I don't even know where to begin. The week of the climb was amazing, grueling, and physically and mentally challenging beyond anything I could have imagined.
The first day, the guide, porters and cook picked me up at the lodge in Moshi and we drove to the gate for the Machame route up the mountain. The guide Naftal, couldn't count the number of times he'd summited Kili, so I felt positive he was experienced enough to get me to the top! He spoke very little English and I no Swahili, so communication was a bit of a struggle. Somehow, we made it work.
I was amazed at the number of people heading up the Mountain that day. Since this was my first significant climb, I had no idea what to expect. There were several hundred people beginning their ascent that day. I was struck by the diversity in age of the climbers. Many were well in to their 50s. Very inspiring! Most were westerners. A lot of Brits, French and Germans.
The first two days of the ascent took us through a lovely rainforest. It reminded me of the forests in the Northwest. Lots of moss on trees, large ferns and damp soil. The beautiful surroundings took my mind off the physical climbing during those two days.
The third and fourth days were completely different. The landscape was extremely rocky and dusty and the climbing became increasingly difficult. The trails took us staight up the sides of cliffs, where we were scaling boulders and hanging onto rocks so we wouldn't fall to certain death! The most impressive though, besides the fact that I actually reached the top of some of the cliffs, were the porters who carried 50 to 90 lbs of food, water and gear up the same cliffs I struggled with only carrying a small daypack. They made it look so easy. Maybe the weed they were smoking along the way helped!
Although I had planned to summit on day six, the guide thought I was strong enough to do it on day 5, so I agreed. We woke up early on day 5 and climbed about 2,500 feet to camp Barafu, the final approach for summit. I rested for an hour and then began the most difficult climb of my life. At first, I struggled with my breathing. I tried not to look up at the steep mountain in front of me so I could concentrate on breathing and slowly moving my feet ahead. As we climbed, I saw several people being carried down the mountain by porters. Scary!
The first two hours of the final ascent were very difficult, but I kept a steady pace and the guide was pleased with our progress. The third and fourth hours were excruciating. I could barely put one foot in front of the other. I had no energy left and guess my legs were moving by sheer force of will.
A little over 18,000 ft, I began to get extremely dizzy, sleepy and my legs were unstable. I kept trying to move, but had to stop every few minutes to rest. I asked Naftal how much longer to the top and he said about 1 hour. At that point, I knew I couldn't go on. Had I continued, the decent would have been very dangerous as my legs were already too weak to stop a fall. I decided to turn back to Barafu.
The next day, we embarked on a 6 hour decent to the gate. My legs were still so weak and coming off the mountain, even though we were weren't climbing, was still a struggle. At the end of it, my toes and feet looked like hamburger and I could barely walk. I got back to the lodge around 1 in the afternoon, had the best shower EVER and took a well-deserved nap before dinner. Tomorrow, I'll sleep in and continue to recover. Luckily, the lodge offers massage so of course, I've scheduled one for tomorrow afternoon.
Of course I was dissappointed that I couldn't summit, but certainly feel a sense of accomplishment in the effort. And, 18,000 feet is nothing to sneeze at, eh?
So, it's confirmed that I am no mountaineer, just a gal who likes to walk in the woods and mountains from time to time:-)
