Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Return
After walking up hill for 5 days it was a breeze coming down. Abraham and I made it back to Gilman’s Point in an hour, and we made it down from Gilman’s point in another hour.
I was able to use my hiking poles for balance and do some “Scree Skiiing” on the way down. Really, all I had to do was lift my feet and gravity did the rest. I kept up the pace and the same loose gravel that nearly pushed me to quit became one of the highlights of the trip.
The adrenaline was back and I was having less trouble getting my breath.
The trip up took more than 5 hours but I made it down in about an hour. At one point I was nearly running down the side of the mountain.
As I got closer to the bottom I noticed someone pacing at the bottom of the trail. Ernest had been waiting for us to return.
He gave me a bear hug and apologized again for having to come down the mountain. Once he returned to Kibo, he started to feel better. He said he feeling like his old self again.
The plan was to stay at Kibo for a couple hours while I rested but I didn’t have much interest in staying in the cold stone hut.
I wanted to keep going.
We pushed past Kibo, beyond Horumbo and hiked all the way down to Mandara Hut.
We essentially hiked for another 12 hours until we reached Mandara.
I wanted to be somewhere warm – I wanted to get out of the wind.
Once we reached Mandara, I washed up quickly and went to sleep. My bunk was over the dining hall and there was a large crowd of Swiss climbers eating dinner, preparing to climb the mountain.
There was a lot of talking and laughter over dinner but it didn’t keep me awake.
I closed my eyes and didn’t move until the next morning.
I had done it. I could rest… I climbed Mt Kilimanjaro.
The Summit – Uhuru Peak 19,340 feet above sea level
The time had finally arrived. I woke up on time and hit the trail with Ernest at midnight. Everything was going as planned.
As I started the night was crystal clear and filled with stars. There was a half moon in the sky providing some light – my spirits were high.
Ernest and I kept a slow pace and started the ascent. I was getting winded but that was to be expected – I was starting strong.
After about an hour, Ernest stopped for a break. This was unusual, he hadn’t stopped for a break on any of the earlier hikes.
I didn’t think too much about it, I needed the rest so we just stood there in the dark catching our breath.
I noticed that the sky was starting to darken, there were fewer stars in the sky and the wind was starting to pick up.
I tightened my hood on my jacket and continued on with the words from Seamus ringing in the back of my mind… keep going.
Another 20 minutes passed and Ernest stopped for another break.
This was very unusual. I knew something must be wrong.
I shined my light on him and saw a pained look on his face. Despite the cold weather he was sweating profusely and taking quick short breaths.
He told me he may have to go back down - he was getting sick from the altitude.
Altitude sickness can get anyone at any time, no matter of their fitness level.
I told him I would go back down with him.
“No problem” I said. I’ll attempt it again later in the day. I didn’t want to leave him on his own and I wasn’t particularly excited at the thought of being alone on the side of the mountain.
He refused and changed his mind - picking up his pack and starting up the mountain. He was going to try it again.
I followed along but after another 20 minutes he sat down again.
“I’m sorry, sorry, sorry” he said.
“I have to go back down.”
“You go, and I’ll send Abraham to take you to the top”
I agreed and watched him walk back down in to the darkness toward Kibo.
There I was, sitting in the scree wondering what I had gotten myself into. I had two choices, I could ignore Ernest and go back down or I could keep going.
After a couple minutes I decided to keep going.
I eventually caught up with another guide making his way to the top. I greeting him in swalhili and he asked me in English if I was ok.
I told him what had happened and asked if I could fall in with him and climb with him until Abraham made his way up the mountain.
He agreed and off we went.
The guide’s name was Fred and he was charged with taking Bill, a man from Connecticut up the mountain. Their pace was slow, and that suited me just fine.
I was happy to be able to concentrate on my own climb. I put myself on autopilot, doing my best to keep my mind on other things.
I thought of my wife. In my mind, I replayed all the highlights we’ve had together… the day I met her, our wedding day, both days she told me she was pregnant with our boys.
Those images kept me warm even though my hands were going numb. I could feel the wind picking up, it was blowing bits of rock through the air like a large cold sand blaster rolling down the mountain.
At that moment, I realized there was no sneaking upon Kili. It knew I was here and wasn’t going to make it easy for me.
I walked with Fred and Bill for an hour before I heard someone yell my name over the wind.
“Mr. Chris!”
Abraham had found me. He made his way over to me and asked if I was ok.
“Follow me to the top Mr. Chris”
He was very confident but I had my doubts. I was tired, cold and ready to stop – I sat down for the first time.
“Don’t sit, you’ll freeze” said Abraham.
“Pulli Pulli, let’s go”
I got up and continued the climb going slower than ever - but I was still moving.
I had been battling the loose rock, cold, wind and my own doubts for about 5 hours before I started to see a little light on the horizon.
The sun was starting to rise.
At that moment I felt a charge of energy and my mood began to improve.
But Kili had one more trick in store for me. After fighting the loose rock for hours there was a final stretch of boulders I needed to climb over before reaching Gilman’s Point.
My legs were tired and my lungs were burning but with Abraham coaxing me on I was able to make it to Gilman’s Point by 5:30am. (18,651 feet) I had spent 5 hours and 30 minutes on that incline. Despite losing my guide, spending time alone and wondering if/when I’d find the second guide – I had made it.
By that time the sun was bright in the sky and I knew the trip to Uhuru wouldn’t be as difficult. I had been told there would be some inclines but nothing like the climb to Gilman’s Point.
I slowed my pace so I could take in the scenery. To my right was the crater, a vast open space in the top of the mountain filled with burnt red looking soil. Beyond the crater was the South Glacier and to my left was the North Glacier.
I had seen the North Glacier from Kibo but it had a different look as I walked so closely to it. I could see the details in the ice, the dirt hat had been caught in the permanent freeze for years. The glaciers were sitting like massive frozen spectators watching hikers scurry by for their photo opps at Uhuru peak.
I felt like a visitor in their home. They have been there for hundreds of years and I would only be there for an hour.
I made it across to Uhuru point at 7:30 am. I had officially made it to the highest point in Africa.
An odd feeling of peace, exhaustion and satisfaction washed over me as I got to the sign.
I decided to sit down for a couple minutes and take in the scenery.
The top
The crowd at the top had a Frat party feel. A group of Canadians had just reached Uhuru before me and by the time I sat down, several of them had pulled off their shirts and started handing out bottles of Kilimanjaro beer.
They were getting ready for their own photo opp.
At one point, someone pulled out a football and started tossing it around. It could have been a scene from any pregame tailgate party here in the states. Except this one was at 19,340 feet.
As time went by, more and more climbers appeared. There may have been 40 people jockeying for time with the sign. When you climb the mountain you get a certificate from the Tanzanian National Park to prove that you made it, but the unofficial certification comes from the photo with the sign at Uhuru Peak.
I ended up spending an hour there. There were no problems, I took my time and asked Abraham to take the necessary photos when I could jump in line.
I packed up the camera and we started back down the mountain at 8:30.
It was time to get down and I wanted to do that quickly.
Kibo Hut – 15,429 feet above sea level
Kibo Hut sits at the base of the mountain, just on the edge of the saddle. It is essentially a group of stone structures filled with bunks and a table. It’s for a short stay, you hike to Kibo, grab a couple hours of sleep, then head out to the mountain.
Though you are greeted warmly by the porters, there is nothing warm about Kibo. It’s a cold, unforgiving place that reminds you that this is a serious climb.
It was here that I wondered aloud why this trail is called the Coca Cola route. It felt more like the Jack Daniels route.
I made it to Kibo in about 5 hours but I was starting to feel the altitude. My pace had slowed a lot and I felt myself panting for each breath.
Despite it all, my confidence was still high as I wrapped myself in my sleeping bag to get some rest before attempting the summit. I decided to sleep in all of my warm weather clothes for two reasons. It would give me less to think about when I woke up and it helped to keep the cold at bay so I could sleep a little.
The plan was to get up at 11pm, grab a quick snack and hit the trail at midnight.
I went to sleep listening to other climbers who had just returned from the mountain. They made it, but it wasn’t easy.
After a few moments, I decided it wasn’t a good idea to listen too closely.
Horombo Hut night 2 – 12,204 feet above sea level
I was scheduled to spend an extra night in Hormobo to help get acclimated to the altitude. The climb up from Mandara was about 5 hours but I was still feeling pretty good.
When I woke up in Horombo, I could hear the chatter of the porters and tourists as they started their day.
It was an interesting mix of Swahili, French, English and German… though there may have been others that I didn’t recognize.
Kilimanjaro attracts people from around the world. In my short travel, I shared a bunk room with a Medic in the Israeli Army named Avi and a pair of Austrian Librarians from Vienna named Chris and Martin who were trying their luck on the mountain.
Avi had been traveling in Tanzania with his girlfriend when he decided to stay a little longer and attempt to climb Kili. He was very fit and had just enough equipment to pull it off.
There were few on the trail who were in better shape than him. He kept an extremely fast pace, there was no Pulli Pulli for him.
My Austrian friends were taking it at a different speed. They were taking in the scenery and seeing the adventure as something that needed to be documented. I later found out that they were writing a book about the trip.
They would stay up late at night discussing the details of the book. I couldn’t understand them but when asked, they told me it was going to be an adventure story - like Indiana Jones.
I wished them luck. If you see a book about adventuring librarians from Austria, maybe Vienna Jones, remember – you read about it here first!
The training hike
I decided to take a short 2 hour hike up past an area named Zebra Rocks where I could get a good look at the mountain.
It was a steep and tiring trail but when I reached the top I was able to get my first look at Kilimanjaro. I stopped in the middle of “the saddle”. The saddle is an area of high desert at the base of Kilimanjaro.
It’s dry, windy, cold and unforgiving. There isn’t much growing in that area… it reminded me of photos from the lunar landing.
But it did offer me an incredible view of the mountain and the trail ahead. I was able to see the steepest section of trail that leads to Gilman’s Point.
I had heard of this from other hikers. Yes, It’s steep… but it’s also covered with loose rock called scree. I’ll get to that later in the post.
It was an impressive view but it was a little intimidating. When I turned to hike back down to Horombo for the night, I started to worry a little.
Was I strong enough to do this?
I’d find out soon enough.
Horombo Hut – 12,204 feet above sea level
The second day was about a 5 hour hike to Horombo Hut, the second base camp on the way to Kilimanjaro. Essentially, I entered Kilimanjaro National Park below Mandara Hut and started walking uphill. It would be 4 days of walking up hill before getting to the top.
The trek to Horombo was interesting for a while, the landscape slowly changed as I gained altitude. Gone were the lush trees, they were replaced by scrub brush and low grasses. I could feel a change in the weather too, although the sun was out I could feel the beginning of a cool breeze coming from the north. It was coming from the direction of the mountain.
About an hour from Horombo the brush was replaced with something that reminded me of a large cactus and the grasses were gone. I could feel the wind picking up.
I had yet to see the mountain because it was obscured by some cloud cover.
I had a lot of time to think. At Ernest’s request I was going very slow so it felt like I was sneaking up on the mountain. Everything was happening as planned. I actually thought I may be able to sneak up the mountain before it noticed me.
At least that’s what I hoped.
Mandara Hut – 8858 feet above sea level
The time was fast approaching.
I made the connecting flight in Nyrobi and landed in Kilimanjaro Airport just before midnight on Sept 1. I had been able to sleep a little on the airplane but I couldn’t get the pending climb out of my mind. I was tired but I could feel the adrenaline rush starting.
I was able to get to the hotel in another hour and attempted to sleep before my scheduled morning briefing with the tour group.
No such luck. I may have dozed a little but the morning came pretty quickly.
Once up, I grabbed my gear and met Seamus, one of the owners of the Marangu Hotel. He went through the details of what I was about to experience. So many people have come through this briefing to successfully climb the mountain. I was hanging on his every word.
They have been running trips out of the Marangu Hotel for a long time. In fact, I talked with a consultant at IMA who had successfully climbed Kilimanjaro in 1964. I found out that he climbed the exact same route and stayed at the exact same hotel.
Seamus was very thorough, he told me exactly what to expect each day and how to handle it. We spoke for about 30 minutes and his last words of advice to me were this…
“I know you’re excited, you’re probably going to forget most of what I just told you. But remember this, Drink 3 liters of water a day, take your Diamox (meds to help me handle the altitude), and go slowly. There will be times when you feel like stopping, don’t quit... keep going.”
With that, I was out the door and loaded into a van with my equipment. This is where I first met my guide, Ernest and the rest of the crew.
There was Abraham, the cook and assistant guide and two others… Elisa and Godwin, both porters to help carry equipment and food.
It seemed like a lot of support for one person. But again, who am I to question it? They know what they are doing.
Once we got to the trail, Abraham and the others grabbed their packs and set off to Mandara Hut at an incredible pace. There was no way I could keep up with them.
But the combination of adrenaline and pride made me push the pace despite Ernest’s best wishes.
“Pulli Puli” he would tell me. Pulli Pulli is Swahili that translates to slowly slowly… he knew I was going too fast.
Ernest stayed about 3 steps behind me while we were hiking. If I slipped on a rock, he would grab my arm and apologize.
I quickly realized that Ernest was my bodyguard on this climb.
We talked a lot that day. His English was much better than my Swahili (I know about 6 words) and I found out that he was 44 years old with 4 kids.
He grew up near the base of the mountain and he and his brothers all work as guides helping tourists reach the top of Kilimanjaro.
He also told me that he climbs the mountain about every 2 weeks in the busy season. Again, I’m with someone who knows how to get to the top.
At one point I joked with him a little.
“You think I’ll make it to the top?” I asked?
“I’m a good Ernest, you make it to Uhuru.” He replied.
It was reassuring knowing this guy had my back.
We made it to the first base camp, Mandara Hut, in about 2 and a half hours mostly due to my early burst of energy.
The area around Mandara Hut was very lush and green. There was moss on the trees and I could hear the occasional monkey flitting around in the trees.
It was still early in the day but I grabbed some dinner and quickly headed off to the bunk house. I knew I had to catch up on my sleep or I’d never make it.
That night I slept for about 14 hours. When I got up I felt like I had washed away the exhaustion from past two weeks. Leading up to the climb, I had not slept in the same bed two nights in a row as I visited IMA supported sites across Tanzania and the DRC.
I finally felt like I was ready.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Back in the office
It feels good to be back. As I sit here in my cube I’m having a difficult time keeping focused, my mind keeps wandering back across the Atlantic despite my fast growing list of things to do.
Tomorrow I’ll post my written account of the climb complete with photos. I have so much material to edit it’s a bit overwhelming.
The story is done but I’m still sorting through the images.
I have more than 45 gigs of photos and two hours of HD video to edit. That’s going to be enough to keep our website fresh for the next 8 months!
I’ve attached a photo from the top of the mountain. At this point I was on my way back down but I was in awe of the clouds. It is hard to believe that I had walked above them.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
He made it!
He spent about an hour at the top, taking photos. He told his wife, Michelle, it was "amazing."
Glass is already at the first base camp and plans to finish by tomorrow.
Stay tuned for all the stories!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Well on the way
He arrived at the second base camp. On Sunday he and his team did a trial run to the crater, turned around and headed back to the second base camp -- part of getting used to the extreme altitude.
At 18,500 feet, Crater Camp is the last stop before the summit.
On the hike, Chris said to his guide, Ernest, who does not speak much English, "What do you think Ernest? We going to make it to the top?"
"I good Ernest," Ernest replied. "We make it."
Chris plans to embark again Monday, make the third base camp early that afternoon to sleep. Then around 11 p.m. or midnight he will leave to reach the summit Tuesday at sunrise.
Internet service is spotty to non-existent on the mountain, which is why he's unable to make his own update to the blog.
Already, Chris reports feeling as though he's reached the roof of the world, watching clouds roll by underneath him.
Stay tuned!