All is well in the Yukon (except our email connection!)

Hi,

in a word, spectacular. The scenery is overwhelming and is truly Canada at it's (Northern) best. The untouched pristine snow, the single tracks through glades, the gentle overlapping mountains, the solitude and grandeur, the dry silent cold, the pull of the dog sled and...fine wines from the Okanagan. Tuesday night we didn't sleep, we stayed up ti view the northern lights. Our cameras are set and Paul, our young South African guide, is excitedly preparing for a full night of viewing, knocking on doors when the geomagnetic activity reaches its brilliance.

We passed dog mushing 101, though 4 out of 7 of us tipped our sleds and lost our dogs. WE passed dogmushing 201 with tight turns and downhill braking. Tomorrow we'll text ourselves again with dogmushing 401 en route to our wilderness basecamp where we'll stay for 2 nights.

The hot tub was treated with lavender, the arctic char with a creme fraiche...this is truly an uncommon and unforgettable journey.

Love to you all

Going Home! Only 8 more hours

Dear All,
we had an amazing visit to the crater, we saw 8 lions! Hippos, rhinos, it was like being in a Discovery Channel program, African animals everywhere. A long day but a great day.

And then yesterday was our visit to the Amani Children's Home. The kids were incredible, so much energy and they are so resilient. They are so fortunate to be in the Amani Home. It is really quite a shock to see small children of 6, who only weeks ago were living on the street, now at the home. How did they survive?

We have had an incredible trip, but we are all ready to be home again with friends and family, see you in 8 hours!!

Safely back at the lodge, en route to the Ngorongoro Crater

We arrived safely back at Kilemakyaro Lodge last night and then had a great celebration at the El Rancho Restaurant in Moshi. The whole team received certificates for summitting Kili. Our final day on the mountain was our wettest yet, so the hot showers at the Lodge were very welcome. We are now en route to see the "Big Seven;" lions, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, leopards, and cheetahs! We will go down onto the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater to see all these animals, just like in the opening scene from the Lion King (literally, as the Lion King scene is based on the Ngorongoro Crater.)
Today is our first day off from hiking in a week - a well deserved rest for the coolest group on the mountain!

Last Day on the Mountain

Well, all good things must come to an end. Again, we are all so happy that our group of 10, the "coolest group on the mountain," was able to climb to the Roof of Africa and look east to the Indian Ocean. It was a beautiful sunrise over Mawenzi (one of the secondary peaks of Kibo.) Today we do a long descent, from 12,500 to 5,300 feet, to finish at Mweka Gate. It is a beautiful walk through rain forest, we hope to see monkeys! We are all looking forward to a shower at Kilemakyaro Lodge.
Thank you again to family and friends for your support.

Everyone safely at Millenium Camp, end of Day 6

Just a quick note to say that we are all safely at Millennium Camp. We had beautiful weather on the summit (19,341 feet!) but it is raining again at our campsite. The group is pretty knackered, but proud that we all summitted. This is a long, hard day with 16 hours of climbing and descending. Time for a Tanzanian beer (the park warden sells beer!)

"When the wind is backed by will, miracles happen."

Time for bed, thanks to everyone for all their support.

We all made it to the summit!

Jambo from the roof of Africa! We all summitted, beautiful weather. Everyone is feeling good and healthy, though Sarah did experience some AMS.

Final thoughts before our summit bid...

To all you beautiful husbands, sons, daughters, relatives and friends - we all feel good. We're excited, anxious and prepared. We leave tonight at midnight and hope to summit between 6 - 7 am. We look forward to emailing you then. Wish us good weather!