The roof of Africa

Trip Start Feb 25, 2007

Trip End Nov 12, 2007

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Flag of Tanzania Moshi, Tanzania
Wednesday, September 12, 2007

After completing the Rwenzori trek I decided it was time to summit a mountain and what better mountain than Kilimanjaro, the world's highest volcano and Africa's highest mountain. Also, with the glaciers melting at such a fast rate, this might be my only chance to see the "snows of Kilimanjaro".

I elected to do the Machame route because it was longer, offered more scenery and has a higher success rate for the summit than the Maranga route, mainly because the longer route gives you more days to acclimatize.

The first day started from Moshi and had an hour drive to the park entrance with my team (the guide, the cook and two porters). When we arrived the park entrance was swarming with people all waiting to get started. I filled out all the paperwork and then we were off. The hiking was fairly easy and only took us about 4 hours that day (just 10km). The first nights camp as at Machame hut (9840 ft). We pitched our tents next to two Dutch climbers that had started that day as well. Since everybody stay at the same camps for at least the first four nights, you begin to recognize most climbers, even though they're all using different companies. I chatted with these guys for bit that night and would see them the next two nights as well.

The next morning was going from Machame hut to Shira hut (12,464 ft). The camp ground here was a massive plateau that over looked the lower part of the mountain. Here we were firmly in the alpine zone so the vegetation had transformed from rain forest and huge heather zones to rocky and arid terrain.

Kili I

I was already at camp when the two dutch guy made it there, walking slowly and complaining of massive headaches. The weather was fickle, at best. In the early afternoon massive fog would roll in and obscure the views in all directions. In the mornings and in the early evening as the sun was setting it would clear up. This evening was the first time I had a clear glimpse of the glaciers above. The peak view was obscure from here.

The following morning was Shira hut to Barranco hut (12,923 ft). From Shira hut we climbed steadily approaching the base of Lava tower (14760 ft). the climb today was just for acclimatization. After setting at the base for a while we descended down the rest of the way to Barranco hut for the night. When I arrived at the camp site the fog was so heavy that you had about 5 feet of visibility. The campsite are fairly wide and flat and finding our porters when we arrived was nothing short of comical. Lots of yelling at the Swahili version of "follow my voice" before we all found each other. That afternoon the two dutch guys finally made to camp, one of whom fell straight to his hands and knees when they arrived. They both had AMS and would not be able to go any further up... although, from there, I'm not sure how they made it out of the park without completely retracing their path. That was the last I saw of them. As evening approached this night the peak came into view with all it's glory. It was that point when I first said "We're going up to there?" in a more fearful than excited manner.

The next morning started of with a bang.

Kili II

After breaking camp we headed down into the Barranco valley and then up the Barranco wall. The Barranco wall was one of the more strenuous section as of yet with about 45 minutes of steep ascent, sometimes with all fours. After passing the wall is was another 2 hours before reaching the Karanga Valley. It was another descent and then climb up through the valley. The descent was the hardest part because at this point the rain had started and converter the trail from a path to a stream which made descending and not slipping hard work. Once at the top we stopped for lunch and a much needed break. Afterwords we started heading up again climbing less steeply than before but still steadily. As we ascended further up and started approaching Barafu Hut (15,088 ft) the rain turned to a snow/ice mixture. By the time we arrived at the camp the ground was becoming frosted and white and the temperature had dropped substantially. That afternoon I took a long nap and then had dinner. After dinner I managed to go back to sleep shortly before waking at 11:30pm. The summit was to start at midnight.

Up to this point I had been fine with the altitude. Before going to sleep after dinner I only had the slightest signs of a headache. When I awoke at that night for the climb my body was completely struck by the altitude. I don't know if it was the lack of sleep or the altitude but when I woke up my body was saying "Hell No!". Fortunately it only took about 30 minutes into the hike for the exhaustion to take over everything and that was all I felt.

Kili III

In the pitch black snow-covered climb up I had to stop to rest every 20 minutes in the bitter cold for the first 6 hours of the climb. When we finally reach Stella point (on the rim and climbing clockwise now toward the summit) the wind struck me like a brick wall. We kept going, slowly, walking along the rim. The snow and ice formations on the ground we strange and the view of the glaciers were tremendous. After another hour I could see the sign in the distance and then finally, I was standing on Uhuru Peak (19,339 ft), exhausted and freezing cold I couldn't help rejoice finishing that incredibly difficult summit (it was for me at least). After enjoying the scenery for a while it was time to head down before the frostbite sunk into my toes. During the Rwenzori trek my faithful hiking boots experienced a small blow out on the right sole. Since it was only the back half of the shoe I thought for sure I could do Kilimanjaro using mainly the front part; this was a mistake. One the first day the rest of the shoe blew out and I had hike the first four days with virtually no traction or support on my right foot. My cook, graciously, offered me his shoes for the summit. I tried them on and they were a bit small but I didn't have much choice. By the time I was standing on the summit I realized his shoes where seriously uncomfortable and killing my feet but more importantly offered almost no thermal insulation what so ever and my toes were going to fall off so it was time to head down.

Obviously the trip down was easier than the climb and in about two hours we were back at camp. I slept for an hour, had some breakfast, traded shoes back with the cook and then we headed down for the last camp. As we approached I decided the call of a hot shower and a bed that night were too strong to ignore and wanted to go all the way down that day. We switched it into high gear and hauled as down the mountain. We were out of the park gates by 6:00pm that night. We caught a mini-van back to town and I got to enjoy a nice long hot shower and a real bed that night!!!