The first 6 hours of summit day were miserable. We started hiking at midnight, it was pitch black, we were freezing cold from the wind, the trail was loose, rocky skree and it was too cold to stop and rest. We spent hour upon hour of putting one food ahead of the other and wondering if we would actually make it to the top. Our guide claimed that for part of the hike, we were actually sleepwalking! I contemplated turning around on many occasions but remembered it had taken me four days to get to this point and I wanted, I needed, to stick it out. I have no idea if Ted was thinking the same thing because at this point we were too cold, tired, and out of it to talk. The altitude was finally getting to both of us and lightheaded-ness, the mild headaches and the nausea were not fun. When you look at your watch and it’s still in the 3 o’clock hour and you have hours to go, you wonder why you pay to do stuff like this.
And finally, oh finally, that beautiful sun started to come up. I was more excited about the sun rising for the warmth than I was for any other reason. However the side benefit was that we could see the top and we were close. The end was in sight. The pink sky was just the encouragement I needed to finish what we started. When you see the crescent of first sunlight on the horizon from the roof of Africa, everything at that moment gets a whole lot better, and man does it feel good!
Kilimanjaro? Bagged it!!
We owe another huge thank you to our friends at Adventures Within Reach for making it possible (and affordable!) for us to experience this opportunity of a lifetime. If you’re going to Africa, be sure to check out their awesome itineraries.
June 7th, 2011 on 6:01 am
Wow! Congratulations. Amazing that you did this! Photos are great.
June 9th, 2011 on 6:41 am
Thanks Karol! I’m glad we have the pictures because I’m pretty sure I would never do it again!
June 9th, 2011 on 9:06 am
Just think how few people in the entire world have even done it once! It’s an incredible accomplishment.
June 10th, 2011 on 3:46 pm
i’m so proud of you both! amazing opportunity indeed. thank you for sharing it with us. i was holding my breath, here in my cozy ill-temperature holding office at the Leeds School. Very suspenseful writing! happy to hear you made it safe and sound.
June 13th, 2011 on 11:16 pm
Thanks Mel! It was suspenseful for us too on the mountain as it was pretty touch and go for a while there. Glad to have it behind us in the “been there done that” category!
June 14th, 2011 on 4:50 pm
bad ASS you two!!!! that kicks havasu’s butt, just a lil huh?