Climbing Kilimanjaro

Moshi, Tanzania

A walking tour of Moshi brought us through markets and traffic and a walk along the train tracks laid by German colonists in the late 19th century. Trains only pass by once or twice a week now.

Londorossi to Mti Mkuba

We climbed the Lemosho route, one of seven official paths up the mountain. It's considered one of the more scenic, less-crowded, and offers a high rate of success as it allows for more time to acclimatize to the lack of oxygen as you reach the summit.

Climbing Kilimanjaro means passing through rainforest, moorland, alpine desert, and arctic regions.

The first leg takes us through dense rainforest.

The campsite was one of the more densely packed ones on the entire trip, and you could clearly hear other climbers talk, sing, chant, and store in several different languages. Between that and the sound of colobus monkeys before dawn, it was not an excellent sleep.

Mti Mkubwa to Shira I

Dawn came nonetheless and we began our second day of the climb. What are we doing? Seeing the peak of the mountain from down here feels like waiting in line for a roller coaster you're not convinced you can handle.

Kilimanjaro is called "the everyman's Everest" and "the mountain you can walk up" and while technically both are true, they undersell how challenging the climb is. It's just one foot in front of the other, but for 6+ hours a day, over ever-changing terrain, through ever-thinning air.

The rainforest gave way to heartier moorland, featuring beautiful hearty plants like heather and protea (in the middle).

Shira I to Moir Camp

Pole pole is Swahili for slowly slowly. At first I thought the pace was agonizingly slow, but the slow pace is key to be able to continue walking for 7 hours. My heart rate and breathing rate are racing, as if I am sprinting, due to the altitude.

I learn about "false summits" - where you are on a rise and you think the hill is about to crest and treat you with a flat run, or even a descent. But no. You are met with another switchback.

This is so hard, and so amazing.

Seeing the peak of the mountain and it still looks so large and so far, I'm not sure how we are supposed to make it up there in the next few days.

Moir Hut to Lava Tower to Barranco Camp

On the route we passed this collection of stone cairns climbers build to wish them luck on the ascent. We made one too. Will take all the luck we can get!

Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp

We were told this would be the hardest day before the summit, thanks to "The Scamble" - which you can just about see in the photo above working diagonally up through the cliffside.

From our guidebook on the climb:

The hardest part of the day occurs right at the beginning, with a near-vertical scramble up the Great Barranco Wall (or Breach Wall) to the east of the campsite. You'll have to stash your walking poles away for this first section, because at times you'll need to use both your hands to haul yourself up the senecio-dressed slopes. False summits along the way further sap you strength and spirit, but after an hour and twenty minutes you'll reach the true summit of the wall; here you can sit back on the bare rock and enjoy the views south and east, with the great Heim Glacier over your shoulder to the north, and relish the prospect of the relatively gentle descent into the next gully below.

Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp

Today was a shorter hike, giving us a chance to set up for summit day tomorrow. The summit still looks far too far away.

Summit Day

Awoken at 1 a.m. Oatmeal at 1:30 a.m. Depart at 2 a.m.

It is dark and freezing.

But up we walk. Up. Up. Steep. Cold. Windy. So windy. The air is so thin I can hardly take the smallest breaths. All I can see is the feet of whoever is in front of me, lit by my headlamp.

Up in the distance we can make out the headlamps of climbers on their way up to the summit ahead of us.

My breath is short and shallow.

The wind is unending.

At some point, the sun rises, showing how far we still have to go.

I lose count keep track of how many switchbacks zig zag us up the mountainside.

At 11 a.m. we finally reached the upper rim of the mountain at Stella Point. It's officially the top of the mountain but not the highest point. That point - Uhuru Peak - we can see from where we are standing but it will be another 1.5 hours.

I wasn't convinced I needed to go all the way.

But still, we proceeded. Up up up we went, until, shuffle by shuffle, we arrived at Uhuru Peak. The rooftop of Africa. I wept. I took in the views. The glaciers. The alien-like landscape. The endless sky and nothing between me and it.

But. Then. We had to begin the descent. What, up to that point, had been the rallying cry that "every step brings us closer to the mountain" now became "every step brings us closer back to camp."

Oh, descending was a whole different beat, and a whole other four hours to make it back to camp, around 3:30 p.m. Almost 12 hours after first departing.

As we descended I could feel the air thicken and my breathing slow.

We were greeted back at Base Camp with a noodle soup of 90% ramen and 10% broth. I had no appetite. I was hollowed. But there was no rest yet.

The descent to the next camp for the night really took its toll on us, and we wouldn't arrive there for food and rest until well after the sun had set.

Mweka Gate

Up is hard. Down is also hard.

Knees revolt and calves tighten into iron balls.

But step by step we move from dry red earth to deep rainforest once again, the path slipping under our feet with mud and collapsed stairs. And, at long last, we reach the final gate and our bus ride back to the hotel.

Safari

Many choose to add a few days after the climb before flying home. We explored nearby national parks and conservation areas while our muscles and joints recovered.