Hike Mt. Kilimanjaro or go to Zanzibar? Those were our two choices after finishing up our 8 day camping safari, which unfortunately didn't leave time for us to do both Zanzibar and Kili. Since we both swore off high altitude hiking after trekking in the Himalayas, Zanzibar appeared to be the logical choice, however we decided we couldn't leave Africa without an attempt at climbing the highest mountain on the continent...
Our first view of the summit:
We left at midnight to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. The sky was filled with stars and the air was crisp. Perfect weather for our final ascent up the volcano. We marched like soldiers. Falling into a smooth, steady pace we methodically crept towards the peak. As other teams stopped for breaks we pressed on in an effort to avoid the harsh, bitter wind that threatened to freeze exposed skin. We felt like wimps. Surely, two Minnesota natives wouldn't need 3 pairs of pants, 6 layers on top, and 2 hats each? But, we did. Dustin's confidence in us was reassuring, but could I muster up the strength and determination needed to reach the summit? I was frozen. My feet felt like stumps and I was positive my fingers were feeling the onset of frostbite. There was no turning back now. Four hours in and we had reached Gilman's Point located at the rim of the crater at 18,577 feet. Twenty mile an hour winds blew at the rim and the temperature hovered around -5 F.
Our trusty headlamps continued to light the way as I periodically looked up hoping to spot the summit, Uhuru Peak. As we stopped for only our 2nd two minute break in the four hour march up the mountain we realized we had passed all of the other teams from our camp and we were also ahead of the groups from nearby routes.
Thoughts of John Krakauer, from the book, "Into Thin Air" flashed through my mind as we inched closer and closer to the summit. In no way do I consider climbing Kilimanjaro comparable to the countless trials one must face to reach the top of Mt. Everest, but in that moment I was climbing my Everest and I wanted to make it.
Only a handful of words were spoken during our long ascent to the summit. "Are we almost there?" I called. But my words were lost in the wind. Dustin, oblivious to my inquiry yells "There's the sign." Tears flooded my eyes as the sign for the summit came into view.
Freezing cold, but happy to have made it to the summit:
We reached Mt. Kilmanjaro's Uhuru Peak at 5:25am on July 31st. We were the first team to reach the 19,344 ft summit that morning, standing on top of Africa's highest point by ourselves.
We left Uhuru Peak in darkness, the same way we found her. The sun rose as we skied down the scree slopes back to camp.
The beautiful sunrise above the clouds on the way down:
We covered 62 miles in 6 days. On the day of the summit we logged 25 miles. The sore knees and swollen feet are merely temporary reminders of weakness leaving the body.
Our dirty feet after our 25 mile day:
3 comments:
You guys are insane. That is like 5000 feet higher than any mountain in the lower 48 and to hike 25 miles the day you summit. Now I am positive Dustin will lose weight unless he really starts pigging out!
E
Kili was insane...we'll cover it a little more in our next post and give a quick update on Dustin's weight...
amazing. ok, i know kilimanjaro is like 100 times more extreme, but this post reminded me of our hike up half-dome! i can just picture dustin trying to pass people ("break their spirit") and rachel silently powering on! half-dome was my limit--you guys would leave me in the dust if i tried anything more difficult with you!
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