Mount Kilimanjaro climb: day 4

Thursday, March 27: The harrowing summitting day!

Day 4 was the day that we all dreaded. I assume we all did, I think most people were nervous about this day. We had gone to bed at 18h00 the evening prior, after setting up our winter equipment out to be ready for summitting. Although some people were snoring (it seemed to come from the Nordic corner *wink*), some barely slept, and Georgie did not sleep at all. I dozed off for four hours but then the Diamox kicked in and I had to @#$#$ get out of my warm sleeping bag to go to the outside loos at -1 Celsius, joy! Then it was impossible to go back to sleep.

Faithful Fataeli woke us up at midnight as planned. We got dressed, I put all the warmest layers that I had (6 of them). I had made up a pair of liner gloves to put inside my big ski gloves:
(they're socks :) )

We ventured outside to the light of our headlamps. The first part of the climb, right after Kibo Hut, is on scree - a mixture of snow and gravel - that zigzags across the hill. It's all done in the dark because the scree is less slippery when frozen. We were all lined up in queue, Tafaeli and the Nordic Boys in front, and the other four guides always checking on us. The pace was very slow - a few steps, break, a few steps, break.

Walking in queue in the dark (Mark, Jenni, Kendra are behind me)


In the darkness, and the slowness, I found the whole ordeal very hypnotic and felt like falling asleep, to the worry of one of the guides; little did he know that it is a normal state for me (being somnolent when bored) and that it was *not* altitude sickness or cold. Eventually we came to realize that we had completely overdressed for the climb as it was not - 10 Celsius but rather closer to 0 celsius, so a few of us took layers off. A few of us had grumbling stomachs because of the altitude; Melissa's cramping stomach made her lag behind and her headlamp light soon disappeared behind us.

We had the best warm tea ever, at the halfway break through the scree, and the Hans Meyer Cave:
(thanks Kendra for the pic)

Then the climb continued, hypnotically for me, to the rhythm of techno music for Kendra, who had been smart to bring her Ipod. It wasn't so difficult physically as it was hard to stay awake because of the repetitiveness of the task - everybody seemed to drift off into their own bubble. Mount Mawenzi was peeking out through the clouds in the moonlight right behind us, a very special view. The guides were singing softly to keep our attention. As predicted by Desmond, Tafaeli repeated his usual proverb to inspire us:
"Today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow..."

I was concentrating on every 50 cm ahead, one foot in front of the other, careful not to slip backwards. And then suddenly, we had to climb over rocks and small boulders - the boulder field, which precedes Gilman's point. I had no idea that we were there until we got to the crater rim.

We reached Gilman's point at 5685 m around 6h00 am, as the sun rose, after 6 hours of climbing in the night. The Kitkat bar I ate there is remembered as the best in my life.
(thanks Kendra for the pic)

We took another re-energizing tea break at Gilman's point; it's considered a successful summitting if one makes it there. But when Fataeli signalled to continue towards Uhuru Peak, we all followed him. I was feeling quite well and was happy to keep on going (vs. freezing in the cold wind). We could now see into the crater: it was like a lunar landscape, with the stars so close, incredibly high, above the clouds.

The next part of the climb would be along the rim, where could look into the snow-covered crater. It was a spectacular walk, in the permanent snowcap, the last climate found on the mountain. The guides were carefully assessing every single one of us for signs of altitude sickness - confusion, strange behaviour, shortness of breath, stomach problems, headache.



The snow and the crater in the blue sunrise light




Fantastic snowscapes above the clouds
(thanks Kendra for the pic)



Walking to Uhuru Peak was another 90 minutes and 200 m elevation. I was getting more and more tired, and a slight headache appeared. Then it got worse and I had to borrow some Diamox and acetaminophen pills from Georgie's bag, thankfully carried by Harold the guide right in front of me. Shortly after, at Harold's insistence and against the better part of my pride, I had to give up my daypack for Harold to carry as well.

(thanks Jenni for the pic)

Most of us acted okay, although a few stomachs were definitely off - but for sure the altitude had started to affect us. I felt slightly off, just as if under nitrogen narcosis - even though the arithmetics that I started doing in my head to check were okay so far. (MMSE of 29 at the time, I checked - but three word recall definitely slower!). A younger girl from another group was throwing up violently by the side of the path - and yet, she was such a trooper, she kept on going. When I finally made it to Uhuru Peak where I gave a thankful hug to Tafaeli and... capsized in the snow with the rest of the bunch.

(thanks Jenni for the pic)

A few moments after, I barely sat up to shoot this picture:


Whereas Mikael of the Nordic Team was much more motivated!


Note our blueish tinge - definitive hypoxia up there. Tafaeli's famous words: "You will make it to the summit, I carry you all!"

The obligatory Team Canada picture and group picture:

(thanks Kendra for both picx)

Georgie is probably one of the few who was able to mark her territory at the summit of Kilimanjaro *wink*.

After a few moments up there, we started the route down. Because, of course, summitting is only the first third of the day! The itinerary that day has us go down to Kibo Hut and then to Horombo Hut!

At the crater rim, Mark gave a us a bit of a scare with a sudden nasty headache, and had a blue tinge - signs of altitude sickness. He quickly went down, which was the thing to do, and was okay afterwards.

Walking down the scree hill, past the boulder field, was an adventure. Instead of zigzag-ing the way up, we slid down in the now soft earth-gravel mix down the hill - it was fun for the first 10 minutes, and then my toes started hurting from hitting the end of my shoes. I scrambled downhill on my bum more than once - and so were the guides. On the way down, Mount Mawenzi had disappeard completely behind some nasty rain clouds, and it started pouring. I was wet, cold and miserable with bruised toes when I reached Kibo Hut last, around 11h30 am. I remember looking down at Kibo Hut and genuinely wondering if I could 1) slide down on my bum or 2) get carried by a guide. I honestly had never been so physically tired and pushed myself to such limits - my legs were trembling. It's really like hitting a wall and wondering how you can make it through.It had been a harrowing 11h hours of hiking in difficult conditions - and yet the day wasn't over!

Walking-slipping down the scree


We finally arrived at Kibo Hut for a warm lunch (yay! hot soup!) and the most invigorating one-hour nap. Everybody passed out, this time. Then it was time to walk down to Horombo Hut. Initially my legs refused to obey, but somehow, by sheer will, we all got out and walked three more hours down to Horombo Hut. Again, the saddle plains were wet and foggy, and it rained and we were wet. Thankfully it wasn't as steep as in the morning, but still, my knees and toes were definitely protesting.

We made it back to Horombo Hut for the most restful night of sleep ever, after another warm dinner.