Up and Over the Mountain

An intro......
Hope you all enjoy this novel of a post. As this is officially the most amazing (and hardest) thing I have ever done, I am compelled to share all of the details with you guys :)
There are two things you need to know before reading this post:
1. We would have never been able to do this hike without our team: Our lead guide, Johnnie, assistant guide James, chef, Robert, and our amazing porters: Nyamaissa, Juma, Aloyce, Kasian, Christopher, and Boniphace.
2. polepole means slowly in Swahili- something the guides utter to everyone as they climb this giant hill.

Also, a note that I think some people may not know (ahem Mom and Dad): if you click on the pictures, it makes them bigger.....might be better for viewing Kili :)

Let's start at the Beginning......

Choosing our Route:
After deciding we wanted to take on this ambitious task, we started researching like crazy.  We had to find an operator and more importantly, pick a route. There are five routes by which to climb Kili, which vary between 4 and 8 days (by the way the record time to climb Kili is 9 hours and 48 minutes, gate to gate...nuts huh?).  They also vary in difficulty, scenery, length, etc. Our decision was pretty easy after reading the summaries of the routes. We would be climbing via the Rongai Route.

Why?

-It's the least populated (as social as we are, trekking up a mountain and having to dodge people proves more stressful than enjoyable for us. Plus, you can better appreciate the nature this way!)
-Greatest chance of wildlife sightings
-All camping (might as well be as badass (or mgumu, in Swahili) as we can.....one route does offer for you to stay in mountain huts, but if you're going to do it, you might as well do it right)
-Less chance of precipitation: The four other routes go up the mountain from the east, south, or west sides and then come down the same way they went up. Our route, to the contrary, starts on the north side, goes up and over the summit, and then back down the south side, joining up with the Marangu route for descent. The north side gets the least amount of rain and as we picked the rainy season to clib Kili, this was a big draw.

The other awesome thing about starting from the North side? We were almost in Kenya! The second night of camping we had a great view of the Kenyan city lights, and on nights two and three, our porters were able to enjoy Kenyan radio! Johnnie told us that the Rongai gate (our start point) was only 500 m from the border.

So, as I said- the Rongai route it was.

About 2 minutes before we started our climb, at the Rongai gate...it was raining already!

A few questions that other people had before we get started:
What do we do with our gear? 
We only carry our day packs (mine weighed only 5kg pre-water, so up to 7.5kg at the beginning of each day). Our porters carry the rest of our clothes (about 10kg for each of us), and then all the camping supplies, food, and water.
Speaking of, how do you sleep?
Rongai route is camping every night. Our porters almost always had our tent set up before we got to camp....and we were very lucky as we were in a three-person tent with only two of us.
Did you bring all your gear with you all away around the world?
We had our gear that was very person-specific with us (shoes, jackets, rain pants, etc). You can rent all of this in Moshi, but neither of us wanted to risk not finding a good jacket, etc before such a serious trek. We rented sleeping bags, poles, some sturdy ponchos, gaiters (for all the mud/water), and I rented a better pair of gloves as my hands had been cold in Annapurna. 

Our porters packing up for the first day's walk

Day 1, April 29th:
Today was a very easy hiking day! We left from Moshi around 830 in the morning but had to drive a ways to our start point. Like I said, the Rongai route starts on the north side of the mountain....and the south side of the mountain is what is closest to Moshi town. Therefore, we didn't actually start hiking until the afternoon.

All of the rules and regulations by the gate

Our start point? Rongai gate, 1920 m.
Finish: Simba Camp, 2700m

Approximate distance walked: 5 km
Time: About 2.5 hours



Sights along the way:

Arrival to camp :)

Mess tent and porter's tent

The guys setting up more tents for the porters

There was a beautiful rainbow after we had been at camp for an hour or so

Katy's sweet nighttime shot

Me outside our dinner tent

 

We settled into a pretty distinct routine as far as camp life goes.....we would get done hiking, change into warm, dry clothes, drink some tea, play a few cards, be social, eat dinner- and hit the sack by about 8 or 830.....hiking is hard work!

With Katy's tripod, I was also able to attempt some night shots :)

I think the scene from camp this night was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen

  Day 2, April 30th:

Today was a pretty solid day of hiking. Starting with an amazing sunrise and view of the Mawenzi and Kibo peaks:

Sunrise

Breakfast....yum!

We left Simba camp around 830 and hiked about 3 hours straight to lunch, about 7km and up 580m. We were going through the heather zone of the mountain, which meant beautiful flowers and greenery everywhere.  It started spitting a little as we got closer to lunch, and then it poured throughout lunch and for the first hour or so of our afternoon hike. However, by 230 it was all clear and we enjoyed a much easier, 7km but only 200m up walk until we got to our night camp at 430. We spent most of the time listening to Johnnie tell stories about his times up Kili, various political issues in Tanzania, and his family.  It was a great conversation and also a good way to help the time pass by. 

Kibo basking in the sun (in 3 days, we would be on top of that!)

Johnnie and James, our guides

These guys look suppper bored waiting for us to catch our breath :)

Day statistics:
Starting elevation: Simba Camp, 2700m
Ending elevation: Kikelewa Camp, 3600m
Approximate distance walked: 14 km, about 5-6 hours

Day 3, May 1st:

Starting elevation: Kikelewa Camp, 3600m

Ending elevation: Mawenzi Tarn Hut, 4200 m
Approximate distance covered: about 5 km, 3 hrs

Today was a shorter hike; it was time to start slowing down as we were getting higher and higher.  Katy and I were trying very hard to stay hydrated so we put ourselves on a break/water schedule for this segment: water breaks every 20 minutes, with every other break being a longer one where we could sit or snack.  This leg was definitely challenging and we made it in about 3 hours, which is a time we were proud of.  The intention was to do an acclimization hike this afternoon but the weather was awful once we got to camp so we rested for the afternoon with plans to do the acclimization hike tomorrow. 

Kibo peak

Mawenzi peak

Me taking a break and some of the plants along the way

"Well excuse me for a minute while I go to the toilet tent"

Katy showing her props that she brings with to dinner :)

Dinner time: Me making a grand entrance and Katy eating

More nighttime views.....Mawenzi peak

High Altitude Considerations:

For those of you who aren't familiar with high altitude hiking, I figured it would be beneficial to explain why it is potentially dangerous and what exactly acclimization is.
Many people experience signs of Acute Moutain Sickness (AMS) above 3000m. Signs include nauseau, vomiting, headache, and dizziness. Most of this is mild, and the solution is to stay hydrated and not get as high as quickly.

The things you need to watch out for are HAPE and HACE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema and High Altitude Cerebral Edema). Basically, the air pressure changes can cause fluid to shift in your body, going to either your brain or your lung....obviously this is not good.  Altitude sickness has nothing to do with your physical abilities; rather it has to do with how slowly you increase your elevation each day.  It affects individuals differently; in some people it is no big deal, and in others, they cannot even complete the trek.
Katy and I have a great appreciation for altitude after our experience in Ecuador a few years ago: We had just flown in from Chicago (200m) the night prior and decided to hike on Cotopaxi the following day, which involved being dropped off at 4450m and hiking to 5000m. So although we didn't climb from the ground up, we essentially went from sea level to 5000m in a matter of 20 hours or so. Horrible idea. I had a migraine like I didn't know was possible and Katy threw up.  Luckily, this experience taught us to respect height and take things easy :)

So what do you do?
Climbing slowly is crucial. The recommended elevation increase per day is only about 300m, but that is not super feasible when you are trying to achieve high elevations. Katy and I did book the extra acclimization day, which I talk about later.
The other thing to do is take Diamox. We were really going back and forth on whether or not to take this drug. However, when we met with Johnnie the night before our trek and he told us that his client's success rate with Diamox was 95%, we were sold (the overall success rate of Kili is a fact I do not know, but it is not nearly that high).

For all of my RN friends out there, it is kind of interesting how the drug works: It blocks bicarb receptor sites, putting your body into a metabolic acidosis, which in turn causes you to breathe faster, alloiwng your body to take in more oxygen without thinking about it (many people try to just breathe faster during the day but 1- that seems quite annoying and 2- wouldn't work at night).
The side effects can be irritating, but we fared pretty well.

Finally, if you start experiencing symptoms in excess of AMS, the only thing to do is go down, and it must be done quickly. Decreasing elevation is the only thing that can return your body to normal, and our guide has done it a number of times with clients.
Luckily, we both did alright throughout the trek and altitude sickness was not a major concern for us. 

Our strong porters carrying everything up the mountain

Katy pondering mountain life :)

Day 4: May 2nd

Today is the day I like to nerdily call "Bring on the erythropoiesis!" aka Acclimatization Day!

When booking this trip, Katy and I wanted to do everything we could to be successful in our climb. The standard Rongai route is 6 days, with an option to add on an extra acclimatization day....or a chance for your body to get used to the altitude, something that is strongly suggested for anyone climbing Kili. We took the chance without hesitation , despite the extra cost of an extra day on the mountain.  Success rates are significantly higher for those climbers who add this extra day.

So how does it work?

As you know, we arrived at the Mawenzi camp last night, 4200 m. We simply stayed an extra night at this altitude without increasing the elevation at which we sleep at. We weren't lazy all day, though! We did spend the first half of the day today following the high altitude climbing motto of "Cimb high, sleep low."  Basically, it helps your body tremendously if you cimb higher than you sleep at night.  Your body has a chance to start making more RBC's to carry oxygen as you expose it to higher and higher altitude. So although we are staying at the same camp two nights in the row, we are hiking the nearby peak of Mawenzi during the day. Therefore,  at about 930 this morning, we set off with the goal of 4800 m in mind.

Why 4800?

The peak of Mawenzi is 5143. Above 4900 is technical climbing, and Johnnie said from 4800-4900 the hike gets really tricky. He said that not everybody makes it all the way up to 4800, but we would go as far as we could.

The rain started about an hour or so in, so after enjoying some beautiful scenery for the first hour, it was cameras away, ponchos on, head down, and walk- polepole, of course. I was amazed. This walk was easier for me than our hike around 3800 m the day prior had been. I told myself not to get too confident and to just keep going. After two hours of walking and many breaks, Johnnie yelled ahead to James (who was in front)to stop and take a break. As we sat and rehydrated, Katy and I turned to Johnnie and asked how high we were.  He casually responded, "Oh, we're at 4800."  We were expecting a three hour climb and a much bigger challenge to breathe. I think you could see our smiles down at our campsite through the fog if you looked closely enough. He told us we could keep going if we wanted....but it would be pretty tough.  Katy and I looked at each other and knew we both wanted to continue. We were feeling great and wanted to get as high as we could today to help with our upcoming two days. 

So we started switchbacking up a verrrry steep and slippery gradient until we reached a large collection of rocks. Johnny was eagerly waiting for us and encouraged us to keep on coming. I looked at the daunting pile of rocks and asked him how we would get up and down from there and he responded, "like monkeys, hands and knees." 

Now if summit day hadn't been two days away, I would have gladly scampered up and over those rocks. But given how slippery they were (there was significant hail going on at this point), and the prospect trying to summit with a twisted ankle or wrist, we both sheepishly looked at hime and said, "What if we go back down?"  He answered (as he does to most things) "Hakuna Matata" (which literally means no worries- it is a phrase used here long before the Lion King). I looked at him and said, "Did we do okay, though?"  And he looked back, dead serious, and said, "Oh yes. This is farthest I've taken any of my clients."  That was good enough for us!!!

After some more magi (water), we began our descent. What took us 2.5 hours to get up only took us about 40 minutes to get down. We were greeted with a hot lunch at camp and then spent the rest of the afternoon resting (and freezing :).

Tomorrow would be summit day!!

I can't decide whether I liked this morning view or the Simba camp view better

Mawenzi Peak

Making our way towards 4850 m

Some of my favorite plants found along the way

Taking a quick break along the way

James sleeping while we catch our breath...ha these guys were probably so bored with our pace :)

On the way up

View from camp in the morning

Day 5: May 3rd

Today was our hike from Mawenzi to Kibo (4200 to 4700). Kibo is the base camp for climbing to Uhuru.  It was another short morning (albeit challenging). We were settled into camp by 1pm, had a quick lunch, took a nap, woke up and had dinner, took another nap, and then woke up at 11 to summit!
By "nap" I mean lay in my tent and stare at the ceiling as I was terrified of the summit AND it was freezing so very hard to sleep :)  I think Katy got some sleep, however.  

The green stuff is the "tarn" or the body of water that the campsite is named for

More porters

Here we come, Gillman's Point!

Katy's sweet nighttime shot of Kibo

Day 6, May 4th: Summit Day!!
It was 11pm on Thursday night and summit day was upon us. Tea and toast was being served in the mess tent at 1120 and we were scheduled to take off at 1145. Our porters' alarm went off a bit late....and Katy and I were a bit slow at getting ready, so we ended up leaving Kibo Hut (4700m) at midnight. Our ultimate goal: Uhuru Peak: 5895 m.

We hope we're ready!!

Part One:
1st Goal: Hans Meyer Cave, 5100m (named after the guy who first summited Kili in 1889).
As we started trudging up the mountain in the middle of the night, I felt unbelievably lucky . Not only was I about to attempt this amazing feat, but the weather couldn't hve been more perfect. There was a light snowfall and the near full moon was lighting our path for us...we had no need to turn on our headlamps.  There was a clear view of the Mawenzi Peak (there are three peaks to the mountain, Mawenzi, Shira, and Kibo- the one we were trying to summit) behind us, with Kibo covered in clouds ahead. 

Hour 1:
About an hour (and three breaks) in, I was realizing just how tough this was going to be. Hesitantly, we asked Johnnie how high we were and he informed us that we were only at 4800 m, a mere 100 m higher than camp. Crap. 100m in one hour was wayyy too slow if we were going to reach Uhuru at a reasonable time.  So I gave myself a mini pep talk (the details of which I shouldn't share with you all here- I was pretty irritated with myself), ate a quick snack (Snickers bar!! climbing snack of champions), popped in my IPod, and stepped it up.

Hour 2:
We stopped again around 2 for another snack....by this time, the snow had ceased and we were at 5000m....woohoo!!! We had indeed stepped it up, covering double in the past hour. Katy and I realized that this is where things were going to get serious....neither one of us had hiked higher than 5000m before. This was all uncharted territory for us now.

Hour 3:
We carried on. Our goal, as I said before, was Hans Meyer cave....and we wanted to make it by 230. The estimated time to HM Cave is 2.5 hours and we wanted to stay on track. Well, we didn't quite make it in our goal time, but we did get there around 3.....we were now half way between Kibo Hut (our starting point) and Gillman's Point (the crater rim and sunrise spot that you hit before you make it Uhuru Peak).

Taking a break at Hans Meyer Cave, 5100m, about 310am

Katy's amazing shot of Mawenzi peak at 3am and our camp (bottom center)

Part Two:

Having made it to Hans Meyer Cave, we had a new goal in mind: Gillman's Point, 5681m.  Here's where things started to get REALLY hard.  Like I said, we wanted to make it to Gillman's Point for sunrise....and our guide had estimated 2.5 hours to the cave and 2.5 hours to Gillman's Point.  Well, we were already lagging behind on the cave estimate, so at this point, my hopes for sunrise at Gillman's Point were not super high.

Hours 4, 5, and 6:
I think this is the first part of the hike during which we both truly questioned our ability to complete this hike. The moon sort of ducked behind the rocks so we needed to turn on our lights, the air continued to get thinner, and the terrain steeper.

I want to try and explain high altitude hiking for a minute here.  For anyone who lives at or near sea level, it is literally like breathing through a straw.  At the summit, the amount of oxygen molecules that you recieve per breath is half of that at sea level. While climbing, you get used to your very slow, very short steps- and if you need to take a larger step than usual (ie: to step up and over a large rock), it takes preparation.  When you have completed your step, you often feel like you got punched in the gut or the wind knocked out of you.  Every step is a challenge, walking quickly is nearly impossible (let's face it, even walking at a respectable pace is not going to happen), and running is out of the question- and this is for two girls who are reasonably fit, are taking Diamox, and have spent a number of days acclimating.

Anyway, so we were breathlessly trudging along, stopping every 15 minutes or so to lay down in the snow for some relief, and there was a ridge ahead of us that we knew was an elevation of 5500m. Right before you crossed over what looked like the ridge, there was a large area of rocks that you had to climb up and over.  There was some confusion over the time to our goal: we were asking how long to the 5500m mark and our guide gave us the time left to get to Gillman's Point.....so you can imagine our surprise (and excitement!) when we made it to Gillman's Point at 545!!!!!!!!!!  Right in time for sunrise....by this time we were above the clouds and were able to watch the orange sunlight fill the sky...with the Mawenzi Peak dotting the middle of the scene. I think it was probably the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen.

About 15 minutes before reaching Gillman's Point

Above the clouds :)

Just in case we didn't make it to Uhuru, we took a shot here at Gilman's Point :)

Trying to snap some pictures with minimal feeling in my fingers :)

 

Part Three: The Final Climb

Hours 7 and 8:

After Gillman's Point, it was time to move on to our ultimate goal (and the goal of every climber on Kili), Uhuru Peak. This part took us a long time- it was only 200m more vertically but the air was obviously at its thinnest and the path ahead was deceiving.  The path from Gillman's Point to Uhuru appeared to be relatively  flat....and it was not.

Uhuru peak in the distance....James trailblazing as usual

Now the Uhuru sign is clearly in view....this is where I started bawling like a baby

Aaannnnddd....we made it!!!!  I was a few steps ahead of Katy right at the end but I waited for a second and we crossed the finish line together :)  After a grueling 1 hour and 45 minutes more of shuffling, we made it at 8am on the nose.  Once Katy and I gathered ourselves (yes, there were definitely tears of joy) we were able to take in the clear, amazing view of the moutains and snow cut against the blue sky. There was glacier to our left and the leftover sunrise directly in front of us....couldn't have asked for anything more. We stayed up as long as we could stand the cold (also we wanted to dodge the clouds that were quickly rolling in). 

Many of you may be wondering where the old sign was....I know I sure was. It was destroyed in Nov 2011 and the park replaced it with this sign.  While elated to be at the top, Katy and I were both pretty sour about this new sign- the old one is muccch cooler

Proudest moment ever :)  And no, I did not gain 50 lbs on this trip- I am wearing about 8 layers here

Classic jumping picture....this was a one shot deal...with half of the oxygen in the air this was about as high as either one of us could manage....and yes, it took a solid 15 seconds to recover after we did it!

James, Me, Johnnie, and Katy

Views from the top:

The quickly receding glacier.....a research study that I read said that the amount of ice sheet that covered Kili in 2007 was 87 percent smaller than the one that covered it in 1912....and they expect the whole thing to be gone within 15-20 years.  So sad.

Part Four: Descent
Hours 9 and 10

What goes up, must come down. Luckily, going down this mountain, while tricky, is loads easier than going up it. We made it about halfway back to Gillman's Point and stopped for a snack. Luckily, by this time the sun was warm enough that we could sit in the snow for longer than a few minutes without freezing and we were even able to shed some layers!
We scarfed down as much food as we could handle....you can't eat very much prior to or while summitting because you need to conserve where your blood goes! (If your belly is full of food, all the blood will want to go there, instead of perfusing what you need most for climbing: heart, lungs, and brain).

Taking a break

And we're back to Hans Meyer Cave!! This is the same place we took the dark picture at 3am.  Here its about 930am and we are happier than can be!

The final stretch into camp.....where a dry tent and hot food was waiting for us.

Hours 11, 12, and 13:
After a quick nap and some grub, we manned back up to continue the 3 hours on to Horombo Huts, elevation 3700.  This brings our day's totals to something like this:

Starting elevation: 4700m (Kibo camp)
High pass: 5895m (Uhuru Point)
Ending elevation: 3700m (Horombo Hut)

This means that in vertical distance, we covered 3.4km....not to mention the 22km of horizontal distance.

No wonder we were BEAT when we rolled into Horombo Hut camp shortly after 430, bringing our day's hiking total to approximately 14 hours.  Now, we were supposed to be camping here. However, we were now joined up with the Marangu route (remember I said we went up via the Rongai route and down via the Marangu), which offers basic mountain huts as well as campsites.  To our great delight, the caretaker of the campsite told Johnnie that it had been raining very heavily the past few nights and said we were welcome to forego our tents and stay in a hut.  Ahhh, yes please!!!! Guaranteed dry place to say AND a bed? It was the best present anyone could have given me following summit day. We tried to go to bed as quickly as possible but our dinner took much longer than expected so instead of turning in around 7 like planned, it was more like 830. We were both able to get a solid night's sleep however before our final desecent the following day.  All in all, the PERFECT summit day!!

Ahhh...getting closer to sea level :)

Day 7, May 5th: The Final Descent

View when we stepped out of our hut in the morning.

Eating in a building, not a tent!!!!

We got very lucky for our final day's worth of hiking. There was no rain AT ALL (first day!). We shed our layers within the first 15 minutes and trudged on for 20km and 6 hours, stopping for quick snackbreak at the Mandara Campsite about half way through.  Reaching our exit point (the Marangu Gate) just completed the whole journey for me, marking what is bound to be one of my greatest life accomplishments. Everyone is so excited to see you when you come out- smiling, saying hello, congrats, did you make it all the way to Uhuru? I was beaming ear to ear as I told everyone "Hell yes I made it!!!"  After filling out some paperwork and eating another snack, we were on our way back to Moshi, leaving the mountain behind us.

My feet were pretty psyched that this was the final 20km.

Shortly after we left camp in the morning

My favorite flower

We spent a number of hours walking through the rainforest. We had obviously gone through it on the way up as well, but I was so focused on breathing and keeping dry (it was raining that day), that I didn't get a chance to fully enjoy just how beautiful it was.

Blue Monkeys!!! They were a little camera shy, but we got to watch them for a bit before they disappeared into the woods.

Holy crap I made it!! Taken at the Marangu gate....we officially "signed out" of the park about five minutes after this

Thank you thank you thank you to all these guys!  There is no way we would have made it up or down this mountain without you!!!!  These goodbyes were the worst.....these guys coached me through the most difficult thing I have ever done. I am forever grateful :)

The crew, minus Nyamaissa (we had to drop him off earlier). Back row, L-R: Katy, Aloyce, Kasian, Boniphace, Me, Christopher, James  Front row, L-R: Johnnie, Robert, and Juma