Sept 17 – the Climb to Barafu, base camp

We began our climb at the usual time, 9 AM. It was an easy day and we had already climbed most of the way to Barafu on our acclimatization climb the previous day. The climb was uneventful. We had now passed into another climatic zone, the high alpine desert. Absolutely nothing grew up here at 15,200 ft.

We arrived at Barafu had a hot lunch and a snow storm started as if to welcome the Canadians. We wisely cancelled the acclimatization climb that we had planned for the afternoon. There was no need in getting our gear wet. We would be awakened tomorrow at 4 AM for summit day.

We relaxed for the afternoon, had a warm dinner and got to bed early. It was cold at this altitude as the dinner pictures show.

Sept 16 - Karanga, Decisions & Porters

We planned to spend two nights at Karanga Camp.  It was a pleasure to awaken and just get ready for our acclimatization climb without doing all the packing necessary to break camp.  We were also starting our climb at 10 AM, an hour later than usual. 

When we stepped out of our tents, were we treated to the sight of the rising sun illuminating Kilimanjaro.  The mountain looked a lot smaller and the glaciers looked a lot closer, probably because we had already completed more than 2/3 of our climb.







We had decisions to make that were critical to our climb. The next day we would climb to Barafu Camp, the base camp for our push to the summit.  We had three options:

1. Go from Barafu to the summit and back to Carter Camp for the night.  It shortens the summit day and there is something romantic about sleeping at Crater Camp at 18,700 ft, higher than Everest base camp.
2. Go from Barafu to Crater Camp, sleep there and then make the final push to the summit the following morning.  It divides the push to the summit into two days and we would still get to sleep at Crater Camp.
3. Go from Barafu to the summit and back to Barafu in the same day.  It makes for a long day but climbing to Crater Camp is almost as difficult as the summit.

Decision:  Option 3.  Our rationale was simple.  We wanted to summit and if we had the strength to get to Crater Camp we would almost certainly make it to the summit.  We had also spent enough time on the mountain to understand that sleeping at 18,700 ft could be very unpleasant when you had slept at 15,200 ft the night before.  In fact, the guides told us the many climbers had made it Crater Camp, spent the night, got altitude sickness and not made it to the summit.  Sleeping at Crater Camp sounded great when you were reading the website from the comfort of home, but when you're on the mountain reality tempered the sense of adventure.

The second decision was whether we wanted to ask six of the strongest porters to carry our day packs on summit day.  Although many of us felt strong enough to carry our own packs, we agreed to accept the porters' assistance, in part, due to the fact that we had chosen the tough option for summit day.

We started our acclimatization climb at 10 AM.  It was uneventful and even though we climbed above 14,500 ft everyone felt great, a very good sign that our bodies were adjusting well to the altitude.  We were also getting used to the daily weather pattern.  Kilimanjaro sits on the Serengeti, which has an elevation of about 3,000 ft.  The mountain then rises from the savannah an additional 16,300 ft to a total elevation of 19,300 ft.  When you are on the Serengeti it is very dry and it is hard to believe that there is any humidity in the air.  However, there is.  At lower elevations, 5 - 10,000 ft, there are clouds that encircle the mountain for days at a time.  It is the moisture from these clouds that make the rain forest possible.  There is a second layer of cloud that forms and dissipates on a daily basis.  It is typically clear above 10,000 ft from 3 - 4 PM in the afternoon until 10 - 11 AM.  However, during the late morning the high mountain cloud will form almost every day dramatically lowering the temperature and the visibility.
We climbed high enough to see the outline of Barafu camp in the distance and had a snack.

While stopping for a snack we saw a young porter stop for a rest.  We were shocked at how poorly he was dressed, shorts, T-shirt and slip-on canvas deck shoes with no socks at 14,500 ft!  We had all been shocked to see porters wearing flip-flops and crocs carrying 20 kg plus their own gear.  Thankfully, our outfitter Tusker, was a high end operation and the porters all had decent hiking boots and clothing.  Not so for the discount operators, whose porters often carried more that the maximum 20 kg.  Every year about 20 - 30 people die on Kilimanjaro; about 2/3 of these people are porters and 1/3 climbers.  The climbers usually succumb to severe altitude sickness leading to pulmonary or cerebral edema.  The porters usually die from exposure, when a sustained snow or rain storm leads to hypothermia.

If any of the readers of this blog decide to do this climb, we ask you to use a quality outfitter for your safety and the porters' as well.  The following pictures show a few of the porters that we saw on the mountain.  They are the heroes of any high altitude climb!

Sept 15 - up the Baranco Wall to Karanga

Hans awoke at 9 out of 10 and was feeling much better. The scale out of 10 is a practice of Tusker to monitor the health of their clients during the climb. Twice a day they asked the following questions:

1. On a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being great, how do you feel?
2. How is your breathing?
3. Have you had a pee in the last 2 hours?
4. Have you had a bowel movement in the last 24 hours?
5. Do you have a head ache?
6. Are you nauseous?
7. How is your appetite?
8. Have you taken your Diamox (for altitude)?
9. Have you taken your Malerone (for malaria)?

There was a group medical check in the evening, usually before dinner and a private medical check in the morning when one of the guides would listen to you breathing with a stethoscope. This protocol, combined with High Altitude First Responder training for the three guides, was very reassuring. David, Chief of Surgery in the biggest hospital in eastern Canada, was very impressed with the process and the guides’ level of knowledge. So Hans being a 9 really meant something to all of us.

Our climb would begin with the Baranco Wall, the closest we would come to technical climbing on this expedition. The wall is 600 vertical feet and, if you include the slopes at the base and summit, it’s 800 feet in total. Would the entire team be able to scale this wall without succumbing to acrophobia? 

One of the amazing things about climbing is that when you're in an exposed position your world contracts to the space that's 3 - 15 away from you.  You think about the the next hand hold or foot placement, not the fact that if you look down it's 500 ft to the valley floor.  So, not only did the group scale the wall in a bit over an hour, they had fun doing it.  In fact, many people said that it was one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip.

 
 
 
 
 

After scaling the wall, we had a short hike to Karanga Camp, or so we thought.  We could see Karanga and and Kombe, our head guide gave the guys a quick test.  How far to Karanga?  Our answers ranged from 7 - 20 minutes.  Wrong! There was a ravine of 500 vertical ft between us and the camp, so the correct answer was 1.5 hours.  We arrived in Karanga after 5 hours and 15 minutes of climbing. 
 

We would have cell phone coverage again, so many of us touched base with home.  We would also be staying two nights in Karanga.  The next day we would do an acclimatization climb, almost to Barafu, our next camp and return to Karanga for sleeping.  Climb high, sleep low.  This was always our plan and it is why we choose the longest route to get to the summit.
 
 
 
 
 
 
We enjoyed a hot lunch and then had the afternoon free.  The clouds cleared and the sun came out.  We had been on the mountain for 5 days and the ladies deserved a bit of pampering so they set up the beauty salon at 13,200 ft.

Sept 14 – to Baranco Camp via the Lava Tower

We spent a difficult night at Moir Camp. It was cold and even though it is in a gorge the wind was just the right direction to funnel down through the gorge and blow hard all night. The fabric on the tents was flapping loudly and sleep was difficult. As usual, it warmed up when the sun came up. We went about our morning clean up and preparation and got ready to start climbing.

We climbed to almost 15,000 ft at the Lava Tower. Everyone is feeling the effects of altitude now, but the girls seem to tolerate it better than the guys. They’re chatting away as we climb, but the guys are strangely quiet. We’re now well above the cloud tops near the Lava Tower.

We stop for another hot lunch just below the Lava Tower. The guys are hurting, but seem to recover when they see the food.

The rest of the day is mainly down hill to Baranco camp at 13,200 feet. As we descend, we see more and more Senecios, a large cactus like plant that is unique to Kilimanjaro. Their green leafy crowns open during the day and close at night to protect against the extremes of mountain weather.

We arrive at Baranco Camp after 8 hours of climbing.

We’re looking forward to Baranco. We can look down on the lights of Moshi so we’ll have cell phone coverage for the first time in days. As we descend into Baranco, everyone starts to feel better than they felt at the Lava Tower, except Hans whose condition continues to deteriorate. By dinner time he is too tired to leave his tent and is suffering from headaches and nausea. The guides spring into action and administer oxygen twice. They also check his lungs and temperature, both of which are normal. They reassure us that this happens and that he’ll probably be OK in the morning.  David agrees with their assessment. We go to our tents worried but hopeful.

Sept 13 – Hiking across the Shira Plateau & up to Moir Camp

We awoke to a very cold morning at Shira 1. We are in an alpine desert. There is very little water to act as a heat sink during the night. It can be -20 Celcius at 6 PM, then the sun comes up at 6:30 and by 9 AM it can be + 20. We begin our day at 9 AM with a hike across the Plateau. It is flat and dusty.

The heather become smaller and smaller and by noon we have crossed the plateau. We climb a rocky pitch and we find the mess tent set up ready at Fisher Camp to serve us a hot lunch. Our appetites are always better when we’re exercising outdoors. That’s certainly the case at this lunch, which also means that we’re adapting well to the altitude.

We continued to climb up to Moir camp, tucked away at the end of a huge gorge, at the foot of a giant lava flow. There is less vegetation all the time and the terrain becomes rockier. At this stage, Hans was just horsing around.

We arrive at Moir Camp at 13,650 ft, our highest camp thus far. We have hiked and climbed for 7 hr 15 min.

Sept 12 – the climb to the Shira Plateau

We set out at our usual time of 9AM. We climbed through the rain forest for about two hours and then at about 10,000 ft above sea level, the rain forest changed almost instantly to heath and moorland. We weren’t in Scotland though. The heather was about 12 ft tall! As we climbed higher the heather got shorter and shorter. We had to cross a lot of ravines so this turned out to be quite a tough day.

One thing you must do when climbing mountains is stay well hydrated. On top of this, everyone but Henry was taking Diamox a medication that increases your “bodily functions” to adapt to altitude. It seems as if he is naturally on Diamox, so the addition of the medication puts his body in overdrive, enough said. This results in a lot of pit stops on the mountain. The guys have a great advantage here, but by Day 2 the girls were getting pretty good at it. Thank goodness for wipes and Purell.

We are now half way through Day 2 and are starting to build a relationship with the guides. They are very skilled men who know the mountain and in addition have High Altitude First Responder Training. We grew quite close to the three of them: Kombe, head guide, as well as Gaudence and Bosco.

We reached a ridge 2 miles above sea level just in time for lunch. It was the highest meal most of us had ever had until that time.

One of things you quickly learn is that you can climb and talk, but you cannot climb and look around. If you want to look around stop moving. What you absolutely cannot do is climb talk and look around. If you do, this is what happens. Luckily, this was the “fall of the expedition”. Although there were a few challenges, nobody else wiped out so completely.

We finally reached the Shira Plateau and after 7 hours 15 minutes of climbing we reached Shira 1 Camp. Everyone was in good shape.

The camps are usually used by several climbing parties at once. At lower elevations, they are not so crowded. As you continue to climb there are more and more parties using each camp, mainly because there are fewer camps from which to choose. In the following picture the yellow Tusker gear denotes our camp.

During dinner, Rena suffered a bit of nausea but she went outside for some fresh air and rebounded quickly.

Sept 11 – the Climb Begins

Hans, Dani, Henry & Rena had been in Moshi for 4 days and nights and had not yet seen the mountain. Kilimanjaro rises out of the Serengeti at 3,000 & 4,000 ft of elevation, to a height of 19,300 ft. The mountain makes its own weather. There is often a ring of cloud from 5,000 to 10,000 ft making it very difficult to see the mountain from Moshi.  On Friday morning the sky cleared and we could see the mountain for the first time. 

The guides and our transport vehicle arrived. The vehicle was a German made troop transport vehicle manufactured in 1983. We were ready to tackle the climb and posed in front of the vehicle.

We weren’t on the road for very long when Paula announced that it was David’s birthday, so we all sang happy birthday.

We drove for about 2 hours and stopped in a local village to wait for the porters, many of whom come from small villages around Moshi to meet in this location. We immediately became a hit with the local kids.

Dani decided to teach the local kids to count in English. Check out the video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yZ2xQwroKc

We continued towards the gate. It got dustier and dustier. We could see wildebeest and zebras as we drove across the savannah.

The final hour of driving was very rough and dusty, but we finally arrived at the gate ready to really start the climb. We were on the dry side of the mountain, during the dry season during a drought. The climb throughthe rain forest was very beautiful, with no bugs.

After 4 hours of climbing we arrived at Big Tree camp. Our tents, the mess tent and the toilet tent, a real luxury on the mountain, were ready to go. Everyone was in great shape. Total climbing time: 4 hours.

Sept 16

Hakuna Matatta is a Swahili expression.  It means the same thing as the song in the Lion King.  The folks at Disney didn't make it up. You hear it all the time.  Paula and David personify Hakuna Mattata.  Their luggage went missing at JFK and has not been seen since.  They borrowed gear from the rest of us & Tusker.  They made a few local purchases.  Enjoying the climb.  Amazing!  Hakuna Matatta.

Sept 18

We did it! All 6 summited @ 1 pm.  Everyone tired but in good shape.

Sept 16

Today was the first day I was able to speak with Henry on his cell phone.  I can tell by the tone in his voice he is enjoying the climb.

He said they arrived in Karanga camp and are spending two nights.  They had an easy day today and hiked to 14,500 ft.  Then they returned to 13,200 ft.  They did this to aclimatize to themselves.  Everyone is feeling good.  One person has a few headaches but nothing serious.

Tomorrow they go to Barafu which is not far, about a 4 hour climb.  In the afternoon they will do an another climb to aclimitize and return to Barafu.

Sept 15

Everyone was in good shape by breakfast.

The day started with a big challenge:  the Bacanco Wall, a rock face of 600 vertical ft that is as close to technical climbing as we will get.  We took our time and finished in a bit over an hour.  It was a short day but included a ravine of 500 vertical ft that we descended and climbed back up the other side before arriving at Karanga Camp.  Climbing time:  5 hours 15 mins.

Everybody is in good shape.

We will spend 2 nights here and will do a climb on Sept 16 to aclimatize and descend back to camp.

We have decided not to sleep at Crater Camp, which is almost as high as the summit.  We will climb to Barafu Camp on Sept 17 and then make our push for the summit the following day.

Sept 11

The climb begins today.  We will meet the guides and vehicles at 8:30.  We will be spending time making sure that Paula and David have the proper gear.  We then have the four hour drive to Londrossi Gate on the western slopes of the mountain.  We will do our best to post test updates to the blog thanks to cell phones, a satellite phone and the fantastic support of Henry's assistant, Peggy.

Sept 10

Thursday was our day to meet the guides and the gear check.  All of us wanted to take it easy on the day before the climb.  Paula & David just arrived on Wed night so they were still fighting jet lag and hoping that their bags would arrive late on Thursday evening.

The meeting with the guides went very well.  We were pleased to have chosen Tusker as our outfitter.  The guides were professional, well trained and safety conscious with good gear.  They were also impressive as individuals with college educations in many cases,and multilingual.  They all speak Swahili, the national language of Tanzania, plus English, plus their native tribal tongue in addition to several other native languages from the tribes surrounding the area where they grew up.

Following the gear check, we had the dreaded unofficial weigh in.  Each climber is allowed to have 20 Kg in addition to whatever is in their day pack.  Those who know the super organized Dani & Rena will understand Hans' and Henry's concerns.  They had everything on the check list, sorted by day in individual zip lock bags.  In fact, the concern was that they each had at least 10 Kg of zip lock bags before you start to weigh the gear and snacks!  Would we need to hire an extra porter?

It turns out the men's concerns were completely unnecessary.  Both Rena and Dani's bags came in well under 20 Kg.





Paula and David spent the day wondering if their bags would arrive on the evening flight from Amsterdam.  There was encouraging news at dinnertime, but alas when the Tusker van arrived from the airport their bags were not on board.  They both packed the proper clothes for the first two days of climbing and wore their boots on the plane so all is not lost.  With extra gear from the other members of the team, some spare gear from the outfitter and a few early morning purchases they should be okay.  However, it is stressful when you're about to climb the world's highest free standing mountain and you don't have all the gear that you so meticulously planned and purchased.