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Published: January 17th 2012
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Sorry, this is a long one!
Day 4
Day 4 was a built in acclimatization day, we started at 14200ft and did a three hour acclimatization hike and gained another 1000ft. Along the way it became increasing difficult for Jody as she was have stomach issues. We rested for the rest of the day in preparation for the next couple of days.
Day 5/6
It is hard to separate these two days as there really was to be no break between them. We got off to an early start to begin the march to Kibo base camp. We walked 8k and gained 1600ft. This turned out to be a grueling hike across an expansive saddle. The morning sun was relentless as it started to wear down our reserves. Jody was really suffering at this point, then Carolina started to feel the effects. Even tho we had been fed a large breakfast we were running on fumes by the time we reached camp. I think several of us had a touch of heatstroke as we wobbled into Kibo base camp. We had come over 30k and climbed almost 10000ft since we started and we were exhausted Now...
the final push. We had lunch and then we tried to rest however with the sun beating down on our tents this was close to impossible. We watched as some climbers were "assisted" into camp and we wondered what was in store for us. At this point Nicole, Carolina and Jody had all joined the "chucker's club" and their attempt to summit was starting to look less and less likely as the afternoon wore on. We had dinner minus Nicole and Carolina and one very pale looking Jody 😞 We all managed various lengths of naps after dinner and got our wake up call
at 10:30 pm. A lot of us slept with the clothes we were going to wear in our sleeping bags to keep them warm. At this point there was no question that only 10 of us would try for the summit. It was very difficult to leave the girls behind but they were in no condition to keep going. We felt comfortable leaving them with each other and the guide (Hussein) that would stay behind to care for them. The girls affectionately nic-named themselves team Kibo as they bonded over gastro issues. As Joseph put it"they ate the
whole cow except for the tail" Tom was quick to point out that the tail also included the butt hole.... amen to that. We were told that we would need as many layers as we had available, some of us just wore 3-4, others wore 5-6. Once again Kevin started us out with a prayer but it was hard to keep our heads bowed when all we could think of was the silhouette of the mountain peak in the moonlight. The moon was full and bright and we didn't need the headlamps we all were wearing. Our crew began to sing Maasai songs as we started our climb and it was a comfort as well as encouraging. I found myself unexplainably emotional as we began. When we left our lead guide Joesph thought that it could take 6-10 hours to summit. And most likely somewhere in the middle. We began the 6k slog, zig zagging up the mountain to Gillman's Point. We gained almost 5 thousand ft once we reached the summit and felt every inch of it. At one point in the night the girls called to check in and let us know they were feeling a little better. I heard someone say it was
1:30. What?? Knowing the time was just depressing. We slogged upwards and eventually even the singing stopped as the porters needed their energy as well. As the moon dipped beyond the top of the mountain we thought might be a good sign that we were nearing the top. Rolande excitedly pointed out that some of the headlamps in front of us were disappearing over the top. All of a sudden we arrived at the rim of the crater! It was amazingly beautiful with the moon shining on the snow, we could see all the way down into the crater floor and beyond to our final destination Uhuru Peak, which in distance was only a few k's yet it would take 1.5 - 2 hours. It seems hard to imagine how hard that last 2k's could be but I can't think of anything I've done that was harder. It didn't help that we were hiking on the snow and a false step could lead to a very bad slide all the way down into the floor of the crater. We got to Stella's point where we met up with another trail up to the top and several more trekkers. This is where the altitude put lead in your legs and robbed every morsel of oxygen from the air. It really became a matter of gutting it out at that point. We watched as happy people started passing us on their decent and I really wanted to be one of them. The guide thought he would be helpful and point out the sign... which was still at least 1/2 hour away at the rate we were going. Pole, pole... one painfully step after another. Just as the sign was in sight Garett joined the "chuck club" with impressive volume and velocity. He just spat a bit after and kept on going. What a guy! The summit finally!! 19548ft!!! I can't explain what it was like to reach the top with the sun rising as the moon was sinking, the cool air off the glacier wall and the feeling of utter and complete amazement that we stood on the roof of Africa. We have no pictures as the effort of getting there robbed us of the ability to even reach in our backpack for the camera. We started the que (if you could call it that) for pictures. It was pretty civilized except for the Russian/Polish/Chex guy with the spandex who kept jumping in front of everyone, we were in no mood for a jerk in spandex tho and we managed to get a few group shots of the 10 of us. Joseph gave us a quick once over and said to start down. What a blessed relief! As we turned around to head down we started passing the Zombies still heading up. Did we look like that?? I thought that the decent would be easy... wrong! It seemed as hard as the way up only in a different way. Even tho we had made much better time than Joseph thought (61/2 hours to the summit) it was starting to get hot. They wanted us of the top of the mountain before the sun hit the snow on the rim making the footing even more precarious. We were able to save some time by sort of skiing down the scree. It was still early morning (people started arriving between
8:30-10) but it was blazing hot by the time we arrived in camp. The girls had their chairs all lined up facing our decent route and cheered us in as we arrived at camp. Once the last of us arrived we had lunch and then had a few hours rest... but wait, once we got up we had a 9.5 k march to the next camp!! Good grief. By the time we dragged our sorry butts into camp we had descended around 3900ft from Kibo base camp and almost 7000ft from the summit. As I fell into bed I realized that this day started 38hours ago we trekked 32k's up and down a mountain at altitude in the stinking heat and the freezing cold and added 3 new members to the chuck club, what a day! Debbie and Don are the hero's of the day being as tuff as nails and preserving thru out, however we know all know now that they are extreme athletes in hiding!
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Christine
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WOW!!!
All I can say is "I am so envious!!!!" Good for you guys, I was so excited for you as I read this post! I can only imagine the agony mixed with excitement and relief and a million other emotions! Can’t wait to see more pics!