Kilimanjaro- Day 7, Summit Day

We woke at 11pm in technically still day 6, soon to be day 7, and the night of our summit.  The 3.5 hours of unsettled sleep was filled with anxiety and interruptions.  We woke to both the sound of alarms and Nick's calm voice and we knew, it was now or never.  

We finished packing our bags that we half deliriously packed before our nap and Stephanie had quickly realized her money belt was missing. Panic set in and long story short, in mere minutes we had both guides tearing through our tent in search for the missing item, as it had her passport and valuables inside.  Turns our, Juli had accidentally packed it in her bag earlier in the day since their money belts were nearly identical.  The panic subsided but the anxious, sick to the stomach, feeling was not the best start to our most challenging day.

Our guides gave us some extra time to calm our nerves, eat some biscuits, drink some coffee  and gain our composure before setting out to the top.

Our summit climb began at 1am and was to be 5.4 km up, and an altitude gain of 1,173m.  The only light on the path was that of our headlamps and those faint in the distance of other climbers that set out about an hour before us.  The path is a zig zag upward, very sharp and very steep.  The zig zag was created because walking straight upward would be nearly impossible, especially in the dark. We asked our guide why we were to begin the climb in the dark, summoning around sunrise.  He told us that the first reason was safety.  Many people need a long time to adjust and climb and if you started after dark, you may lose daylight in the higher, more dangerous altitudes.  However, he candidly told us that the main reason was that they summited in the dark so that the climbers would not be able to see the climb ahead.  He said it is too steep and intimidating and most climbers would not make it to the top based on fear, doubt, or anxiety of constantly seeing the peak but moving at such a slow pace. 

Despite our dramatic start, we felt that we lucked out with timing.  We began later and still had about 5 hours of dark climbing, but we experienced the warm of the sun closer into our climb, which was extremely critical in our attitudes and success.  We watched the sun rise as we climbed to the top and the distraction not only warmed our bodies, but kept our minds off of the task ahead.  Watching the sun rise, above the clouds at over 5,000 feet was truly remarkable.

We had a team of six for the summit: Juli, Stephanie, Kirsten, Frederick, Willie, and Azizi, for safety reasons and support.  It was very cold, we were very tired, and still quite shaken up from the mornings earlier events.  The hike was almost somber, quiet, as we tried to focus and be strong for this most important step.  It was now or never and we had made it so far already.  We were not ready to fail now.

Unfortunately for Juli, she began to feel the most effects of both altitude sickness and unfortunate timing.  She had become sick to the stomach that morning (of all mornings) which was perhaps due to the sugary cupcake she "thoughtfully" carried up and tasted on the mountain.  She also was experiencing what seemed like a bad sinus infection, with lungs and nose full of lovely colored mucus that made it difficult to catch a good breath.  All three girls had coughs, chapped lips and scabbed noses.  Due to Juli's dehydration and obvious wheezing, she required an even more "pole pole" pace as she began to feel dizzy and light headed. Azizi carried her day back for her so that all she had tondo was focus on breathing and getting on the top.

About half way up, we stopped at a cave for tea.  Tea! In a cave! At 5,200 meters! On the side of the mountain!  It was such a nice surprise that our spirits were lifted a d the break was short, but quickly met with harsh temperatures and wind, so we moved along. Kirsten forced a banana Odwalla bar down juli's throat and she began to feel a but better.  Everyone was light headed but very aware of how close we were.

We moved pole pole to the top and watched several guides come rushing down the mountain holding a climber up straight. Some of them had not made it, and were rushed down to lower altitudes.  Others perhaps made it to one of the first peaks but could not bare to be at altitude any longer.  It was a very eerie site to see but we were a very strong group of girls; determined, we shook it off and continued to press on.

Blasting the Kilimanjaro playlist on my iPhone (which was in my inner jacket pocket along with spare head lamp batteries so not to freeze) I became distracted by the music.  I purposely put many Zumba and Hip Hop class songs that I use when I teach so that I could go over the choreography in my head and ignore the nausea and dizziness.  It worked because before we knew it, Willie, usually the barer of bad news, pointed up ahead and said "that's it- that's Gilman's Point".

Gilman's is the first of 3 peaks, located at  5708m, and about an hour to the highest point.  We reached this landmark, where many people stop and head back to lower ground.  We all hugged, emotional and proud, but wary because the journey wasn't quite over.  Our guides gave us an odd treat of red bull, Pringles, and kit Kats, which we used more for celebratory reasons rather than fuel.  We took photos, rested, and continued on to the next peak.

Stella Point was next on the list.  It wasn't yet visible but we were told it was only about 30 minutes away and 100 more verticals meters.  All the research and paperwork we obtained said that Gilman's point was where "your body tries to convince you to turn around".  Knowing this, we fought the mind games and pressed on.  We came across some guys that we met in Day 1, who were celebrating 40years of being a pastor for one of their climbers. They climbed the lemosho route in 8 days, carrying a giant 40lb cross to the summit with them.  We thought this was a bit excessive (despite being entertaining) and dangerous.  We came across a few of the team members at Stella's Point where they told us only about 3 of their 15 person group didnt make it.  The cross did, but only because their porters carried it for them.  We joked that they were lucky they had Christian porters because in a nation that is very much both Christian and Muslim, we weren't sure all porters would humor their lofty goals.

It was nice to see the familiar faces as we took a few photos with them and continued on to our ultimate goal- Uhuru Point- 5895m tall, and the top of Mt Kilimanjaro.

This was personally emotional for me, as I was still struggling with being light headed and dizzy.  I remember just starting to cry for no reason other than the grandness of it all.  I could see Uhuru, but i could barely more towards it.  Willie put his hand on my shoulder and said, "you are strong. You are almost there." All I could say in return was "why is this so hard?!"  He smiled and we kept going.  I knew it wouldn't be easy, but for someone who athletics come semi-easily to, I was having a hard time handling the handicap.  I knew in my head I would not give up, so why does my body feel like it might fall over?  It was very much an out of body experience that was only conquered by keeping my eyes on that green sign ahead.

Azizi linked his elbow on mine and said, "pole pole.  Almost done."  The other climbers returning from the peak were full of smiles and words of encouragement, much like runners who have finished the race and returned to cheer you on.  You have love their support, have envy their completion.

At approximately 10:30am, we had done it. We had reached Uhuru Peak!  We hugged, high fives, and took the deepest breaths the thin air allowed.  It was certainly a humbling, and nearly unbelievable accomplishment.  We soaked in the view of the famous green sign with Tibetan good luck flags tied to the posts. Massive glaciers surrounded us but there was no snow under our feet.  It was approximately -10 to -15 degrees Celsius but felt colder with the altitude.  But the sun was shining and we were truly- on top of the world!

We took many photos, had snacks, rested, and eventually felt the cold seeping through our layers.  It is not good for the body to stay at altitude for too long so we knew we had to soak in these last incredible moments and memories before we descended.  We did just that and then optimistically, excited, and very relieving, began the long climb down.

We had climbed the single tallest peak on planet Earth.  We were awesome.

Kilimanjaro- Day 6

Well, we finally made it to this highly anticipated day.  First, it was Stephanie's birthday.  Second, it was a short, 5.9 km hike to School Hut, our base camp, but the steepest yet elevation gain of 750m.

 We started off every morning with song and dance with our porters and guides which was just a magical experience. So many of them had such good voices, the songs were fun and catchy, and the dance moves were hilarious.  Today I got everyone to sing Happy Birthday to Steph as well.  She felt awkward to be out on the spot but secretly loved it.  We all danced and pumped ourselves up for the day.  

The hike was tough.  It was very visible how steep we were to climb for the day.  School Hut was visible the entire time from our previous night's 3 caves camp.  Juli found it helpful to keep her "eyes on the prize" and continue to look towards the end goal.  Stephanie much preferred no looking ahead, just one foot in front on another. Both strategies worked as we got there in decent timing and good spirits.

Along the way, our guides took us to see a buffalo carcass that they had discovered around 1.5 years ago.  We were expecting some ribs and a skull, or something that resembled an old dead animal.  However, when we approached the site our jaws dropped at the actual beast.  

First, the buffalo was massive.  Second, it had died around 4500m, which is extremely high for such a large animal like this.  Apparently, this buffalo had come to this small cave to lick the minerals from the rock and got its horns stuck on the low rock ceiling.  Whether it was head injury, exhaustion, freezing, or whatever else, the buffalo never recovered with her snack and still lay in that exact spot.

The skin and fur remain in the body.  One horn now loosely sits on top of the head as the other has gone missing.  Her brain, eyes, and other organs have obviously rotted gone, but we were in shock with how the altitude and cold preserved the rest of the body.  

Kirsten wanted to determine if it was a male or female and goes to the head of the animal to measure the distance between where the horns used to sit.  Frederick immediately goes to the back of the animal and looks at her confused. "Not from back here?" He questions with a serious tone.  All 5 of us broke into uncontrollable laughter, harder than any other time on the mountain- or at least recently- that we could remember.  Even Willie, our cool and serious assistant guide giggle uncontrollably at Kirsten vs Frederick's impressions of how to determine the sex.

Perhaps equally amusing, Kirsten's strategy was inconclusive and we had to let Frederick do it his way.  He grabbed the carcass by the hind quarters as we all plugged our noses, and he lifted the carcass up.  A nasty rot, dust, and other funky situations were visible and we were all grateful we had our noses and mouths buried deep into our scarves.  It was a girl.  "Lucy" would be her name.

We continued on to school camp where we had time for a short rest to nap or read.  Then it was time for one last acclimatization hike, as we hiked 100 meters even higher up the mountain and then back down to camp.  Azizi and Hilari, from our porter pack joined us and we got to know them much better.  Poor hilari had some sort of second (or third or fourth) hand hiking boot/shoe combo that was full of holes.  He asked if we were going to leave our shoes in Africa, as he has small feet and could wear women's shoes easily.  He all told him that we were attached to our boots and would need them for home.  But promised we would find him a good pair of boots in the US and would mail them to him.  His eyes lit with excitement "you will?!?! That is very! Very!" (His English needed much improvement and e never grasped the concept of "very good" still requiring the word "good" with it).  So if anyone has an old pair of men's or women's hiking boots (men's size 7-9? Women's 8-10?) we will happily ship them to sweet Hilari. I know his cold toes would be very grateful.

That night eating dinner was difficult as the altitude increased, so did our lack of appetite.  For 3 females who generally eat heathy food and controlled portions back in the US, we did an impressive job of encouraging each other to force food, water, and nutrition down.  We left each meal uncomfortably full, but it was the only way we received enough fuel for the next day.  

I had been keeping a burning secret the entire climb up the mountain and that was a double chocolate fudge cupcake and birthday candles in my backpack. When Stephanie left the mess tent to grab some medication, I got some matches from nick and we all sang happy birthday to Steph with her very squished, but delicious cupcake.

When reality hit, we noticed it was 7pm and we were supposed to wake at 11pm for our night time summit.  We were able to get in bed by 730, but the 3.5 hour night of sleep was not nearly enough for the strenuous day we had ahead. 

Photos coming soon!

We understand blogs are much more interesting with photos attached but for some reason, African wifi does not want us to be able to post any.  We expect to have the blogs up and updated with photos included in the next 48 hours.  For now, the best we can do is text. Thanks for your patience!

Kilimanjaro- Day 5

Day five was much better than day four and may have been our favorite day on the mountain.  We would still occasionally struggle with the thin air, but we were feeling confident in our climbing abilities and knew we were over half way to our goal.  

Today was another acclimatization day as we conquered more ridges and entered into the sub-artic desert ecosystem.  The only wildlife we saw were many large ravens, a few lizards, and some mice.  However, our guides informed us that jackals and even buffalo were known to visit such high altitudes.  At first, we didn't believe them but soon saw evidence that proved us wrong.

First there was jackal droppings or "jackal Johnson" as we called it.  It was identifiable by the large amounts of mouse fur visible (jackals are scavengers but will also feed on small rodents, reptiles, and birds If necessary).  Then to our surprised, we came across a large stretch of buffalo tracks.  From the tracks we determined there were several animals and even one or two baby buffalo with them.  These animals climb to such high altitudes to lick the salt and minerals off of the rocks and caves in this unique ecosystem. 

Day 5 was similar in kilometers to day four but only took about 4 hours in total.  We were shocked when we saw campsite and said, "we're there already?" As we felt we could have hiked for another half a day.  This is the first and last day this happened.

We did an acclimatization hike after lunch and resting for a bit.  We read, took naps, stretched, and chatted with our crew.  Our extra hike had us ascend another 100 meters and return to camp in order to follow the adjustment strategy of hike high, sleep low.  We were all feeling very good after the hike and enjoyed our campsite this day as it was unique to Team Kilimanjaro.  This meant it was very quiet and not crowded.  Our rest was long, quality, and uninterrupted. 

We played some American music for our porters and had a mini-dance party, although dancing at 5,000 is extremely difficult.  We had tea and popcorn around 5pm (which was a daily activity), dinner around 630 and then we, per usual, were ready for bed.

Day 6 was to be a crazy day.  This was the day we woke up normally, did a half day of hiking, early dinner, then early bed as we were to wake at 11pm for our summit climb.  We were anxious about the day ahead but enjoyed the final bit of relaxation while we had it.  There were many hooting stars this night.

Kilimanjaro- Day 4

Day four was rough. It was by far our least favorite day as the odds just weren't against us.  The realty of sleeping on frozen ground was starting to set in and we both woke with very sore and dry throats.  Our guides assured us that our coughs were "just dust", but regardless the cause, we did not feel 100%. 

The day was expected to be cold, but per usual, we undressed several layers after only an hour or so of hiking. Today was to be a day of a lot of "juu ne chini", or "up and down".  We were warned that there would be several "ridges" to cover, as today's hike was primarily an extra day of walking around the mountain for acclimatization rather than ascent. 

It wasn't long before we felt the pain of the ridges.  We tried to sing, chant "juu me chini", and whatever else there was for consolation.  Our only salvation was the few and far between "Mrs. Johnson" (or bathroom) and photo breaks we got along the increasingly deserted terrain.

Today was the day I tried an energy supplement with caffeine and had a bad stomach reaction.  It wasn't too bad other than some annoying nausea that didn't help the already trying day.  Luckily, after a few hours it subsided and wasn't an altitude affect that we were greatly fearing.

Other than that, all parties suffered from feet soreness this day.  The constant up (pain on back of heel), to down (pain on toes) was bothersome and after 6 hours, quite frankly annoying.  Eventually, we asked our guide, Willie, how much longer.  He replied with, "close. Three more ridges".  To this day we are unsure which part was lost in translation but the rest of the trip was neither "close", nor "three" of the so called "ridges".

Eventually, Willie informs us camp is in the horizon.  We squint, ask "where", and doubt Willie's knowledge for a bit.  Turns out, he was right (as always) but the camp was unfortunately only still a small dot away.  

We managed to hike to camp in just under an hour from our apparent discrepancy, and were greeted by our porters.  They had been there several hours earlier and parked themselves on a tall rock overlooking the entrance to camp.  They all cheered as we approached and although this day was the worst, our porter friends managed to make us smile.

We proceeded to stretch, do some yoga in the clouds, wash, and eat before bedtime.  The lack of oxygen was becoming increasingly apparent as we had to do everything "pole pole".  If you did so much as stand too fast, you would get light headed.  We were all aware and proceeded with our daily activities with caution.  At the end of the day, we were more than relieved to have day 4 behind us and were thrilled to think that our goal was even closer.

Kilimanjaro- Day 3

Waking up day 3 was slightly easier than the rest. We had finally caught up on sleep and adjusted to the 7 hour time difference. We were completely exhausted by 9pm most days and found ourselves asleep by 930 at the latest.  However, no amount of sleep or hearty breakfasts seemed to provide enough energy for the duration of our extremely lengthy hikes.

We woke to a similar story: wake up at 5:45am, tea in "bed", water for washing at 6, breakfast at 6:15.  Despite being used to the routine, we were moving quite "pole pole", which means "slowly" (and also was our mountain motto).  We eventually left camp and set out on our trek to the Moir Hut campsite.

 This was the day many people began to feel altitude sickness. Our Italian friends we met along the way had unfortunately experienced bad headaches and decided to speed up their journey, as to spend less time on the mountain. We, however, still felt great. 

Our walk through the Mooreland was so interesting: it was certainly the most crowded trail, as we walked with groups that eventually diverged off to Shira 2 camp. We all inched up a dried stream bed (as our porters raced past) surrounded by low-hanging neon colored Spanish moss. It easily could have been a movie set. 

We stopped to have lunch on an outcrop that overlooked the expansive Shira plateau and confirmed we were officially above the clouds for good now. We continued on to Moir Hut, an abandoned ranger post, and passed large caves on our way into the valley.

By this time other groups' porters began to recognize our "Wadada Watatu" group and would cheer us on upon our arrival into camp!

After a short break and attempt to dry clothes and set out solar chargers, we ascended a steep ridge as an acclimatization hike. After about an hour up and 200 meters, we rested to take in the Lion King view. Behind us the steepness of Kili's peak and its glaciers started to come into focus. The excitement was building! We took a lot of photos as the view was promising and reminded us that in 3-4 short days we would be at the peak.

Our descent was great: as you climb you must make tiny zig zags, but the way down you can just ski in the loose gravel!

We returned to yet another delicious meal by Boni, and Nick was waiting for us with our "romantic" candle. No surprise, we quickly followed this by heading to bed to rest for Day 4: The Day of [just 3 more] Ridges.

Kilimanjaro- Day 2

Our first morning waking up on the mountain was confusing and startling. Nick- our waiter woke us with a "hello girls", tea in "bed" and hot water bowls for washing. We sluggishly came to, fumbled around our unfamiliar backpacks and got ourselves ready for the day.  We managed to make it to the mess tent for our first breakfast, which was shockingly massive.

 We started with fruit and porridge, which was very tasty and just like a smoother and sweetened oatmeal.  We thought this would conclude our meal so we filled up on this only to soon find out there was more.  Eggs, toast, and sausages came out next on a large, intimidating plate.  We knew we would need the energy for our hikes ahead so we forced down as much of the food as possible.  Upon finishing, we took some photos and continued on to leave Forrest camp and the rainforest portion of our hike.

Our chief guide, Frederick (who we called baba- meaning "dad" in Swahili), and our assistant guide, William (who we called Willie, of course) were such good sports with all of our photography.

The ecosystem visibly changed quickly as we began to enter the Mooreland.  The hike was 6 kilometers and very interesting and beautiful.  We stopped half way through and had lunch of fried fish, cheese and cucumber sandwiches, vegetables, and salad, all at a table and chairs (carried by our porters) on the side of the mountain.  We ate until we were thoroughly stuffed, stretched, and refilled our drinking water for the remainder of the day.  All of the porters sat with us, waiting for us to finish, so they could then eat and pack up the equipment.  Despite their delayed start, it wasn't long before they steadily passed us on the path with friendly "mambo", "Jambo", "wadada watatu", and high fives along the way. 

 

After we got in the path, the very steep climb didn't seem as intimidating.  We were intrigued by the strange plants and birds that lived at such high elevations.  The further we got, the closer we approached a ceiling of clouds. 

It wasnt long before we reached the clouds and we walked through them to our next elevation.  I recall yelling at Stephanie, "it feels like clouds!" Because that was the best i could describe it.  The clouds were light, yet wet with a slight chill, but mostly refreshing feel.  As strange as it sounds to say, they felt like a breath of fresh air.  We took many photos on the hillside with the clouds below and behind us and felt very proud of this accomplishment.

We continued on and as we neared the end of the challenging hike, we, for the first time, caught a glimpse of what we were aiming for.  The weather had lifted and we could finally see the peak of Mt Kilimanjaro for the first time since we arrived in Tanzania.

Although the iphone doesnt don't justice, the photos snapped on Stephanie's camera are quite impressive.  The nearly 6,000m mountain stood impressively against the horizon and wasnt to leave our sight for the next 6 days.

 Riding on this excitement we reached Shira camp which was located in a plateau. We were able to use the long exposure on Stephanie's camera and captured some amazing photos of the stars that night, out of our own curiosity and in support of the Reach for the Stars campaign. Temperatures significantly dropped and we were exhausted after two challenging, but exciting days and decided to go to bed early.  We were anxious for the days ahead and to get closer to the mountain peak.