Summit of Kilimanjaro!

On Tuesday, March 5^th at 8:45 in the morning, Kendra and I reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is called Uhuru peak and is the highest point in Africa. As a fellow summit-reacher explained, “I wouldn’t call it fun, but it was worth it!”

Our schedule on the day of summit was a little different than we originally thought based on the information online. We were also the only ones to do it differently.  Our guide, who goes by Future, thinks it is smart to wait and leave later in the morning, instead of at midnight. His explanation is that by leaving later, you have more time resting in your tent (maybe sleeping if you’re lucky) so then you have more energy for the climb. You also spend less time climbing in darkness, and the light is good for both psyche and warmth. He said that most people leave at midnight to reach the summit in time for sunrise. It is also traditional to go a midnight because it used to be that you had to walk on a glacier to reach the summit; you wanted to cross the ice before the sun came up and it became slick due to melting on the surface of the glacier. Our plan had us leaving Barafu camp(4,600 m) at 3am (we actually left between 3:20 and 3:30 am) so that we could reach 5,000 m in time for the sunrise. 5,000 meters is the magic elevation because above that there aren’t ridges to block the view. 

The first 3 hours we climbed in darkness, using our headlamps to see where to step. I was glad I got to sleep some more and I didn’t feel so very tired, but I also didn’t feel energetic and I didn’t like not being able to see very much. The sun rose around 6:30 and we had a clear view of it as it came above the Mwenzi peak to the east of the Kibo peak we were climbing. Actually, the sun came up between two layers of clouds, so maybe 10 minutes after rising we were back in shadows.  In fact, the clouds overhead had been obscuring the summit since probably 4 am. I don’t know if the people on the summit at 6:30 saw the sun come above the clouds that were above us or if they were in the clouds and didn’t really get a view of the sunrise at all. I liked my experience though and wouldn't change our later start time!

Once the sun was up, the mood was lighter. We could look out and see valleys with clouds rolling in, we could look back down and see our camp, and we could look ahead on the path. We couldn’t see our destination because the mountain above us was always in clouds. We could also look from side to side on the path, which wasn’t very interesting. Rocks, rocks, more rocks. Big and small rocks. Rocks that are a favorite site for a bathroom stop (I saw a pile of fresh feces less than 2 meters from the path once). 

Right before reaching Stela’s point, there is a very difficult stretch. It is difficult because the usual scenery of rocks has changed to mostly sand. As anyone who has tried a beach workout can attest to, going places on sand is extra work compared to going places on solid surfaces. Luckily for us, the people that had been to the summit around 6 were now reaching us on their way down, and it was nice to hear some encouraging words from them. Around 7 am, the clouds cleared and we could see Stela’s point. We kept going on the loose sand and then reached Stela’s point around 8:00. Stela’s point is an exciting place to reach, because after that the hiking is a “piece of cake” according to Future. 

At first we were skeptical of the “piece of cake” hiking, but it really is much easier – you follow along a ridge that is never very steep and the ground is not too loose. 45 minutes after Stela’s point, we reached our goal! Yay! A few photos… and down we go.

I think Future was anxious to show us that his plan was superior to leaving at midnight. When we passed people on the way down he always said, “See, they have no energy.  They are exhausted.” Which looked to be true. However, we were also exhausted. He kept us moving at a quick pace (at the time I thought he was a slave driver), and we were back at Barafu camp by 10:30. Part of the reason that we could come down in less than 2 hours, when it took us a little more than 5 to go up, is that we “sand ski” down much of the way. It sounds fun, but I couldn't enjoy it because I thought it was dangerous! I’ve never been skiing (snow or sand) with so many rocks and uneven coverage. You had to be careful to not hit a hard spot and have your foot stop too quickly so you went head over heels. I saw Kendra fly through the air once, but she caught herself very gracefully. We both slipped and stumbled multiple times, but luckily no serious falls.