Day 9: Summit Day

I wake to the sounds of the camp.  Darkness still permeates the camp so it is early.  Coffee is expected at 5 and sure enough it arrives on time.  There is no bath this morning due to the temperature, so breakfast is at 5:30.  Promptly at 6 we embark in the dark to face the hardest day yet.  The terrain is steep and difficult.  The biting wind blows cold.  I am alone with my thoughts as conversation is just not possible while hiking at this altitude.  I am happy for this opportunity.  I am afraid I am not up for the challenge. I miss Trish and my daughters. I am cold and weary.   We trek on as the sun rises over the ridge.

The sun brings enough warmth that I stop and shed my outer layer of clothes.  The weather is cooperating as we continue on.  The grade we are ascending is about 35% and my legs are starting to feel the strain.  I remind myself we have 6 more hours of this and tell my calves they work for me and stop being wimps.  They don't listen to me and keep complaining.  Liberate explains when we stop that short stops are better so you don't cool off too much.  It makes it easier to start back moving.  He is right the first few times.

The landscape is desolate, almost angry in appearance.  No plants grow this high, It is ash, sand, rocks and boulders.  About 4 hours into our hike, we see the first casualties of the climb.  We were told the reason other groups leave at midnight to summit is so they can see the sunrise from the summit.  The truth, we find is most take so long they will need the time to complete the trek back to Barafu before dark.  For the next few hours we are passed by more and more casualties of the mountain.  Some are just too exhausted to continue.  Some are experiencing altitude sickness and being almost carried by guides. It scares me: will I become a casualty?  It invigorates me, I refuse to become a casualty: failure is not an option!  It worries me: What if they were more fit than me?  I push through the doubt and pray for strength. 

6 hours into our hike we start to encounter the victors.  They are happy and offer words of encouragement: You are almost there!; You can do it, not far to go; It's tough but worth it.  Words, I feel they should help, but my body is screaming louder.  I am repeating to myself: lift, plant, push, repeat a million times.  I wish I had trained more.  I wish I was thinner.  I wish I had 3 ounces less in this backpack.  All wishes, no help.  I reached my limit a half hour ago and blew it aside.  I am an automaton. Keep progressing, don't stop.  Breathing is difficult, but the past few day acclimatizing has helped. I am not desperate though I can hear every heartbeat pounding.  Then Stella Point comes into view and the rush to the summit begins. 

We stop for lunch at Stella Point.  You can see the summit sign from here.  It is only 600 feet of vertical ascent.  The day is crisp and mild, how could I have not noticed that before?  As lunch is served, I realize I have no appetite.  I manage to get a few slices of fruit down.  The meat makes me want to barf.  I lie down to get a little energy.  Soon, Liberate asks if we want to summit.  Of course we do, tomorrow it might be raining or foggy.  He says he will carry my backpack and EJ will carry Lisa's.  This is welcome news.  They can leave theirs with the porters.  So I crawl up to vertical, grab my poles and head down the trail to Uhuru point. I feel light without the backpack, but my legs are still tired after 6 1/2 hours of hiking.  However, the sight of the sign drives me on.  Pole, pole, slowly we ascend.  We stop twice to rest.  Lisa and EJ keep going the second time.  That's ok it's not a race, but it gripes me a little.  I am too tired to care.  We start back when I am ready and within minutes I can see the sign up ahead.  Lisa and EJ are just arriving.  There is one group leaving, otherwise we have the sign to ourselves.  

One of the issues with nighttime ascents is that a lot of people make it for sunrise, then there is a line to take pictures at the sign.  We have no worries like this.  It's good because I want lots of pictures.  First I get one alone with the sign.  Then I hold up my Arthrex sign.  The finally I hold up my Iron Tribe flag.  I get a few shots of each in case one is blurry.  Then because  no one else is around, we goof around.  We get some shots with Lisa, EJ, Liberate and me. We get photos of various mixtures of the group.  We get a shot of me dropping my rock.  I know it sounds weird since ounces count, who is foolish enough to bring a rock to leave behind?  Well, I am.  You see a couple of years ago I was on another volcano on the equator call Cotopaxi.  When there I brought home a few rocks from the top.  When I decided to come to Kilimanjaro, I felt it was appropriate to bring a piece of her sister as it were.  I know I am crazy, but it made me smile so I did it.  Liberate seemed enchanted by the idea and wanted to get a shot of the rock in mid air.  After a couple of tries we did it!  You can see the rock falling in the photo below.

After the frivolity at the sign we head down as two Japanese men approach. Going down is easy to Stella Point.  When we encounter our crew we exchange knuckle bumps and handshakes. Congratulations resound form the porters.  They are genuinely happy that we made it.  The Thomson crew has been great.  Now we are supposed to head to crater camp about another hour's hike.  Lisa and I are not keen on staying up this high and would rather expend the energy getting back to Barafu.  Liberate says it is about 3 hours hike down.  We beg until he agrees then we head down. 

"The enemy gate is down"-Ender Wiggins from Orson Scott Card's novel Enders Game.  In the novel he uses the reference to orient his team and win the battle.  Here it means I am heading back into the real world.  For seven days I have been off the grid.  In a couple I will be heading back to reality.  On the mountain everyone is on your side except the mountain.  At home there are challenges to face, all of which seem small in comparison to what I have just done.  There is very little my enemies can throw my way that will be harder than what I have just thrown at myself and dominated!  I am also quite aware that I have a huge loving support structure that I miss terribly.  So life is about the journey and not the destination and that journey continues down.

Down is easier.  This mountain has taught me many things, but relativity is one I feel closely right now.  Not clean, just cleaner.  Not flat, just flatter.  Not easy, you guessed it: just easier.  You use different muscle groups going down.  However, your whole body is spent.  There is no energy left to go.  It's a good thing gravity is pulling you and you just have to slow it down as best you can.  

Did I mention scree?  It is a wonderful and hateful thing.  It is basically loose gravel.  When you step in it, you slide down about a foot from where you started.  Cool when you are going down as it get you there much faster.  The downside, you have to struggle to keep from doing a face plant while moving at a rapid walk (for lack of a better term, it feels more like skating).  Skating down the side of a mountain sounds fun except like I said, your body is completely spent.  All energy reserves were used getting to the summit and you just want to lie down and sleep.  But wait, we have two more hours of sliding to go. Step, slip, plant pole, step, slip, plant, repeat about a million times.  By the way try not to do a face plant.

After a few hours of this I stumble back into Barafu camp.  It has been 10 hours and 7 minutes to ascend and descend about 4000 feet.  I stumble to my tent and fall in backwards with my feet sticking out.  I lie still for a few minutes.  Then I manage to get one gaiter off.  Then I lie still for a minute.  Next I get off one boot and lie back for a minute.  I literally cannot do more than one step without resting.  Eventually, I manage to change into dry clothes and crawl back into my sleeping bag.  I am summoned for dinner twice and manage to get up and go.  I have no appetite, but eat anyway.   I know my body needs nutrition to heal from the grueling day.  I was told I burned about 8000 calories today. My vitals check out wonderfully: 79 HR, 95 OX.  This is the best they have been and I am too tired to even care.  I get my two hot water bottles and head straight to bed.