Hi everyone, this is Todd. I'm at Machame Hut, 10,000 feet. We had a beautiful hike yesterday. It was the first time I've come here where we didn't have some kind of rain so the trail was beautiful and dry under the canopy. We saw some monkeys and a variety of birds running around. It was beautiful, beautiful day. It took us about six hours and everybody did it in good style. Everyone's in great health.

It's about 7am (Tuesday, July 9, 9pm PST) on day 2, again we're at 10,000 feet under blue skies and we're looking up at the face of Kilimanjaro. You can see the Messner Route and all the glaciers on the left side of the mountain.

Down below me, about 7,000 feet is a cloud layer and that'll stay below us probably most of the day. But right now we're in sunshine and beautiful skies. So we'll keep you informed and let you know how it's going.

Oh, just a couple added notes for you, we have 56 porters this trip and they're doing a great job and everything's beautiful. Talk to you soon. Bye-bye.

— Todd Burleson, Alpine Ascents International Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent