Mt Kilimanjaro
Moshi, Tanzania
Well, the short story is that I'm now safely back in Moshi after successfully summiting Mt Kilimanjaro. The long story is as follows:
Day 1, last Friday, myself, Felix (my guide), two Danish girls and their guide and a bunch of porters all headed out from Mechame gate towards our first camp, appropriately named Mechame Camp. It's not until you sign in at the gate until you realize just how many local people it takes to haul one foreigners ass up the mountain. In my case, there was Felix, the guide, a cook who doubled as a porter, then two additional porters. In all, four local people all there to get myself and my gear to the summit. (The Danish girls had 7 people between the two of them. In all, there were 11 locals and 3 clients.) At the gate entrance, each porter has their bag weighed as there are (in theory) strict weight restrictions for each porter. It should also be noted that when "doing Kili", you don't actually carry your own bag. Instead, one of the porters carries it, all you have to carry is a small day pack. In my case, my porter carried my bag, which had some random stuff tied to it, on his head, while carrying his basic pack on his back. Each day my bag seemed to have different stuff tied to it. Sometimes a tent, other times tent poles, a second bag was attached to it once and I'm sure a mattress was always attached to it. Remember, all this was on his head... /sigh
It's also a great time to compare the rather stark contrast between the "North Face"/GoreTex clients, and the t-shirt and sneakers porters. In a certain way, it's all rather depressing when you compare how much each of them will likely make over the next six days compared to how much you've spent on the climb itself. The final interesting thing about the sign-in is that there are a bunch of locals trying to sell you last minute climbing gear. I'm gotten so used to souvenir sellers all around me but it was rather humorous to see them selling gaiters, rain jackets, water bottles and other random stuff that I suspect previous hikers and either discarded or gave away. Of course, the sellers are technically allowed in the park, so they are all crammed up against the gate shouting at you to get your attention. Strange way to start a hike...
The trail itself meanders through a very lush rain forest which slowly gives way to more traditional vegetation as you gain altitude. The trail is very well maintained and after only around 4 hours of hiking, we had already reached our first camp, Mechame Camp at 10,000ft. The porters setup all the tents and go about getting dinner ready. As a client, you don't really do anything, you just sit around and wait for the food. For some crazy reason, I neglected to bring up anything to entertain myself with... No iPod, no book, nothing. Thankfully the Danish girls where there, but even then there's a lot of time between arrival at camp and night fall. Sadly, just as we were finishing dinner, it started to rain, so we made a quick retreat to our tents and one of many very early nights to bed.
On day 2, the skies had cleared and we headed out from Mechame camp towards Shira camp by 9am. By now, we're over 10,000ft and the vegetation is approaching "high-alpine", which means the trees are much shorter, there are way more rocks everywhere and the lush rain forest has turned to more tundra like conditions. Again, the trail is quite well maintained and even though we were over 10,000ft, I never really seemed to be bothered by the altitude as I felt very strong hiking. Unfortunately, the clear skies didn't last long and the clouds quickly rolled in. You can see them coming up from the valley below and by mid-morning they are upon you.
After only 2 hours of hiking we had a break for lunch were the porters had setup a mini-campsite to feed us. An hour more of hiking and we had already reached our second camp, Shira Camp at 12,000ft. Either we were incredibly fast or the time estimates for each leg are extremely conservative because we apparently did a "5 to 7 hour" hike in only 3 hours. Shira camp is in a mostly barren, rocky landscape and while I couldn't feel the altitude in my breathing, it certainly started to look much more "high alpine". Since we had all afternoon at our disposal, I went for a little 1 hour hike on my own over a small valley to the rangers station. The overcast clouds briefly gave way to a few rays of sunshine and I was able to see the huge Shira plateau which connects the adjacent mountain range. Back at camp, we were treated to a spectacular sunset behind Mt Meru and briefly caught our first glimpses of the summit as the clouds briefly broke away.
Day 3 started out with us hiking through rather rocky and barren terrain. The trail was uphill for the first third until we reached our "high point" of the day at 15,000 feet. By then, the clouds had started to roll in and we quickly found ourselves without much of a view at all. From the high point, we crossed over a few ridges and valleys as we ultimately descended towards to Barranco Camp, at 13,000 ft. By now, it was raining pretty hard and my legs were pretty much soaked since I left my rain pants in my pack, which the porters had. Luckily I at least had stuck my rain coat in, which kept me somewhat dry and warm, but the pants sure were soaked. Again, we seemed to arrive way ahead of schedule at the camp after hiking for only around 3 hours. Granted, we didn't stop for lunch because of the rain, and with lots of downhill hiking we made good time, but it still left the entire afternoon to ourselves. There was the odd break in the clouds that revealed that we were in a rather impressive valley/canyon with some pretty serious rock walls around us. Once or twice we got a quick glimpse of the snow covered peak, but for most of the afternoon it was just one cloud set rolling in after another and I never ventured far from camp. I really missed not sticking a book or my iPod in my bag on this day.
Day 4 and it started off with us crossing the valley towards Barranco Wall, which from a hundred feet back or so is a very impressive looking rock face. Thankfully, the trail has more switchbacks in it then some Swiss roads so the hike itself wasn't all that difficult, even though we gained lots of altitude in very little time. Unlike previous mornings, the clouds had not lifted throughout the night so most of the hiking was done in the mist and rain that always accompanied these clouds. At the top of the climb, in a rather benign, flat section of the trail, one of the porters fell over and did a good number of banging up both his legs. Nothing all that serious, but I'm sure he felt it in the morning. And while you feel for the porter, you can't help but roll your eyes a little bit because here's the porter, wearing running shoes with little to no sole or tread, carrying a huge wicker basket on his head filled with cooking pots and other kitchen supplies, while listening to a hand held radio. If all that isn't a recipe for falling while hiking in the clouds on wet rocks, then I don't know what is. Regardless, Felix patched him up and sent him on his way, though he definitely had a bit of a limp as he headed back out on the trail.
This was also the first day when I guess I started to notice the altitude. The previous three days had gone almost too well, I was hiking without any problems and we were making amazing time between camps. But as we started the second, and much more difficult half, of day fours hike, I definitely slowed down considerably. The weather had gotten even worse and as we started to gain elevation towards Barafu camp, the rain turned to hail and then ultimately to full on snow. The final push up to Barafu Camp, at 15,500 feet is pretty steep and given what we had covered the previous three days, the hike on day four was much longer and considerably more challenging then the others put together. After some 5+ hours of hiking, we finally arrived at the camp in a full hail and snow storm. Unlike the previous camps, Barafu Camp actually has two, round, wooden huts that you can cook and eat in, so that was a nice change from having to hang out outside or in a tent. Granted, it was cold, but at least we could sort of stand up and stretch out as the cooks prepared some food and drinks. In hindsight, I probably should have had a lot more to drink and eat that day because the following morning I would really feel the fatigue that had been building up over the past few days.
Day 5 is summit day and it starts early, real early. The girls took off around 1am, while Felix and I headed out around 1.45am, after a quick "breakfast" of tea and biscuits. Thankfully, the snow and hail had let up, but several inches of fresh snow was still on the ground and would be with us all the way to the summit. The clouds had parted and we were able to navigate the trail with nothing more then the light from the half-full moon.
From the first few steps, it's clear that the summit hike was going to be much harder then the hiking done in the previous days. First, we had the snow to contend with, but also the trail itself starts climbing right from the start and what started out as a hike for me, quickly became a bit more of a shuffle.
By mid-way up the "face", I was definitely feeling pretty tired. I had expected that I would be short of breath because of the altitude, but that wasn't the case at all. Instead, I was just plain tired and my legs really didn't feel like sprinting up any trail. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't consider calling it a hike several times before actually reaching the summit.
One sort of nice thing about hiking under the moon and stars is that it's sort of hard to tell how far you have to go, or how far away the summit really is. After around four hours of hiking, and with the sun now starting to rise over the horizon, we finally made it to the crater rim. There was so much snow up there that it looked dramatically different then from photos that I'd seen earlier of the summit. If this was anywhere near a ski resort, it would have been a great day to go powder skiing. With the clouds starting to form below us, and the sun now clear of the horizon, we started the final and oh so deceiving push to the summit. It looks so close, just a few hundred meters away on the other side of the crater, but it took us almost one hour to get there. Granted, I stopped for a few photos, but really I was just shuffling along. By now, the wind had sort of picked up and frankly my hands were pretty cold, so I didn't get the big "photo shoot" that I was hoping for.
As the summit itself came into view, we passed the only other people that we had seen all morning, two Kiwi's who had summited even earlier then us to watch the sun rise from the top. As they descended, the girls and I had the entire summit to ourselves, which according to Felix is quite rare since only a month or so earlier, in high season, there is an hour or so long line at the summit for photos of the classic "You're at the summit" sign post. On some of the busiest days, over 200 people reach the summit, so to have it all to ourselves was pretty special.
However, at 19,340 feet, with my exhaustion setting in, we didn't stay all that long up top and quickly started our decent back to Barafu Camp, where we had slept the night before. I was hoping that the decent would be quick and easy, but as we essentially retraced our earlier steps, it was clear that going down was going to be almost as hard as going up. For whatever reason, I was just spent, with little energy left, so I just took it one step at a time and around 3 hours later finally made it back to camp, where I quickly crawled into my tent and caught some much needed rest. I guess it was the altitude that ultimately got to me though in a way that I never expected.
After resting up for a few hours and getting some food and liquid back into the body, we all started the decent from Barafu Camp down to Mweka Camp, at 10,000 feet. Not long after leaving Barafu Camp, we left the snow behind and re-entered the wet rain and wind that we had seen earlier in the hike. This was definitely the longest day of hiking and the weather didn't really help all that much. Thankfully, as we descended from altitude and I got more food and water into me, my energy levels returned somewhat so the tail end of the day wasn't nearly as hard as the earlier sections, but after several thousand feet of hiking in over 12 hours, it was still orders of magnitude harder then all the other days put together.
The last day was a rather simple hike out from Mweka Camp to the exit gate on a very well maintained trail. We quickly return to the rain forest vegetation that we experienced on the first day and for the most part the weather held, so it wasn't a wet hike to end the trip on. At the exit gate, we were greeted by the dozen or so souvenir vendors that flock to tourists coming off the mountain. It's a bit much for the senses, but after going through this in almost every country I've visited, I think I'm getting a lot better at dealing with it. (Though for the record I'd just love to meet the hiker who decides they just need to purchase a huge Masai Warrior spear after 6 days of hiking. Maybe those people haven't yet recovered from the altitude.... /shrug)
Back in Moshi, we unpacked everything and went on our ways. Of course, no organized tour in Africa would be complete without the whole "how much to tip" conversation, so in the end you need to shell out even more money for the guides and porters. Part of me just wishes that that was paid all up front in the initial cost, but I guess that's not how things work.
Back in the office, I learned that the trip wasn't quite as smooth as it should have been. Apparently the company that the Danish girls were with, were supposed to have supplied a bit more equipment on the hike then they did. Our two groups were basically one on the hike, but apparently we were supposed to be slightly more independent. For example, I shared a tent with Felix, which I thought odd but figured it sort of made sense for hiking, when in fact you aren't supposed to share a tent. (Felix's spot in the "porters" tent was taken up by the extra porters.) We also never had space in the mess tent for eating, since that was full of other porters and food.
Regardless, things still worked out well and we all made it to the top. It would have been nice to have had slightly better weather so that we could have seen the amazing views along the way, but at least it was clear on the most important day.
So, in the end it was a great trip and something to "check off" on the list of things to do. With this and the safari back in Kenya, I'm now done my "big ticket" African adventures and am sort of looking forward to getting back off the beaten path, though not before I take a detour to Zanzibar to party it up with all the other backpackers and travelers that flock to those islands.
One final parting thought... We took 6 days and over 25 hours of hiking to summit Kili and return to the bottom... Felix's brother, Simon, holds the world record for doing that in 8 hours and 27 minutes! That, my friends, is f*cking insane.... (Read about it here...)
Kenny
Well, the short story is that I'm now safely back in Moshi after successfully summiting Mt Kilimanjaro. The long story is as follows:
Day 1, last Friday, myself, Felix (my guide), two Danish girls and their guide and a bunch of porters all headed out from Mechame gate towards our first camp, appropriately named Mechame Camp. It's not until you sign in at the gate until you realize just how many local people it takes to haul one foreigners ass up the mountain. In my case, there was Felix, the guide, a cook who doubled as a porter, then two additional porters. In all, four local people all there to get myself and my gear to the summit. (The Danish girls had 7 people between the two of them. In all, there were 11 locals and 3 clients.) At the gate entrance, each porter has their bag weighed as there are (in theory) strict weight restrictions for each porter. It should also be noted that when "doing Kili", you don't actually carry your own bag. Instead, one of the porters carries it, all you have to carry is a small day pack. In my case, my porter carried my bag, which had some random stuff tied to it, on his head, while carrying his basic pack on his back. Each day my bag seemed to have different stuff tied to it. Sometimes a tent, other times tent poles, a second bag was attached to it once and I'm sure a mattress was always attached to it. Remember, all this was on his head... /sigh
It's also a great time to compare the rather stark contrast between the "North Face"/GoreTex clients, and the t-shirt and sneakers porters. In a certain way, it's all rather depressing when you compare how much each of them will likely make over the next six days compared to how much you've spent on the climb itself. The final interesting thing about the sign-in is that there are a bunch of locals trying to sell you last minute climbing gear. I'm gotten so used to souvenir sellers all around me but it was rather humorous to see them selling gaiters, rain jackets, water bottles and other random stuff that I suspect previous hikers and either discarded or gave away. Of course, the sellers are technically allowed in the park, so they are all crammed up against the gate shouting at you to get your attention. Strange way to start a hike...
The trail itself meanders through a very lush rain forest which slowly gives way to more traditional vegetation as you gain altitude. The trail is very well maintained and after only around 4 hours of hiking, we had already reached our first camp, Mechame Camp at 10,000ft. The porters setup all the tents and go about getting dinner ready. As a client, you don't really do anything, you just sit around and wait for the food. For some crazy reason, I neglected to bring up anything to entertain myself with... No iPod, no book, nothing. Thankfully the Danish girls where there, but even then there's a lot of time between arrival at camp and night fall. Sadly, just as we were finishing dinner, it started to rain, so we made a quick retreat to our tents and one of many very early nights to bed.
On day 2, the skies had cleared and we headed out from Mechame camp towards Shira camp by 9am. By now, we're over 10,000ft and the vegetation is approaching "high-alpine", which means the trees are much shorter, there are way more rocks everywhere and the lush rain forest has turned to more tundra like conditions. Again, the trail is quite well maintained and even though we were over 10,000ft, I never really seemed to be bothered by the altitude as I felt very strong hiking. Unfortunately, the clear skies didn't last long and the clouds quickly rolled in. You can see them coming up from the valley below and by mid-morning they are upon you.
After only 2 hours of hiking we had a break for lunch were the porters had setup a mini-campsite to feed us. An hour more of hiking and we had already reached our second camp, Shira Camp at 12,000ft. Either we were incredibly fast or the time estimates for each leg are extremely conservative because we apparently did a "5 to 7 hour" hike in only 3 hours. Shira camp is in a mostly barren, rocky landscape and while I couldn't feel the altitude in my breathing, it certainly started to look much more "high alpine". Since we had all afternoon at our disposal, I went for a little 1 hour hike on my own over a small valley to the rangers station. The overcast clouds briefly gave way to a few rays of sunshine and I was able to see the huge Shira plateau which connects the adjacent mountain range. Back at camp, we were treated to a spectacular sunset behind Mt Meru and briefly caught our first glimpses of the summit as the clouds briefly broke away.
Day 3 started out with us hiking through rather rocky and barren terrain. The trail was uphill for the first third until we reached our "high point" of the day at 15,000 feet. By then, the clouds had started to roll in and we quickly found ourselves without much of a view at all. From the high point, we crossed over a few ridges and valleys as we ultimately descended towards to Barranco Camp, at 13,000 ft. By now, it was raining pretty hard and my legs were pretty much soaked since I left my rain pants in my pack, which the porters had. Luckily I at least had stuck my rain coat in, which kept me somewhat dry and warm, but the pants sure were soaked. Again, we seemed to arrive way ahead of schedule at the camp after hiking for only around 3 hours. Granted, we didn't stop for lunch because of the rain, and with lots of downhill hiking we made good time, but it still left the entire afternoon to ourselves. There was the odd break in the clouds that revealed that we were in a rather impressive valley/canyon with some pretty serious rock walls around us. Once or twice we got a quick glimpse of the snow covered peak, but for most of the afternoon it was just one cloud set rolling in after another and I never ventured far from camp. I really missed not sticking a book or my iPod in my bag on this day.
Day 4 and it started off with us crossing the valley towards Barranco Wall, which from a hundred feet back or so is a very impressive looking rock face. Thankfully, the trail has more switchbacks in it then some Swiss roads so the hike itself wasn't all that difficult, even though we gained lots of altitude in very little time. Unlike previous mornings, the clouds had not lifted throughout the night so most of the hiking was done in the mist and rain that always accompanied these clouds. At the top of the climb, in a rather benign, flat section of the trail, one of the porters fell over and did a good number of banging up both his legs. Nothing all that serious, but I'm sure he felt it in the morning. And while you feel for the porter, you can't help but roll your eyes a little bit because here's the porter, wearing running shoes with little to no sole or tread, carrying a huge wicker basket on his head filled with cooking pots and other kitchen supplies, while listening to a hand held radio. If all that isn't a recipe for falling while hiking in the clouds on wet rocks, then I don't know what is. Regardless, Felix patched him up and sent him on his way, though he definitely had a bit of a limp as he headed back out on the trail.
This was also the first day when I guess I started to notice the altitude. The previous three days had gone almost too well, I was hiking without any problems and we were making amazing time between camps. But as we started the second, and much more difficult half, of day fours hike, I definitely slowed down considerably. The weather had gotten even worse and as we started to gain elevation towards Barafu camp, the rain turned to hail and then ultimately to full on snow. The final push up to Barafu Camp, at 15,500 feet is pretty steep and given what we had covered the previous three days, the hike on day four was much longer and considerably more challenging then the others put together. After some 5+ hours of hiking, we finally arrived at the camp in a full hail and snow storm. Unlike the previous camps, Barafu Camp actually has two, round, wooden huts that you can cook and eat in, so that was a nice change from having to hang out outside or in a tent. Granted, it was cold, but at least we could sort of stand up and stretch out as the cooks prepared some food and drinks. In hindsight, I probably should have had a lot more to drink and eat that day because the following morning I would really feel the fatigue that had been building up over the past few days.
Day 5 is summit day and it starts early, real early. The girls took off around 1am, while Felix and I headed out around 1.45am, after a quick "breakfast" of tea and biscuits. Thankfully, the snow and hail had let up, but several inches of fresh snow was still on the ground and would be with us all the way to the summit. The clouds had parted and we were able to navigate the trail with nothing more then the light from the half-full moon.
From the first few steps, it's clear that the summit hike was going to be much harder then the hiking done in the previous days. First, we had the snow to contend with, but also the trail itself starts climbing right from the start and what started out as a hike for me, quickly became a bit more of a shuffle.
By mid-way up the "face", I was definitely feeling pretty tired. I had expected that I would be short of breath because of the altitude, but that wasn't the case at all. Instead, I was just plain tired and my legs really didn't feel like sprinting up any trail. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't consider calling it a hike several times before actually reaching the summit.
One sort of nice thing about hiking under the moon and stars is that it's sort of hard to tell how far you have to go, or how far away the summit really is. After around four hours of hiking, and with the sun now starting to rise over the horizon, we finally made it to the crater rim. There was so much snow up there that it looked dramatically different then from photos that I'd seen earlier of the summit. If this was anywhere near a ski resort, it would have been a great day to go powder skiing. With the clouds starting to form below us, and the sun now clear of the horizon, we started the final and oh so deceiving push to the summit. It looks so close, just a few hundred meters away on the other side of the crater, but it took us almost one hour to get there. Granted, I stopped for a few photos, but really I was just shuffling along. By now, the wind had sort of picked up and frankly my hands were pretty cold, so I didn't get the big "photo shoot" that I was hoping for.
As the summit itself came into view, we passed the only other people that we had seen all morning, two Kiwi's who had summited even earlier then us to watch the sun rise from the top. As they descended, the girls and I had the entire summit to ourselves, which according to Felix is quite rare since only a month or so earlier, in high season, there is an hour or so long line at the summit for photos of the classic "You're at the summit" sign post. On some of the busiest days, over 200 people reach the summit, so to have it all to ourselves was pretty special.
However, at 19,340 feet, with my exhaustion setting in, we didn't stay all that long up top and quickly started our decent back to Barafu Camp, where we had slept the night before. I was hoping that the decent would be quick and easy, but as we essentially retraced our earlier steps, it was clear that going down was going to be almost as hard as going up. For whatever reason, I was just spent, with little energy left, so I just took it one step at a time and around 3 hours later finally made it back to camp, where I quickly crawled into my tent and caught some much needed rest. I guess it was the altitude that ultimately got to me though in a way that I never expected.
After resting up for a few hours and getting some food and liquid back into the body, we all started the decent from Barafu Camp down to Mweka Camp, at 10,000 feet. Not long after leaving Barafu Camp, we left the snow behind and re-entered the wet rain and wind that we had seen earlier in the hike. This was definitely the longest day of hiking and the weather didn't really help all that much. Thankfully, as we descended from altitude and I got more food and water into me, my energy levels returned somewhat so the tail end of the day wasn't nearly as hard as the earlier sections, but after several thousand feet of hiking in over 12 hours, it was still orders of magnitude harder then all the other days put together.
The last day was a rather simple hike out from Mweka Camp to the exit gate on a very well maintained trail. We quickly return to the rain forest vegetation that we experienced on the first day and for the most part the weather held, so it wasn't a wet hike to end the trip on. At the exit gate, we were greeted by the dozen or so souvenir vendors that flock to tourists coming off the mountain. It's a bit much for the senses, but after going through this in almost every country I've visited, I think I'm getting a lot better at dealing with it. (Though for the record I'd just love to meet the hiker who decides they just need to purchase a huge Masai Warrior spear after 6 days of hiking. Maybe those people haven't yet recovered from the altitude.... /shrug)
Back in Moshi, we unpacked everything and went on our ways. Of course, no organized tour in Africa would be complete without the whole "how much to tip" conversation, so in the end you need to shell out even more money for the guides and porters. Part of me just wishes that that was paid all up front in the initial cost, but I guess that's not how things work.
Back in the office, I learned that the trip wasn't quite as smooth as it should have been. Apparently the company that the Danish girls were with, were supposed to have supplied a bit more equipment on the hike then they did. Our two groups were basically one on the hike, but apparently we were supposed to be slightly more independent. For example, I shared a tent with Felix, which I thought odd but figured it sort of made sense for hiking, when in fact you aren't supposed to share a tent. (Felix's spot in the "porters" tent was taken up by the extra porters.) We also never had space in the mess tent for eating, since that was full of other porters and food.
Regardless, things still worked out well and we all made it to the top. It would have been nice to have had slightly better weather so that we could have seen the amazing views along the way, but at least it was clear on the most important day.
So, in the end it was a great trip and something to "check off" on the list of things to do. With this and the safari back in Kenya, I'm now done my "big ticket" African adventures and am sort of looking forward to getting back off the beaten path, though not before I take a detour to Zanzibar to party it up with all the other backpackers and travelers that flock to those islands.
One final parting thought... We took 6 days and over 25 hours of hiking to summit Kili and return to the bottom... Felix's brother, Simon, holds the world record for doing that in 8 hours and 27 minutes! That, my friends, is f*cking insane.... (Read about it here...)
Kenny
posted by Kenny Carruthers at 3/28/2006 02:30:00 AM
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