We started hiking at 12:10am. It was dark and cold. We were lucky that we had the full moon. We hiked very slow and very steady. I was feeling really good except I was pretty nauseous. I tried to eat some candy at a break and realized real quick I would not be eating any food while attempting the summit. Luckily I could handle the electrolyte water I had. It had a few calories and that it what got me to the top. I think the hardest part about the summit was the mental side of it. It was dark, cold, and long. We climbed from 15,750 to 19,340ft in 3.5 miles, so we gained 3,590 ft in those 3.5 miles. I did not like that it was so dark. I never hike in the dark. I asked the guide why we were hiking in the middle of the night and he said too many hikers turned around when they hiked in the daylight. I get it. It was frustrating to go so slow. It did not feel like we were making progress. About halfway up our guides took our bags and carried them. This made the hike so much easier for us. It would have been so easy to turn around. I think my stubbornness and pride kept me moving towards the summit.
A little before 5am we got to Stella point. That was a happy sight. Everything I read made it seem like the hike was way easier once you get to Stella Point. Mentally for me it was still challenging because I didn't know how much further we needed to climb. I also couldn't tell where the summit was, that was discouraging. Slow and steady we hiked. 5 hours and 40 minutes after leaving base camp we reached the summit. We were the first team on top! I was freezing because the guide made us wear so many clothes. I knew for me it was too much, but for some reason I didn't feel like I should disregard his advice. That was a very bad judgement call on my part. I have hiked so many miles in all kinds of weather I can trust my own judgement. The problem was I was to hot and I had been sweating on the way up. Now that we were on top I was freezing. We got to the top and it was pitch black. We had to hang out for 15-20 minutes to allow the sun to come up so we could get pictures. I was getting colder by the minute.
But it was worth the wait. So happy I made it.
Ou group of four at the summit. Cyndee was having some major stomach stuff so she stayed back at camp and tried to get some fluid in her body and lots of sleep.
Once we finished with pictures I was ready to head down. Phillip wanted to take more picture so Maro was kind enough to head down with me. He was like don't you want to take more pictures. Unfortunately I was just too cold. I just wanted to get moving so I could hopefully recover. He took my phone and took some pictures for me. Seriously such a nice guy. I really thought he was an excellent assistant guide.
We got to watch the sun come up and it was beautiful. This world we live in is absolutely amazing. I am always in awe at all the beauty I see everywhere.
Maro making me pose for pictures:)
By the time we got back to Stella Point I was feeling much better. The sun was all the way up and my body was warm again. We stopped to grab a picture because it was way too dark on the way up.
So the way down the mountain is not the same as the way up. They way up was steep, short switchbacks. The way down was straight down the mountain. It was like a chute of scree and shell. Take one step and slide for three feet. It was insane! Normally I would not love this but I was tired and it was nice to make really fast progress down the mountain. It took almost 6 hours to get up the mountain and 2 hours to get back to camp. Maro and I went fast because the sooner I got to camp the longer my nap could be. From the summit we had to hike 8.7 miles down, but we got to sleep for a little bit after the first couple miles before continuing down the mountain. I got back to camp. Stripped my layers and took a hot nap. I got to rest for two hours before continuing down.
Before coming to Africa I was most worried about the downhill on summit day. 8.7 miles downhill and descending over 9,000 ft sounded really hard on my body. Luckily my body responded really well and I had a great hiking day. It was long and I was tired but it was not as bad as I was expecting.
We stopped at high camp and used the bathroom on the way down. This is a camp that some of the other routes use on the way down from the summit.
We hiked back into the rain forest and everything was misty and wet again. My least favorite. It didn't bother me too much though, I was so happy to almost be done. I could almost feel the shower I was going to get tomorrow afternoon.
I have to mention the bathroom at some point during these posts. We had our own camp bathroom and it was the best thing ever. If you hike Kilimanjaro make sure you use a tour company that supplies a bathroom. The bathrooms on the mountain are so NASTY, this was amazing.
One porter had the job of carrying and cleaning the bathroom. He did a great job. It was almost the same as using an indoor bathroom.
The last night our cook made us a cake to celebrate. It was not very good but it's the thought that counts. I really appreciated all the workers in our group that made this trek possible.
After dinner I went to bed. My body was worn out. I had been awake for a lot of hours. I had hiked around 12 miles, gained 3,500 ft elevation and descended 9,000ft. I took some ibuprofen and slept amazing.
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