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Mt. Kilimanjaro, one step at time ! |
The Mountain of Greatness, the last installment.
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The Roof of Africa |
Thanks to Jenell for answering all the questions and allowing me to be part of this amazing experience, adventure, journey via the interviews and photos and the updates from expedition guide, Dave Hahn, on the RMI guide blog.
If you read Verse In Progress ongoing, you've read the installments leading up to this one.
If you've not read the initial posts, you can access via the Kilimanjaro tag label. See the homepage of VIP, all subjects by label are on right hand column.
“Kili” as it’s known to many is a dominant volcanic mountain in Tanazania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest freestanding mountain (not part of a mountain range) in the world at 19,342 feet above see level. The origin of the name Kilimanjaro is not precisely known, but a number of theories exist. My favorite from all that I read, the name translates in Sawhili language to The Mountain of Greatness.
1_ What was it like when you got to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro ?
Summit day was
very intense and emotional, it actually started for us the day before our
summit attempt. We had dinner early, around 5pm to allow as much time as
possible to try to get some sleep before waking at 12AM to begin our summit
attempt. At dinner, one of our trekkers excused herself from the table and
failed to return. Our RMI Guide, Dave Hahn, asked someone to check on her and
they returned asking Dave to come quickly.
We learned
later that she suffered an anxiety attack. The effort of the trek so far and
the stress she felt about the daunting climb ahead of us was almost too much.
We didn’t know her status until midnight arrived and we gathered in the mess
tent to begin our summit attempt. She was ready to give it a try despite her
fear.
Standing
outside our tent in the dark at 15,000ft wearing 5 layers above the waste and 3
layers below and still feeling chilled was an exhilarating experience. Seeing
the entire Milky Way lit up and pulsing with every star you never knew existed
was breathtaking! We each had a headlamp and could only see a few feet while we
began our ascent. The climb took almost 6 hours, it was the hardest trek I’ve
ever done. We could literally only concentrate on putting one foot in front of
the other in the spot the person in front of us just put theirs, and remember
to breathe, one breath at a time. We stopped for several breaks, the last one
before the summit was the worst. I sat on a boulder and looked at my feet where
a tombstone commemorated a gentleman who died there only a few months before
during his summit attempt.
As we
climbed the trail that night we passed many individuals who had stopped,
struggling to breathe, struggling to say warm, struggling with emotion from the
stress, the effort and their fear. An hour into our climb we learned that our
fellow trekker who suffered the anxiety attack the night before had decided to
return to camp only a few minutes into our summit attempt. Dave had assigned
one of our local guides to take her back to camp quietly and efficiently while
the rest of us continued to climb.
Several
hours into the night, we looked to our right in the pitch black and saw a blood
red harvest moon. We had no idea it was supposed to be a blood moon that night
and were shocked and delighted to see such a site! Hours later at one of our
rest breaks the sun peaked just above the horizon creating a violet crown, it
was breathtaking. We must have been at almost 18,000ft. We had not reached the
summit at day break like most groups do, which is the goal of beginning at
midnight. Instead we watched day break BELOW us, looking down at the sunrise as
it lit up the sky.
Our guides
took my backpack from me at some point during the summit attempt. I didn’t
argue with them and for a few moments felt a sense of disappointment and almost
shame that I couldn’t carry my pack to the top. I wasn’t drinking enough water so
the extra 20lbs wasn’t getting any lighter like it usually did on our trek. Our
guide Dave Hahn mentioned the night before that if necessary our guides would
take our gear if they thought it would help us summit, and urged us not to
protest and to follow their direction for our best interest.
I saw
Sabrina struggling too and asked a guide to take her pack, she protested for a
minute but finally gave it up too. Later she complained of being too cold, she
couldn’t get warm and asked for her pack again. They gave it back to her the
last few minutes of the climb. She confessed later after our descent that she
could not remember at least an hour of our final summit climb. She blacked out
and only remembered arriving at the top!
When we
reached Stella Point at 18,652ft, Dave (a trained EMT) quickly assessed each of
us before clearing us to continue on to Uhuru Peak to 19,341ft.
He broke the news to two gentlemen that their lives may be at risk and they should not continue on. One of them began to cry, crushed and disappointed that his year of training and preparation was not enough. They were both struggling with AMS (acute mountain sickness) and were asked to descend immediately. One refused and asked to be able to attempt to summit, he went on against our guide’s advice and only made it a few steps before agreeing to descend.
He broke the news to two gentlemen that their lives may be at risk and they should not continue on. One of them began to cry, crushed and disappointed that his year of training and preparation was not enough. They were both struggling with AMS (acute mountain sickness) and were asked to descend immediately. One refused and asked to be able to attempt to summit, he went on against our guide’s advice and only made it a few steps before agreeing to descend.
I felt
incredible, totally healthy, exhilarated, and excited to make the summit. I had
energy remaining and felt strong. I also felt like an elephant was sitting on
my chest, every breath was a huge effort. One step forward took every bit of
concentration and focus I had left. I guess they call it the Kilimanjaro Zombie
walk for good reason, everything was in slow motion. Every time I looked up and
thought surely I must be close, the trail extended beyond my view and I had to
keep going. Looking down along side the trail at the glaciers all around us was
other-worldly. The landscape was barren of life, nothing but lava dust and
rocks and glaciers, sitting above the clouds and the sun rising below us.
I was really
proud to be walking behind our oldest trekker, 63yr old Dora who traveled to
Kilimanjaro all by herself. She was inspiring! Our group was led by Kevin,
Dora, myself and Sabrina to the summit. We knew we were close to the top when
we started passing people returning from the peak, each of them giving us words
of encouragement: “You’re almost there! Keep going! Congratulations, you can do
it! It’s so worth it, keep going!”
Finally the
famous Uhuru Peak sign appeared and the trail leveled out. Breathing somehow
became easier (adrenaline?!) and we scrambled to take all the photos we could,
each of us posing with banners, and keepsakes we brought with us to commemorate
the climb. I continued past the sign though off the trail about 20 ft towards
the glacier in the distance.
I sat down by
myself for a moment and said a prayer thanking God, Buddha, the universe and my
Uncle Lynal for blessing me with this moment. Many times during the trek over
the past week I was overcome with grief. I fought back tears so many times
during the hike, thinking of my Uncle who had passed away a few weeks before I
left for Africa. We were so close, he was like a Dad to me and I was angry and
sad that he was gone. I kept telling myself to hold on to the sadness, keep
walking, I could let it go when I summited. So there I was at the summit but I
could only cry for a minute, I was so elated to be there that the sadness
wouldn’t come. I quietly spread my Uncles ashes I had brought with me and
wished him peace on his journey.
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Jenell |
We only spent about 15 minutes Uhuru Peak. There was such a steady stream of people arriving and taking pictures with the sign, that we had to hurry to get our photos in and get out of the way to let everyone have a turn. Our guide let us know it was time to leave so we could begin our 18 hour descent as a team.
2_ What do you most remember now of your brief time spent at the top of the world ?
What I
remember most about the trek is my excitement and absolute love of the journey
to get there. The moment at the summit is just a moment, an almost overwhelming
sense of accomplishment, but it’s the months of training, hard work, excitement
and joy from the process of getting there that I love the most. That, and
seeing the Milky Way at night, the absolute quiet and stillness of the earth
above 15,000ft.
I filmed a
video with my GoPro of the journey and took a moment at high camp at 15,000ft
to interview each of my fellow trekkers. I asked them to give their name, age,
where they were from and if they could give one piece of advice to someone
considering Kilimanjaro, what would it be? So fun to hear their responses!
Everyone in our group of 10 hikers was over the age of 50, except me and
Sabrina. Our oldest trekker was 63, Sabrina was the youngest at 38. We had
several solo hikers who traveled on their own, one married couple, two cousins
trekking together and Sabrina and I were the only two hiking as friends.
On the
second day of our trek, personalities started to emerge. I suggested that we
have a little fun giving each other nick names. We had to earn our Trail Name
from the group, it couldn’t be an existing nick name and we couldn’t determine
our own. The names were a fun reflection of our personalities:
Keith Kevin
We couldn’t remember his
name, so we called him both.
Dora the Explorer
Her name was Dora and she traveled the world
extensively all by herself!
Disney
He worked for Disney and talked
about it incessantly. He was also a Duck Captain, professional Actor, retired
military pilot and stand up comedian. He failed to summit, he made it to Stella
Point.
Wall Street
He was an investment broker and talked about it
incessantly!
Madam President
She worked at the White House during the Bush
administration and was very polished and proper.
Turtle
She wouldn’t let us choose a name for her, she
gave this to herself because she was always at the back of the
pack and fell several times and had a hard time getting up
steep or rocky inclines. This was our hiker who stoppedat 15,000ft
and was not able to summit.
Mama Simba
This name was given to our sweetest member by our
local
Tanzanian guides. She was part of the husband and wife couple married to
Wallstreet, and was a Trail Mom to us all ;)
Professor
A solo traveling gentleman who was a Park Ranger
back home and the
sweetest, most knowledgeable member of our group. He
failed to summit,
he made it to Stella Point.
Goldie Locks
This was Sabrina’s trail name, for the fact that
her hair looked amazing
even after 7 days without a shower!
Bacon
This was my trail name, I was so excited about
fresh bacon made for
breakfast on the trail that our chef made extra just
for me,
wrapped in tinfoil for me to take on the trail every day as a
snack.
Yoda
This was our guide, Dave Hahn’s name.
Even though he wanted to be Han Solo,
we saw him as our wise teacher andleader of all Jedi Masters ;)
4_ What
surprised you most about the group ?
What
surprised me about the group was our ability to be compassionate and kind to
each other the entire time. We got on each other’s nerves a little by the end
of the safari but overall we were very accommodating to each other even though
we had such diverse backgrounds.
5_ Tell us about the RMI expedition guide Dave Hahn ? What did you appreciate most about him and his vast experience as a guide ?
Dave was an
absolute treat! We were so incredibly lucky to have him as our guide. He is a
world renowned mountaineer, holding the World Record for Everest Summit success
(for a white man, as he put it, only Sherpas have summited more than the 15
times he’s made it to the top).
I
appreciated his absolute humble nature, he told so many amazing stories of
treacherous climbs, saving people’s lives, achieving national and international
awards but always with the most “oh gosh, I’m just like everybody else” kind of
attitude! He was super funny and kind to everyone, he had the patience of Job.
6_ From a technical perspective regarding climbing, what did you learn from Dave ?
Two very
important things that Dave taught us was the “rest step” and the “pressure
breath” techniques that helped us summit. The rest step puts one foot in front
of the other and pauses for a few seconds, keeping your weight on the leg
behind you, allowing your leg muscles to rest, before shifting your weight and
taking another step. This tiny maneuver allows you to save energy instead of
taking one constant weight bearing step after another. That tiny rest after 7
days of trekking all day every day to 19,341ft makes a huge difference!
The pressure
breath taught us to blow a quick, complete breath out like we were blowing out
candles, every few breaths. It actually helps oxygenate your blood, RMI references
the technique here:
The other
thing Dave taught us is that anyone can climb a mountain of any height, in his
words: “as long as you point yourself in the right direction.”
6_ Did you get to know the porters ? Tell us about their role ?
I didn’t get
to know the porters as well as some of the other members of our group. I didn’t
spend as much time chatting along the trail. I spent more time in my own head
thinking. I did chat a bit with our lead guide, Güenther. He told me he was a
local farmer by trade, he grew coffee and bananas which is very common in the
Kilimanjaro area. His actual age was a mystery to us because he gave a
different answer to everyone that asked: 40, 45, 55, and 60. He said he leads
expeditions to the summit of Kili 3 times a year, all within 3 months. I would
guess his age to probably be closer to 50 or 60.
We often
marveled at the athleticism of the porters, carrying up to 30lbs sometimes
balanced on their heads while walking the same trail we struggled on. After we
left in the morning, they packed up our entire camp, raced past us on the trail
and set up camp to be waiting for us when we arrived.
We got to
know our primary 4-5 crew members who walked among us on the trail and cooked
our meals each day much more then the rest. The other 45 crew members were
mainly in the background so we didn’t hear from them directly while they worked
to set up and break down campsites.
Our RMI
guide Dave reminded us though that although our crew were much faster on the
trail carrying much heavier loads, their bodies took a much heavier toll as a
result, shortening their life expectancy compared to ours.
7_ Were you
ever scared ?
No, I
wouldn’t say anything about the trek scared me. I was only afraid that I would
not summit. Others that said they were afraid of heights were scared on the
third day when we had to scramble our way up the Barranco Wall, literally hand
over foot up a very steep ledge only the width of our feet while hugging the
cliff wall so porters could pass us on the ledge carrying very heavy loads. If
we moved unexpectedly, we could have thrown the porters off the ledge so we
were advised to hold very still when they passed. They were probably more
scared of us that day!
Yes, but not
until the end of the trek. After the summit Sabrina confessed that she blacked
out for about an hour. She didn’t remember the final hour of our climb before
we summited, but she had no idea during the climb that anything was wrong. I
couldn’t tell anything was wrong with her either. She said she could remember
reaching Stella point and everything after, and leaving camp at midnight but
still can’t remember me telling her to give her pack to the guides.
My knee was
my only health concern, I had already become accustomed to it hurting every day
before the trek when I tore the meniscus during a SUP race. I did not wear a
brace during the trek and was careful to use hiking poles the entire time to
help me with stability. It wasn’t until the last two days descending the
mountain that my knee really became an issue. By the last few hours on the last
day after walking downhill at a steep incline for almost 18 hours, my knee hurt
so bad I was almost using my trekking poles as crutches. But even my good knee
hurt from the abuse, so as soon as I rested the next day I was back on track.
9_ Did you have time for yourself during the climb ? How so ?
Almost none
at all, our guides kept us together as a group for safety. And, there were so
many other expeditions on the mountain at the same time, we were constantly
surrounded by other groups and porters coming and going.
Luckily
though, I was able to create a space to hike in solitude for about an hour on
the final day during our descent. I created a gap between myself and the rest
of my group on the trail. We had naturally separated into small groups of fast
hikers and slow hikers. Our RMI guide Dave Hahn always stayed at the very back
of the pack with the slowest hikers to ensure their success. Our local
Tanzanian guide, Güenther, led the fast hikers and established our pace and
schedule for the day. He had the most knowledge and experience on the mountain
so he was always in the lead.
On the last
day, I hiked faster than our slow group to get ahead and out of site of them,
but let myself fall behind and out of site of the fast pack. This gave me about
an hour during the jungle portion of the trail all to myself. Normally our
trail guides wouldn’t allow this, but I think they were eager to be done on the
last day and let me tell them to go ahead without me. It was absolute bliss
while it lasted, not listening to anyone talk about work, family, politics,
money, or how tired they were! I was able to really hear and enjoy the sound of
birds chirping, the breeze in the trees covered in Spanish moss and the hum of
insects and calls of monkeys in the trees. I coined a term to describe it, I
call it “minding the gap”. I did it in Peru trekking to Machu Picchu and was
happy to get to do it again in Africa.
So many
things like the incredible White Necked Ravens that followed us almost all the
way to the summit. The weird plants you’ll never see anywhere else in the
world, the massive Eagle that appeared at high camp for just a few minutes
soaring above and then disappeared. The Milky Way that lit up the night sky
like I’ve never seen before, the absolute stillness of the earth at night with
no animals, traffic, lights or manmade machines for miles at elevation.
The utter
sense of satisfaction every day that I worked hard to get there so I could
really enjoy the moment I was experiencing.
The Boots ! ! |
11_ What advice would you give to those considering signing up for the Mount Kilimanjaro expedition ?
JUST DO IT!
But seriously train months before, although being in the best shape of your life isn’t absolutely necessary to summit (altitude sickness can take you out no matter how healthy or strong you are!) it makes the difference between feeling confident and comfortable during the trek, or being anxious and exhausted the entire time.
But seriously train months before, although being in the best shape of your life isn’t absolutely necessary to summit (altitude sickness can take you out no matter how healthy or strong you are!) it makes the difference between feeling confident and comfortable during the trek, or being anxious and exhausted the entire time.
Also, I
suggest taking Diamox during the trek and testing yourself on it before you go.
Our guide told us not to take it unless absolutely necessary because he
believed it was like using a “hammer on a thumb tack” and that we should “allow
ourselves to feel altitude sickness as a part of the experience.” I believe one
of our trekkers took that advice too much to heart and only took Diamox on the
summit day when he was beyond help and suffered greatly. He admitted after ward
that he had been feeling sick days before but thought our guide’s advice meant
that Diamox was like aspirin and you could take when you were in trouble and
the symptoms could be controlled.
I took
Diamox starting two days into the climb, but only took ½ the RX amount until
the day before summit, when I took the full RX recommended. My personal opinion
and experience during training was that it enhanced my performance, it
certainly didn’t hurt it so I chose to use all the tools I had available to me
to be sure I was able to summit successfully.
12 – What was the safari like ? Were you able to settle comfortably in this wonderful experience just days after reaching the summit of the Mountain of Greatness ?
You would
think that might be difficult to do, but we really enjoyed the Safari experience
to the fullest. Because it took us two days to descend and we had one day at
the same hotel we stayed at before Kili, the transition to Safari was an
entirely new vacation. The experience was awe inspiring and life changing just
like the mountain trek.
When we
entered the Ngorongoro Crater, near the location scientists discovered Lucy,
the oldest humanoid remains ever found (3.2 million years old) it truly felt
like we were experiencing the birthplace of mankind.
The
protected area was like a movie set, where we saw zebras, water buffalo,
hippos, jackals, hyenas, millions of pink flamingos, gazelles, wildebeests and
an almost unlimited number of monkeys and birds. The most rare animal we saw
from the safety of our vehicle was a black rhinoceros.
We visited a
Maasai village which was the highlight for me. I learned that this ancient
tribe lives life today much like they have for thousands of years and have
fought for the freedom to do so amongst the wild beasts on protected lands
where no other humans are allowed to occupy. They subsist almost entirely by
herding cattle and have a very special relationship with the animal. It was
fascinating to me. We saw many Maasai people in villages and towns dressed in
their traditional shuka herding large herds of cattle with no fences, or
vehicles but only by carrying a stick and running along side the animals. They
seemed so regal, their stunning jewelry and bright colored clothes were
such a contrast against their drab surroundings and dark skin.
It was so
enjoyable to stay in such stunning accommodations that were such a pleasure
after sleeping in a tent on the ground without a shower for 8 days!
13_ How has this amazing experience influenced your life ? How are you different now than before you traveled to Tanzania to climb the tallest free range mountain in the world ?
I would say
that it has definitely influenced my life in a very positive way to see the
culture of east Africa, the townships, the people, their economy, the beauty of
the land and animals. It expanded my understanding of the world, our
differences but what makes us all essentially the same.
The trek
itself has given me a point of reference that makes me feel like I can
accomplish absolutely anything. I literally hear myself saying “of course I can
do that, I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, I can do anything!”
14_ If you could title a book written about this experience, what would the title be ?
I would love
to write about my experience, I’m not sure this would be the actual title of my
story but right now I can imagine calling it something like:
“One Foot in
Front of the Other, One Breath at a Time – Learning the Secrets of Life while
Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro”