Climbing Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro:
Location: Northern Tanzania
Size: 641 square miles
Elevation: 5,891 meters (19,341ft)
Prominence: 5,882 meters, 4th in the world
Distinctions: highest point in Africa, worlds highest free standing mountain, 4th highest of the Seven summits

The start of the Rongai Route

Day 1: Rongai Gate to Simba Camp

We left Moshi at 8am on May 17th and headed to the park gate at the base of the Marangu route to purchase our permits and sign the log book. After getting all of the paperwork in order we drove another hour and a half around the base of the mountain to the Rongai route, one kilometer from the Kenyan border. I chose this route because it is a bit more difficult and therefore less traveled than some of the other routes, and descends via the popular Marangu route, so it would give me the opportunity to see two different sides of the mountain. We began our climb at the Rongai gate, with approximately 1950 meters of elevation under our belt. The trail climbed gently through a deciduous forest, and it was easy to imagine I was somewhere back in the states until a baboon wandered across the path to burst my fantasy bubble. After about 45 minutes we entered an older growth forest with lichen covered rocks and trees draped in vies and spanish moss. At one point we crested a small hill and turned back to see the Kenyan plains stretching away beneath us and another mountain range on the horizon. After a year of flat brown desert the sight was absolutely breathtaking.We traveled about 8km in two hours, crossing several small streams and passing out of the forest and into the moorlands before arriving at our first camp at an elevation of 2600 meters. We spent the night at Simba camp, sharing the area with a group of German climbers and some elephants who didn't show themselves, but left us a few "presents" around the campsite.

Sunrise at Simba Camp

 
Day 2: Simba Camp to Second Cave

Uhuru Peak, summit of Mount Kilimanjaro

I woke up at 6:15 the next morning, just as the sun was beginning to break over the horizon, and immediately walked a few minutes back down the trail and found a good vantage point to watch the day begin. I was so distracted by the sunrise that I didn't even see the mountain until I turned around to walk back to camp, and all of a sudden there it was. It was my first glimpse of Kilimanjaro since arriving in Tanzania, because it had been obscured by the clouds every day. We started hiking at about 8:30 after an amazing breakfast of rice porridge, toast, eggs and sausage. I ate better food on the side of a mountain than I do in my village! The trail was steeper and rockier than the previous day and passed through the moorlands and open grasslands. To our left was Mawenzi, a smaller second peak on the mountain, and ahead of us was Uhuru peak, the summit of Kilimanjaro and our final destination. We were above the clouds to start the day, but they slowly chased us up the mountain, overtaking us two and a half hours later, just before we reached camp. The clouds were streaming past all afternoon on their way to the top of the mountain, obscuring all but our most immediate surroundings, and the air was cold and damp. Our campsite was called Second Cave, thanks to a small overhanging rock roof about 10 feet deep, and was about 3,400 meters in altitude. I spent the afternoon writing in my journal and playing spades with my fellow climber Mike, our guide Edward and our porter Deo. For lunch we had chicken, a luxury I can afford once every two months in my village yet we had it every day on the mountain!

Sunrise viewed from inside the Second Cave

Day 3: Second Cave to Third Cave

The night was significantly colder than I had expected it to be, and although I slept in two layers of capeline and my down jacket I never truly got warm. It wasn't easy after a year of desert temperatures to all of a sudden find myself above the frost line. I was treated to another amazing sunrise the next morning over a blanket of clouds, and I woke up at 6 and climbed to the top of an outcrop of boulders to watch it. The sky above was clear and I had a great view of the summit back lit by a full moon. The group of Germans that we shared our first camp with had taken a different variation of the route, so we had the area all to ourselves, and it was amazingly peaceful. It wasn't until that moment that I realized just how much of my stress in Senegal was due to not being able to be alone in the wilderness. Our elevation gain for the day was small, only 475 meters, and we hiked several hours through alpine desert over a relatively flat plain to our camp at the creatively named Third Cave. We had circled around a bit to the left side of the peak and it now towered over our camp which was situated next to a dry riverbed and surrounded by enormous blocks of volcanic rock.

View of Mawenzi peak from Kibo Camp

Day 4: Third Cave to Kibo Camp
Our final hike before the summit bid was our longest yet, cruising over mostly even terrain at a steady incline. We gained about 830 meters of elevation and left most of the vegetation behind us before arriving at Kibo camp at 4713 meters. Here our path converged with the Marangu route and there were several other groups of climbers already hanging around camp, including the Germans we met on our first night. The clouds that had been creeping up behind us all day brought a light rain that fell as tiny little ice crystals, and we spent most of the day napping and resting up for our hike to the summit, which was to begin at midnight. We went to bed immediately after dinner, but 11pm still came too quickly. I dressed inside my sleeping bag, putting on every layer I had before stepping out to brave the cold night air. The clouds had dispersed and the full moon shone clearly, illuminating our final destination as we switched on our headlamps and began to climb.

Shrinking glacier on the summit of Kilimanjaro

Day 5: Kibo Camp to Uhuru Peak to Horombo Camp

The weather as we started our climb was cold, but not unbearable, and I warmed up nicely as we began moving. We maintained a slow but steady pace as we switch-backed up the steep volcanic slopes and the terrain was challenging but not technical, so for 5 hours I plodded away feeling confident and strong. I didn't have any shortness of breath, dizziness or headache from the altitude, and I (foolishly) began to wonder when it would become "the hardest thing I've ever done" like everyone said it would be. That moment came at about 5am, when a mildly irritating stomach bug from the day before turned into a full-blown intestinal rebellion. I just kept willing myself to put one foot in front of the other and not look too far ahead, but my stomach was churning and I began to feel winded and my legs were shaky. Finally, just after I was passed by the German climbing team I had to make a pit stop just off the trail behind some rocks. I felt marginally better and managed to climb the last few meters to Gilmans Point, at 5,681 meters to take an extended rest and watch the sun rise. Up until that point the climbing had been extremely steep and rocky. From camp we had switch-backed up loose gravel, which had given way to scrambling over large boulders. Now that we had reached the crater rim it was mostly a flat or gently undulating gravel trail around to Uhuru Peak and I was feeling stronger after my 5 minute rest so we continued on. Unfortunately shortly after leaving Gilmans Point my stomach began protesting again and I threw up pretty violently on the side of the trail, after which my guide JJ pronounced me "cured" and we marched on. I reached Uhuru Peak at 6:47am, just after the sun had fully risen, and after snapping the obligatory summit photo I spent some time just sitting and soaking in the view from the "Roof of Africa."

My guide JJ and I on the summit

 
Although we had already been awake for 7 hours, our day was just beginning. The descent was steep and rocky and at times felt pretty precarious. We spent several hours "ski/sliding" straight down the steep gravelly slope and then another 45 minutes on a bone-jarring downhill stomp back to camp. I kept turning around to look back at the distance we had come and wondering how I managed to get up there in the first place. I finally stumbled into camp around 8:30, utterly exhausted and looking forward to resting my legs and going to sleep. What I got instead was a 20 minute nap and a 9.8 kilometer hike to Horombo Camp. At first the walk wasn't too bad...I seemed to get a second wind and I set a pretty brisk pace, hoping to get there as soon as possible so I could finally rest. For the most part the trail was just a gradual down-hill slope and as we lost elevation we began passing more vegetation and the trail became rockier. Soon we were traveling through rolling hills with streams crossing the path and we had all but lost sight of the summit. It was certainly a much different experience than the route we came up. After several hours I began expecting to see camp around every corner and over every ridge, but we didn't arrive until 2pm at which point I collapsed into the tent and almost immediately fell asleep. I woke up ravenous at 5pm and ate some popcorn and forced myself to wash up and put on clean clothes before passing out again.  My hips and knees protested through most of the night and I slept fitfully thanks to the cold.

view from our tent at our final camp

Day 6: Horombo Camp to Marangu Gate
I woke up the next morning feeling a lot better than I had expected to, and I tried to really soak in the view from above the clouds since we would be descending below them soon. We broke camp at 7:30 to begin the 17 kilometer hike to the base of the mountain, passing back through the moorlands and into the rainforest. The Marangu route isn't as steep as the Rongai, but the distance hiked per day is a bit longer and you don't get your first glimpse of Uhuru Peak until your third day of climbing. I'm glad I chose to hike the Rongai route because not only did I get to experience two sides of the mountain, but it was much less crowded and the views were better. We hiked 11.2 kilometers from Horombo to the Mandara Camp before taking a 30 minute break for lunch. It took about 3 hours of steady descent and there were numerous small streams crossing the trail or running along side of us and a few big bridges spanning little rivers and gorges. Once we entered the rainforest the trail became slick clay and required a slower pace and some concentration to navigate safely. After lunch we hiked the final  6 kilometers to Marangu gate where we stopped 6 days ago to buy our permits. At the gate I signed the summit register and we said goodbye to our guides and porters before heading to the Babylon Lodge for a long hot shower and some well-earned rest.

My guides Edward, JJ and I at the Marangu gate