Reflections on climbing and summitting Mt. Kilimanjaro

Greetings! 
This post is to give you an idea about the climb and how it went.  We realize we are backtracking a little bit, but it is necessary because we had no internet connections during the actual climb.    Before we tell you about the specifics, we thought it would be good to give you some background on the guiding company we chose.

Why did we pick Alpine Ascents as our guide company?
The details and logistics of an expedition of this sort demand experienced experts.  Alpine Ascents handles everything:   setting up all the tents, including the mess tent and toilet tents.   They pay attention to all the details that make such an expedition enjoyable for the climbers, such as  clean water, waking you up in the morning at your tent door with coffee, ensuring that you are well prepared for the day, have good fresh food, etc.  Their attention to safety and their safety record sets the standard for the industry.   They are the leaders in climbing the Seven Summits (and Kili is one!).  In short, Alpine Ascents is the premiere guiding company if you are interested in proven safety and also want the highest level of luxury on an expedition that is tent camping.  They also have one of the highest percentages of climbers that successfully summit.

Day 1 of climb:
We left the Arusha hotel in extended-cab Land Cruisers bound for the Machame trailhead.  Along the way, we viewed the pastoral landscape of the lower slope of the mountain--the goats in the grass fields and the dry-farmed corn fields.  Our guides, Don and Sara Carpenter, have already started to take care of us---for example, Sara's taping of Paul's blistered right heel before we even left for the trailhead.  Once we get to the gate, we prepare our gear.  The monkeys are all over the metal roof at the prep area.  The foliage is lush here at 6,000 ft, and the weather is good today---no rain.  We meet our Chagga guides here.  There are six---one lead guide, Matthew, and five guides that report to him.  Their names are Frank, Clements, Nicholas, Abraham, and Paul.   We start by winding up a fire-road style trail into the jungle, climbing steadily.  We break every hour for water and a snack if we want it.  The protocol for the break is to drop your pack, put another layer on to stay warm, even if you are not cold, drink water, eat some food, and go the bathroom if you need to do so.   The significance of the break protocol would be clearer to us as we got closer to summit day.  After about 3 hours  we arrive at the lunch stop, at which we get our first taste of the food and Alpine Ascents' hospitality.   There is a mess tent that was carried by the porters and assembled before we arrived at that spot in the trail. The mess tent has an Igloo water jug full of warm water for hand-washing with soap.  The table is set with flowers--an oasis in an oasis.   The toilet tent is also set up.  After lunch we climbed another 3 hours up to Machame camp at 9,900 ft.  We are welcomed into camp by the Chagga-tribe porters and guides.  There we find the tents already set up.  We have a little time before dinner to set up our tent for sleeping.  Since darkness falls around 6:30 pm, we set up early this first night to make sure we get everything right.  This is Margaret's maiden voyage overnight in a tent ---quite educational for her.  In about 40 minutes, we have to get the tent totally prepared to sleep.  This entails laying out the waffle sleeping pads, blowing up the Thermarest mattresses, and arranging and securing all our gear.  For Paul it also means removing his contacts and setting them up for the night.  It also means setting up the pee bottle in a convenient place.  Dinner is served in the mess tent around 6:30 pm.  This tent is the same tent that was assembled at lunch lower on the mountain, then disassembled and carried by porters higher on the mountain to our evening camp.  A typical dinner begins with soup and then follows with rice or pasta, vegetables, meat, and ends with dessert.  Hot drinks are available throughout the meal.  After dinner we turn on our headlamps and go back to our tent.  The sleeping bag becomes a respite from the rigors of the day---it is warm and welcome.  This first night we sleep pretty well because we are only at 10,000 ft.

Day 2 of climb:
This day begins at 6:15 am by waking up to hot drinks delivered to our tent, followed by a full breakfast.  The care and concern of Don and Sara to make sure that we are taken care of is evident.   Our Chagga guides are helpful and joyful---they help Margaret put on her gaiters before we leave camp.  We hike up a very steep grade for 3 hours to the top of the Shira plateau.  This grade is full of big boulders that require good effort to  get around. Here we get our first view of the top of Kili.  There is cloud cover until we get to 11,000 ft,  when we drop down off a ridge into the lunch spot.  Sara and Don teach along the way---showing us how to be more efficient with our steps and footwork, saving energy and making sure we stay safe.  The pace slows as we climb higher.  Matthew, our lead Chagga guide,  is great to deal with.  An adorable member of the guide crew, Frank, is nicknamed nungu nungu (porcupine).  He is joyful and an excellent singer.  He is the leader for the daily reception as we come into camp, which begins this afternoon.  As we come into camp, all the guides and porters are singing the "Kilimanjaro song", a catchy tune.   All the girls on the trip want to take nungu nungu home.  Margaret has a pretty good headache from the altitude as we get into Shira camp at 12,500 ft.  We've now climbed 6,500 ft in two days.  The routine is the same---we have to get our tent ready before dinner.  While we are getting our tent ready, we find out that Elin, a beautiful and quintessential Swedish girl, is sick.  She is vomiting and cannot hold food down.  Don and Sara are quick to assess her and offer her help, along with the help of the 3 doctors we have as members of our group:  Tripp and Mara, a  married couple, and Jim, a cardiac surgeon.  We go to bed not knowing what will happen to Elin.

Day 3 of climb:
Over hot coffee in the tent, Paul explains to Margaret that this Kili climb is a hybrid between a hut-trekking trip and full mountaineering expedition because of altitude, weather, and the fact of having no resources other than what you bring with you or is carried by the porters.  The significance of this will be  borne out later in the day.  Today we climb to 14,800 on a ridge before heading to our campsite at Barranco at 12,800.  This is an acclimatization day of climbing high and sleeping low---the first of three such days.  Along the way, Nungu Nungu sang the Jumbo song to us on the trail when he knew we were getting tired.  His singing lifts our spirits and gives us more energy to keep climbing. "Pole pole" is said constantly by our guides. Pole means slow. It is critical to have a slow pace so you conserve energy and have the maximum chance of summitting. The guides remind us to go Pole Pole. By lunch we learn that Elin, who had been struggling in the rear, has agreed to be taken down the mountain.  Resources are committed by the guides to ensure her safe descent and return to Arusha.   We are saddened but glad to hear, later in the day, that she is on her way to Arusha.   We climb up to the high point of our day,  a spot known as Lava Tower.  Paul scrambles partway up, while Margaret continues with part of the group down to the campsite.  She is rained-on along the way.  The descent to the campsite winds past large groundsel trees shrouded in the wetting mist.  We arrive at the campsite at the base of the Barranco Wall, an imposing barrier to further progress. We can't see the wall that night, but will get a full view the next morning. We eat together and then head to bed.  One of the real great aspects of going on a trip like this is meeting special people that become part of your team.   We had the pleasure of getting to know a couple from Annapolis, MD, Tripp and Mara Holton, both doctors.  Much as numgu nungu knew when to sing to us to inspire us on,  Tripp knew just when to crack a joke to lighten the load and raise our spirits.  Both of them were a joy to be around.  We look forward to seeing them again.  We have so many "Trippisms" from this trip.  He is  the funniest guy!

Day 4 of climb:
This day begins with a view of climbers stacking up at critical pitches as they scramble up the Great Barranco Wall.  We have this view because Don and Sara have decided to leave camp a little later, concluding that the other climbers will only impede us, which is obvious now to us from our vantage point.  Soon enough, though, we begin our ascent.   Our scramble up the Barranco wall made Margaret think of P.J. and Jon, as well as Stef's Andrew---all climbers who would consider this somewhat easy if not for the elevation.   For some on the trip, this is most scrambling they have ever done.  The guides take great care of us---they know who needs the help with foot and hand placement and they are right there to help.  Nungu Nungu is also there to get us singing when our energy lags.  It is here that Jian, a lovely girl from London,  had trouble breathing due to her asthma.  A guide took her pack,.  Sara waited with her while she caught her breath, letting her take her time.  Sara coached Margaret up the first part of the rock scramble, showing her where to place her feet, how to think about the movements and her center of gravity.  Matthew said "put your hand here Madame".  Paul, one of the Chagga guides, led her up and down along the most dangerous sections, standing below to block her from any dangerous drops and telling Margaret right where to place her feet on the short descents, saying " no slippery Mama".   All the guides and porters sang to us on as we climbed up the steep final pitch to Karanga camp at 13,300.  There is a huge singing celebration when we crest the ridge and enter camp at around 2:30 pm.  There is a chill in the air now, but the weather is great.  Here we start the initial prepping of our gear for the summit attempt.  We see the top of the mountain for about 5 minutes before clouds covered it---it is spectacular, crowned in snow and ice and looming directly above us as evening falls. 

Day 5 of climb:
The day dawns clear and starts with the morning routine of packing up gear and getting ready to make way.  We steadily climb a gradual trail  2,300 feet up to Kosovo camp at 15,600---this is our High Camp.  We  are here early with time to prep our gear for our summit attempt.   It is snowing lightly---grauppel snow---pellet snow---as we enter camp.  Here the challenge of the cold begins, along with the wind.  We prep our gear and have an early breakfast/dinner.  At dinner Don gives us an overview of Summit day and the protocol we will  follow  for breaks before we head to bed at around 6 pm .  The critical element of the breaks is efficiency---getting it all done fast before we start to get dangerously cold.

Day 6 of climb:
Summit Day!   We awake at 11:00 pm, have breakfast ( along with Diamox for altitude) and leave at midnight with headlamps on.  It is cold, in the high teens F, with a light wind, and clear.  We will leave at midnight and climb about  6.5  hours in the dark, stopping every hour to drink and eat a snack.  The mantra is "pole pole"---slowly, slowly.  As we ascend, it gets colder and windier, but still good conditions generally prevail.  Nungu Nungu sings to us when we need it to keep our spirits up.   The climb is brutally steep and switchbacks back and forth.  Maddy made Margaret a playlist on the Ipod for summit day---Pete Huttlinger "On Eagle's Wings" pushes her on.  Margaret also wears a scarf Karen Driscoll made to keep her neck warm.  She is reminded about how blessed she is to have wonderful family and friends.  The climb up Kili is much more mental than physical. We are reminded of the virtues of perserverance and patience.  The steepness is unrelenting, the air so thin that it seems you can hardly get a good breath. The guides tell us the brutal steep will end at Stella Point, and then it will be more gradual for the final 1,000 feet to reach UHURU PEAK. We finally reach Stella Point, near 18,000 ft.  As we reach the flank of the crater rim we get a hot drink the porters have packed up in Thermos bottles.  It was so cold and the hot tea seemed such a wonderful gift at that moment. The tea helped to warm us.  The break is short.  Soon the climb up Uhuru peak, the high point on the crater rim, begins.  It becomes the summit ridge that never seems to end, with false summit after false summit.   We are ascending the ridge as dawn begins to break to the east.  Finally the summit is in view and Margaret is the first client to stand there, with Paul right behind her.  We are moved to recommit our love for each other here at the summit.  We spend about 1/2 hour at the summit watching the sunrise. It is so cold you cannot stay much longer.  With goggles and sunglasses,  we descend back down the trail towards camp.  It is a long way down through the loose earth on the trail. We slide so far with each step that we marvel how we made it uphill.  Once back in high camp, we pack up our gear, have lunch, and begin the trek downhill to Millenium camp at around 12,000 ft.  Everyone is exhausted on the descent.  We have been hiking for 17 hours with only a few breaks to rest.  At Millenium we head to our tents for a nap.  We are  awakened for dinner and all report to the mess tent.  After dinner we have a special cake made by the chef.  We all go to bed early and have a great night's sleep!  Margaret and I lie in bed and marvel at this incredible accomplishment. It hadly seems real that we were standing on the roof of Africa.  We fall fast asleep.

Day 7 of climb:
After sleeping 10 hours without waking up, we pack up the tent for the last time.  While packing up we give many of our trekking and campling items to a collection being taken up for the guides and porters (70 people total) that provided all the support for the expedition. These people are very poor, and our gear contributions will be valuable to them.   We descend 6,000 ft, starting in the dirt, and  ending in the mud of the jungle (very slippery!).  When we get to Mweka gate, the final point, the crew had an incredible reception for us, with special necklaces and dancing and a beautiful lunch.   The items we donated were laid out on the grass and raffled off---when their number was picked a porter or guide would come up and pick an item they liked.  We said goodbye and got in the Land Cruisers to head back to Arusha for  the first shower in 7 days-----heaven! We then went out to a great celebration dinner.  We had done it!