much love,
Jess. Chuck and Janice send their love and best wishes to their family
friends and grandchildren. We will give a phone in after our summit
tomorrow before we start our descent down the mountain, keep your
fingers crossed for everyone to reach the top. Thanks for following
along.
01/17/2009
Hey folks it is Eric Murphy calling from Kilimanjaro for Team three, it
is Saturday, January 17th, we are here at camp IV, Karanga which means
(…transmission garbled…) at about 13,200 feet and we arrived here today
after a shorter day today about four hours of walking and that left
folks a good chunk of the afternoon to relax, play cards, hydrate, take
pictures, take a nap and generally enjoy ourselves. This is our last
real down time before we move to high camp tomorrow and our summit push.
So good day for all and folks are feeling very strong, a couple of folks
still battling with the altitude but we are taking it one day at a day
and hopefully those folks will be feeling better tomorrow. Tomorrow we
will be moving up to high camp and leaving for the summit around
midnight tomorrow. We have one message and that is from Hahn to her son,
Hi Logan it is mommy, I miss you so much and I can’t wait to hold you,
one day I hope that you will stand at the Uhuru Peak too, Uhuru Peak is
the true summit of Kilimanjaro. Thanks for following along, stay tuned
for more as we work our way to the summit.
01/16/2009
Hey friends, it is Eric calling from Kilimanjaro Team #3, Friday January
16th at about 9:00pm we are currently ensconced in our tents after a
nice dinner and Happy Birthday and cake to Roseanne, who celebrated her
birthday today. Everyone did well, we are having a few folks feeling the
altitude for sure, camp at Barranco is 12,900 feet but we reached the
high point of 14,400 feet to a little over 15,000 today for those folks
chose the additional climb up to and scramble to Lava Tower. We had a
little bit of rain today but otherwise the weather is good and we are
looking forward to a short day tomorrow to recover from both a long day
today and to set ourselves up for the summit. We have a couple of
personal messages; Steve and Steve want to say hi to Beth, Sarah and
Hunter and to all of their family and friends, we are doing great and
Steve says hey to all of his brothers back home. Lisa wants to wish her
brother Jeff a happy birthday and hey to family and friends, having a
blast. That’s all from Kilimanjaro, thanks.
01/15/2009
Hey friends, it is Eric Murphy up here on Kilimanjaro, Team # 3,
Tuesday, January 15th and it is about 10:30 or so in the evening. We
finished a nice day, a little bit short this afternoon on our second day
to Shira camp here at 12,400 feet. We were pretty quick today, everyone
is feeling really well, we had a nice dinner of beef stroganoff and
fried bananas for desert. Most folks are asleep right now, tomorrow is
one of our long days so I am going to head to bed as well. Tomorrow we
will make our way to Barranco camp at about 12,900 feet and about an 8
hour day. We will catch up with you from there. Thanks.
01/14/2009
Hello friends it is Eric Murphy calling in from Tanzania for Kilimanjaro
Team # 3, Wednesday the 14th of January at about 9:20PM, we just
finished up our first evening’s dinner on the route. We are here at
Machame camp, just below 10,000 feet. We were hiking for about five
hours today starting at the Machame Gate at about 5,800 feet. We had a
great day, good group, having lots of fun, everybody is doing well and
we are looking forward to a good night’s sleep, especially the folks
that are a little jet lagged from travel. Tomorrow we will be continuing
on up to Shira camp on the Shira Plateau for our camp II, we will be
phoning in from there, stay tuned for more. Thanks for following along.
01/13/2009
Hi friends,
It's Eric Murphy emailing in for the 1st cybercast for
Team #3 on Kilimanjaro. It is 11 PM here in Arusha Tanzania, on Tuesday
January 13.
The team is:
Nancy Stenske
Charles Bickes
Janice Stroud Bickes
Hahn Hguyen
Brooke Fell
Lawrence Henshaw
Danielle Kolko
Steve Phillip May
Stephen D May
Roseanne Olmstead
Lisa Vanderbloomer
Jessica Rock
Abby Ellin
Robert Werner
Eric Murphy - trip leader and guide
Most folks arrived here to Arusha on Monday 1/12, some
a day or two earlier. We had a few late baggage arrivals, but were able
to get through all the logistics today. We enjoyed a nice dinner
together at the Flame Tree this evening, and we will leave for the
mountain in the morning. Tomorrow's climb will start at the Machame gate
located at 5,800' on the slopes of KIlimanjaro. Here we will sign in
with the park, meet our Tanzanian staff of porters, cooks, camp crew,
and guides, and begin walking. We will ascend 4,000' to Machame camp
located just below 10,000' on the edge of the heather and moorlands
zones. Our climb should take around 5 hours, climbing through a forest
of giant fern and camphor trees. Temperatures can be very warm and
muggy, or chilly if it is raining. Please follow along as we cybercast
from each camp during the climb!
Best
Eric
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