Summit Day - Part 3

The picture of the trip, IMHO.

Mt Meru (14K, 100 miles away) in the distance, with the shadow of Mt Kilimanjaro in the foreground (the sun is behind the peak, which is just above and behind us). Taken from ~ 19K at dawn

Summit Day - Part 2

Lumpy, Larry, Gill: Hanging at Kibo Hut (note water bottles, which had to be all carried up on porters heads)

Peter (our head guide) wakes us up at 10pm for our summit attempt. Everyone is slow moving, as we're all cold. We slept with virtually all of our summit clothes inside our sleeping bags..no small feat when your sleeping bag is already a tight-fitting mummy bag.

As we're dressing, Alphonse comes over to me and says "You know, Kilimanjaro is NOT to be taken lightly". If ever a statement was dramatic license, this was it. He wasn't kidding...

We rendezvous outside. The night is nicely lit, as we've got a waxing moon. If nothing else, we timed that nicely. It's probably somewhere around 0F, with just a light breeze. We don our headlamps, and start up the mountain.

The terrain at this stage is loose volcanic soil over rock. So, it's kinda like walking up a sand dune. You take a step, then you slip back a foot or two, then another step. This goes on for hours.

At ~ 16.5K we have our first dramatic event. Troy comes around a switchback and totally face plants. He is down for the count. The guides run over to attend to him, and we all wait apprehensively. The combo of lack of food, dehydration, and vertical has beaten him. Kennedy (a guide, not the president) gets ahold of him and starts him down the mountain; his summit attempt is finished. He will be walked all the way down to 12K before he regains his wits (such as they are). We'll see him again sometime saturday night. By Tuesday he's in the hospital (more to come on this one later).

As our eyes get accustomed to the moonlight, we douse our headlamps and just climb by moonlight. The night sky is incredible...we're above the clouds, and this truly is the night sky that our ancestors watch for the last 100,000 years (or last 3,000 if you're a fundamentalist whacko). Stars, nebulas, the Milky Way in all its magestry. Just beautiful.

At ~ 17K we have to scramble up a rockface. It would be a nothing down low, but here it winds me and I have to sit down for about 10 minutes. This is my first checkpoint that I might not make the summit, as we still have 2.5K to go. It's getting colder every hour without the cloud cover, and even with 7 layers on, I'm starting to get quite cold. Someone says it's about 10 below and still dropping. Now, my water has frozen up solid, and I'm out of liquids. This is not a good thing, as you can dehyrdate very quickly at this altitude. Tom is also struggling, he's very wobbly on his legs, bob is having leg cramps, and frankly, nobody is in top form by now.

At ~ 18K we get to Gillman's Point. This is the lip of the volcano, and when you get here, it's considered a successful summit. From here, many people will traverse the volcano rim up to Uhuru Peak, which is the true summit. At this point we split up, the first group being Sam, Larry, Posh. Following close behind is Gill, Walter, and Saski, then I leave with Bob just behind. Tom has just arrived at Gillmans and he is not looking well. He is shaking and very delirious. One of the guides decides to stay bahind with him and see how he recovers before letting him move onward and upward.

Lumpy Out

Summit Day -Part 1

Top: Not everyone makes it. Sobering...

Middle: Inter-species (homonid and sasquatsch) hiking

Bottom: Time to bundle up for Lumpy

Friday morning, and we're on the road to Kibo Hut. This is the guts of the hike now, and we're all nervous. Sam breaks that tension with a bunch of word games that he plays with the kids at summer camp, where he's a counselor. Stuff like he yells out "Ronald Regan" then you have to take the last letter and name another actor "Nannette Fabre". On and on, for some 4 hours. I now REALLY hate word games...

We are now far above treeline, and it's much colder. Off in the distance we see a massive smokecloud. Apparently there is a large forest fire inflamed on the far side of Kilimanjaro. That should make the hike more interesting, since we can't breathe now. The smoke should make it all that much more fun.

We now see the main volcanic peak directly in front of us, and it's daunting. Once we arrive at Kibo Hut at 15.5, we'll have a couple of hours to sleep, an hour to eat (such as it is at this altitude), a couple more hours to sleep, and then at 11pm we're off and running towards the summit. Well, not actually running, as I'll have on 7 layers of clothes, plus pack, plus headlamp, plus 3 hats. I look like the Michelin man..albeit many would say I even look that way naked.

Kibo Hut is VERY sparse, and our room has 10 "bunks" all together, so there's no privacy, and the snoring is heavy since we're all either sick or cannot breathe due to the reduced oxygen. 2 hours of sleep is more like 20 minutes, and dinner is more like a couple powerbars and some hot chocolate.

Lumpy Out

Po-Le, Po-Le Troy

Acclimitizing at Mawezzi Peak

Today we hiked from 12k up to 14.5k to one of the lesser peaks. Upon arrival, we hung out for several hours.

Hey, how's that for one kick-butt blog story!!!

Lumpy out

Wake Up, Little Susie, Wake Up!

Blue coat: Troy
On Bench: Gary and Larry
Large mass on rock: Sam
Mini-Me: Tom

We're up at 12k now. This is the highest ever for Tom and Troy, but we're all feeling rather chipper. I've got increasingly bad diarreah, but am drinking about 2 gallons a day now to try to keep hydrated. We're spending 2 nights here in total. Tomorrow we'll hike up to ~ 14.5k, hang out for a few hours to better acclimate, and then hike back to 12 k. It's always tough on the psyche when you have to reclaim ground that you've already covered, but by all the mountaineering manuals, it's far easier on the body. You come back down, your body feels much stronger, you get a better nights sleep, and then you have at the vertical again the following day. So, that's what we'll do.

As evidenced above, you spend a great deal of time either (a) hiking slow or (b) sleeping on rocks. The guides constantly shout out at us Po-Le, Po-Le, which roughly translates into "dumb ass westerners trying to run up the mountain again".

The accommodations at 12k are more spartan than at 9k; the toilets (near and dear to my heart) are mainly holes in the ground now, with one "throne" 1/4 heigth normal toilet that everyone queues up for. The cooks are doing a stellar job with meals, but the reality of this vertical is that we're not very hungry...even though we really need to eat to rebuild the muscle we've lost from the days climb. Plus, at this altitude you start really dehydrating, so you have to drink constantly.

We're quite thankful that we have huts, as there are a number of hikers who have to setup camp upon arrival, and I'm certain that your sleep is nowhere near as restful on the ground...not like we're in a heavenly bed or anything like that, but at least there's no tent flapping and little wind getting inside.

Tomorrow, our hike up to 14.5K

Lumpy out

Some Trail Shots around 12k

Top: A "natural" break for the boys

2nd: Troy trailwalking

3rd: Follow the yellow brick road to the summit

4th: Posh rocksitting above the clouds

Quote of the Day...

Meringue, our personal care porter

"Walter's a sexy, sexy man"

Must have something to do with the newlywed thing...

Anyhow, I digress. We awake from our first night on the mountain to the sounds of sweet singing, laughter, and our personal porter Meringue (I probably TOTALLY wrecked his name!) arriving at our lodge with hot water to wash up with, hot tea and chocolate to wake up with, and the most incredible morning personality we have ever met. In a week plus, we never saw him not singing, laughing, smiling; just a glorious human to be around. As we got higher up the mountain, he added in dropping off hot water bottles at nightfall so we could throw them into our sleeping bags to help warm us through the night. I asked him to marry me.

We go to the dining lodge along with 100 of our closest friends and partake in our first mountain breakfast. To say it was incredible would be an understatement; we had fresh fruit, bacon, pancakes, and about 20 other dishes. I have never eaten such a variety of great food, greatly prepared. Now we knew why they needed 3 cooks with the expedition! In talking with one of the porters over breakfast, I asked if this was the way that he would normally eat when not on expedition. Sadly, he told me no; he and his family eat porridge most every day, sometime with some fruit. On a really big occasion, like a wedding or Xmas, they might have some meat and such. It was a VERY tough moment for me, and it really honed in on just what a luck of the draw it is that we were born first world instead of third world.

We hit the latrine (ie. the big hole in the ground), get dressed, and hit the trail. Today we will hike out of the rain forest in a mile or so, and on up to 12k'. It's about 6 hours for 8 miles. We're in a scrubbrush zone for the next 4k or so feet, which means more sun and wind exposure, harder ground to walk on, and less oxygen with every footstep. For several of us, this will be the highest we have ever hiked, and we're all aprehensive as to how it will effect our breathing.

Onward and Upward.

Lumpy out

Guides

Top: Alfonse and Patrice

Middle: Moses (Not THE Moses, but our guide)


Bottom: Peter Moto, our head guide

Our guides were absolutely awesome. Aside from Peter, who I described in an earlier post, there were 3 main guides; Alfonse, Patrice, and Moses. Alfonse was a big, laughable, loveable guy, who about 2 minutes into the hike decided the rest of his week would be dedicated to breaking Sam's chops at every opportunity. It was great fun to watch the cross-species (Human to Sasquatch) interplay, and it seemed that Alfonse got the best of the deal every time.

Patrice was the quiet, focused guide. He never faltered, and man did he keep us going. Up near the summit, he was with Bob and I, and we were both near death. Patrice comes up to us, never changes his voice, and say "It is good to put on foot in front of the other...like this" and then proceeds to show us how to walk. Like it was news to us...But, he got his point across, and we kept moving forward.

Like his namesake, Moses was worshipped and feared by everyone. Two quick Moses stories. First, he was taking a hike crew through the public market in Arusha when one of the tourists asked him to take a picture with his (the tourist's) camera. Moses is taking the picture out the land rover window and someone tries to grab the camera from his hand (to steal it). Moses casually lets the camera drop onto its holding strap, grabs the thief's arm, and breaks it in two. Just like that.

Second Moses story; Moses is asleep in his house with his wife and kids. A burgular breaks into the house, and is in the process of stealing stuff when Moses awakes. He grabs his machette from his bedside (where ELSE would you keep a machette?), chases the burgular, and proceeds to machette both of his achilles tendons. The thief drags himself out the window and down the street, and Moses goes back to bed. Nobody's burgularized Moses house since then...wonder why?

We knew the guides would be important, but I don't think any of us knew just how important until we got up high. I dare say none of us would have summitted without them.

Lumpy out

And They're off!

Porters carrying Gear

Clockwise from top left: Larry, Bob, Troy, Lumpy, Gill, Walter, Saskia, Sam, Tom, Posh

Bottom: Lumpy at Hike startgate

We have a solid 4 hour drive to get to the starting point of the hike at 6k'. It seems to take even longer though, as we come across (a) diesel tanker trucks run off the road and down a ravine, (b) chicken farmers on wagons taking up the road, and (c) hundreds, if not thousands of natives walking along the road to wherever the heck they are going. The woman wear incredibly colorful sarongs and balance huge bags on their heads. The bags could contain things like grain or rice, clothings, or bricks to build their houses.

The house thing was most interesting. As we drive around, there are half finished houses everywhere. Some have 1 wall, some 3 walls, some 4 walls but no roof, etc. Apparently as people get a little bit of money (from a good harvest or whatever), they buy building materials (mostly either bricks or sheet metal for roofing) and build whatever portion of the house they can afford. There's no such thing as a mortgage. So, it might take you a decade or more to build a house to live in, or perhaps never. And, many of the people just live in whatever portion of the house they can afford, so you see people (and farm animals and whatever) living in a 3 brick wall "house" with no roof, windows, or doors. It's a sad state of affairs, but they make the best of the situation.

We arrive at the hut and meet our main crew; Peter, Moses, Alfonse, and Patrice, and all of the dishwashers, cooks, and porters. The porters carry 50 lb bags on their heads with gear (food, water, clothes) along with (many of them) full packs on their backs with our high elevation gear. We all carry a stuffed daypack with our rain gear, extra clothes, food, and emergency gear. We're clearly getting the better of the deal!

Our first day hike is going to be 6 miles up to 9k' through rain forest. It is quite dense, but the trail is excellent, well marked and not too rocky. The hike takes about 5 hours or so, and nobody is any worse for the wear. We arrive at Horombo hut mid-afternoon, settle in and grab a nap. A quick dinner follows, and we bed down for the night. 9k seems SO easy; how hard can 19k be?

Lumpy out

Mini Me (Sam and Tom)

Rumour has it that Sam is the illegitimate love child of Tom and an actual Sasquatch. Frankly, that doesn't seem too fair to Sasquatches...

Who's on First?

Front Row, left to right: Bob, Lumpy, Saskia, Troy, Walter, Peggy (Posh Spice), Larry, Tom, guide, Gill, Sam

Tuesday morning, the whole group has arrived, and we're off to meet our crew and guides. First, a bit about the hikers.

Bob is an old friend from ROC, now living in the midwest. He was an outstanding triathlete way back when, and now spends most of his days writing out alimony checks and creating graphs. Bob showed up with an altitude vs. % O2 loss chart so we would know what we were up against. Of course, it was done in 3 colors, 4 languages, and both metric and english grids. Needless to say, he's an engineer...

Saskia and Walter were newlyweds (albeit the apparently had "relations" beforehand...I was appalled) and this was their honeymoon. Surprisingly, the same thing that kathy and I did for our honeymoon...well, except for never leaving South Buffalo and all the vomiting and such. Anyhow, they were a most interesting young couple. Saskia works in a meth lab in Oakland, mixing crack cocaine, and Walter (or Wally as he really liked to be called) was a gangsta rapper from Berkley, THE home of honkey gangsta rap. He grew up in Guam, which is a suburb of Compton I believe.

Troy was our youngest hiker, and our "staff" photographer. He was originally from Indiana, but had moved to some big city in Iowa. Well, except for the fact that his navigational skills were less than stellar, so he was unknowingly residing in South Chicago. Troy took about 200 million photos on the trip, including such hot spots as inside the latrine pit at 15k. He also received awards for (a) most sentences strung together without a breath, (b) least hair on a 20-something, and (c) best face-plant at 16k. Oh, and "most IV bags in 2 hours".

Larry and Posh were a totally cute couple of mormons from Colorado. Posh spent most of her time putting on make-up, doing her hair, and spot cleaning her clothes, while Larry drank beer with the guys, looked at porno mags, and got high. He was definitely the coolest mormon guy I've ever met, (and since the only other one I know is Mitt Romney, that really didn't take a lot). He invited us to the mormon Trashfest '08 in Las Vegas next year as his guest; we are all very excited.

Tom is an old friend, both chronologically and, well, chronologically. He's done many of our "Lumpy events" with me, including the Canandaigua swim, the Russia triathlon trip, and the NRA assault rifle national shootoff. I usually bring him along for his superior ability to get me OUT of trouble. Plus, it had been a few years since I broke any of his bones, and Kilimanjaro looked like a good place to really put a hurting on him. He's really brittle nowadays.

Gill is our token "guy magnet". Everywhere she goes, guys just fall all over her...mainly because they trip on her size 11 feet. She's also done a bunch of "Lumpy events" over the years, including the Tahoe Rim Trail hike, the Bike Tour of Colorado, and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit awards (in which she was a competitor in the "women who can kick the crap out of any guy" category). We were most concerned about Gill just RUNNING up the mountain and leaving us all in her dust...which, of course, is just what she did.

Our final hiker was Sam from Colorado. Sam was a beast of a man, about 6'2" (or 8.9 meters) and 240 lbs (6,295 kilograms). Sam was a former high school football star (a la Al Bundy), and is quite the schmoozer when it comes to catholic deacons and their daughters (long story, but suffice to say even I wouldn't have told that joke to a deacon about his daughter!).

Tom was kind of the mini-me version of Sam; both bald, well muscled (well, Sam was anyways), and spent a LOT of time horizontal. See next post....

All in all, a heck of a good crew to go hike a mountain with.

Lumpy out

Africa Resumed

Hi all,

OK< back from EEU trip, and I'll start with the continuation of the Africa saga. So, if you're just getting to this, go backwards a couple of posts, and you can read the lead in to the trip. I'll restart here with an overview of the other hikers, and then off and running with the hike. So, here we go.