Kilimanjaro Climb Part 7 – To The Summit

The previous entries in this Kilimanjaro Trip journal are the Introduction, Arrival in Moshi, To Machame Camp, To Shira Camp, To Barranco Camp and To Barafu Camp. Alice’s words (with the bare minimum of editing by me) will be in italics. My words will be in the usual font I use for these blog entries.

Today’s entry is Day 5 of the Kilimanjaro climb on the Machame Route. Day 5 is the Summit Attempt, a hike from Barafu Camp (4600m/15,088ft) to Uhuru Peak (5895m/19,325ft) and then down to Millennium Camp (3750m/12,305ft).

Elevation Change: 1295 meters ascending and 2145 meters descending
Distance: 7 kilometers ascending in 7¼ hours and 10 kilometers descending in 7½ hours including a rest stop
Habitat at Summit: Stone Scree, Snow and Ice, Glaciers


Alice’s journal:

---

April 4, 5:20 PM

I don’t even know how to write about this day. There is so much to tell.

Maria, John (Guide), Milla (Assistant Guide) and I stood on the Roof of Africa at 7:46 AM on April 4th.

I’ll write in chronological order, which is boring but the easiest for me.

I slept from 9 to 11 PM. At 11:00 we were awakened and had tea and biscuits.

At 12:30 AM we headed off in the dark under a starry sky. The next six hours were a slog in the dark.

I started the hike feeling good and knew that I would make it. There really were no other options. It was a strange six hours. We didn’t talk and I watched the patch of ground two feet ahead of me. My mind raced for the first hour, filled with questions and anxiety over our climb. I thought of Gaylene and tried to still my mind through meditation.

That didn’t work.

We took a few breaks to pee and drink but only when we found shelter in the rocks.

I think that I must have zoned out for awhile since Maria was just telling me about some things that happened and I don’t remember those events.

As we gained altitude I really had to set my own pace with the mountain-rest-step. The entire time my breathing resembled a mild sprint that I might do at the end of a 10K race.

As we got higher my mind quieted and I was completely absorbed by my breathing, walking, and wiggling toes and fingers with each step. It was very cold.

We had a strange incident with Maria. She was walking well but I suspected that she was cold and wet. Suddenly she started stumbling and let her arms hang slack with her poles dragging behind her. I hate to say it, but the guides didn’t really clue in. I knew she was cold and I also knew that she had a blood sugar problem. I sat her down and gave her a granola bar, one of my gel packs, water and a bit of my tea. She quickly came around and we were off.

Maria and I also have been figuring out that John, our Guide, was sick. He ate almost nothing for dinner and I saw him vomit yesterday. Apparently, for part of the climb, he trailed behind us and sat down. I don’t remember this.


Sunrise over Mawenzi Peak
Anyway, as we were nearing a ridge that I hoped was Stella Point, the sky started to brighten. It was very steep and I was going very slowly. I gave Milla my pack to carry at this point.




I knew that I could make it only because I’ve experienced altitude before.



We arrived at Stella Point at 6:20 AM. I should also mention that I felt the need to take Gravol and Advil every three to four hours. I found drinking difficult but tried my best. I couldn’t even face a granola bar but got two gel packs down. I was so thankful that I did not have a pounding headache.

The weather was clear, sunny, and gorgeous.


Additional comments from A about this photo: This is me at Stella Point (5795 meters, 19,007 feet) at sunrise. In the background is the rim of the crater. I can't believe that I look so happy. It was really cold and I was really tired. But, from here on, it is a lot less steep.

Back to A's journal: It took us an hour to go from Stella Point to Uhuru Peak. This was easier as it was not so steep. We met about 20 people coming down.

At this point I was feeling very emotional. I felt like crying but also knew that would be dumb. Waves of "I’m just about to cry" swept over me. My brain was oxygen-starved. I started repeating the phrase "Dead Cat!" over and over again in my head to distract myself from crying. Sounds weird but I wasn't thinking very straight at the time.

We arrived at Uhuru Peak at 7:46 AM. We were the only ones there. John mentioned that sometimes there are so many people on the summit that you wait 30 minutes for your chance to have your photo taken by the sign.




Suddenly Maria and I were energized and spent the next 30 minutes doing all the things that you do at the summit. I think our guides were itching do down.




We took tons of pictures and dealt with water, gel packs and sun screen. Some people leave something on the summit. I decided to leave a kiss so I kissed the sign.





We started down at 8:15 AM. Now, I made it back to camp in two hours 35 minutes but it certainly felt a lot longer. I was fine for the first 20 minutes and then I got progressively worse. It was harder than going up. I believe the altitude and dehydration caught up with me. I felt wretched, weak, unsteady, etc. I really considered the possibility that I would pass out and the uni-wheel stretcher would need to come for me. Eventually, I admitted to John that I was in rough shape and he patiently walked me down.


Back at camp (10:50 AM), 10½ hours since leaving, I felt dead but went slowly through all the necessary steps – bathroom, water, Gravol, Diamox, Advil, contacts out, electrolyte solution…

By 12:30 they called us for soup. I really didn’t think that I could stomach it but remembered my experience with Greg on Mount Baker when the soup helped.

So I got up, had soup, started feeling better and decided that I could manage the walk down to Millennium Camp.

A few hours before, I had no idea how I would do it.

One hour 20 minutes later we were at Millennium Camp. Our tents were erected. The weather was fine. This was our first day without rain. I’m also glad for the porters. Apparently they had all their wet clothes laid out on the rocks soaking up the rare sunshine.



I just left my tent and I spotted the mountain peak. I actually think that this is the first time on this climb that we had the visibility to see it. Of course, on our summit climb we had outstanding clear sunny conditions.



Here is the timetable of our journey today with hiking time:

Left Barafu Camp	12:30 AM
Stella Point	6:20 AM
Summit - Uhuru Peak	7:45 AM	7 hr 15 min
Left Uhuru Peak	8:15 AM
Arrive Barafu Camp	10:50 AM	2 hr 35 min
Rest until	2:00 PM
Arrive Millennium Camp	3:20 PM	1 hr 20 min

---

The final part of this Kilimanjaro Trip journal is here.