Although this day will prove to be by far the most demanding and certainly the longest, it is also the one for which I have gathered the least amount of photos. That is because most of the trek occurs in the dead of night....and for the most part I spent much of the time focusing on making it to the top and not at all on picture taking.
At 11PM, we dreamily wake from a short slumber. Most of us managed to get 3-4 hours after the trek from Karanga to Barafu. We now needed to prepare for the final ascent. We followed one word of wisdom from the many descriptions of this climb....whatever you have to make you warm: wear it - in the unlikely event that you should be hot...you can always dispense of it.
We all had another hearty breakfast and put on all the layers we had brought with us. For me, this meant two pairs of socks; long johns, second layer and hiking trousers for the legs;T-shirt, second layer, fleece jacket, 700 mil down jacket and outer shell for the torso; glove lining and ski mitts; and a balaclava with a fleece hat to top it all off (with a hood should I need it). Well after looking a bit like the Michelin man you will probably find it hard to believe that I was not at all too warm...in fact I found that my thumbs were freezing during the climb.
Of course after putting all of this on, I realized that I had not accommodated my walking sticks for my mitts and this proved rather difficult to handle. I also did not account for the great difficulty in reaching for things like energy bars, water from my camel pack or even my camera.
To start, we did load up as much water as we could handle; this meant about 4 liters each. In order to prevent it from rapidly freezing, we used very hot water....which in the end didn't help much.
To reach the summit, we would be joined by our 3 guides and 4 porters. The porters were there to help us with the emergency equipment (oxygen tanks and compression tent) as well as to carry any of our water or gear should we weaken... or for that matter carry one of us should we succumb to the altitude.
The night started at about 12:30 AM. New Years had just arrived and the porters that were staying behind were feasting. In fact, before leaving I had so many strangers shaking my hand and wishing me "Happy New Year", I was not sure whether I was coming or going.
When we left, I felt somewhat depressed. We were not the only team making this hike for the 1st of January 2008 and there were already at least another half dozen teams racing ahead of us. We were actually the second last team to leave Barafu that night. Looking at the long procession of lights climbing into the distance, I almost felt like we were doomed to be last and perhaps never make it to the top.
In any case, we followed Saimon and "pole pole" we started the ascent. The terrain was pretty much what we had encountered the day before on the acclimatization hike: a dusty scree with a gentle slope.
It was after our first break that I realized my first mistake. I kept my energy bars easily accessible, but also readily "freezable". For the life of me, I could not even bite into my first bar. I quickly changed their location and snuggled the bars a few layers deeper to thaw out against some body heat.
The next stage proved to be very difficult. In fact I find it hard to remember exactly what happened. To put things in perspective, here we are in the dead of night after 3-4 hours of sleep at well above 4600m climbing to well over 5800m. The terrain is dusty scree with interminable switchbacks and the temperature is subzero.
By the time we got to our second break we had already passed a few people. The first team we would go by was composed of some young women one of which was violently sick (from this point on Tristan and I would refer to Barafu as "Barf" Camp). We then passed a group of men who were clearly ill-equipped (they were carrying small pocket lamps and their gear just did not look warm enough to take them to the top). We also saw a poor fellow literally being carried from under the shoulders by 2 porters, his feet were hardly touching the ground and you could only see the white of his eyes.
At this point, I thought I would draw on my iPod for additional drive. However, no matter what I tried, I could not get it to work. It was only much later that I discovered that in my daze I did not notice I had put the lock on!.
The lack of an iPod however did not prove a problem as Simon and the team launched into chanting for the last bit of the climb. A month later I can still hear some of these songs and in particular, the one pertaining to Kili. As Simon would later explain, the song is about Kili "eating you like a snake" as you progress up it's slope; by the time you reach the peak only your head remains out of the snake's mouth....the only thing to save you is your faith. I even found myself participating in the chanting and that more than anything else helped me continue.
Luckily we had great weather as we slumbered over these interminable switchbacks. We also saw a beautiful moon rise. But the cold was very intense and a strong wind was blowing. By the time we hit the final ascent to Stella Point (a rapid climb on very loose and dusty scree), the wind was blowing intensely from my right. In fact the right lense of my glasses was totally frosted and I could not see a thing thru it...nor could I clean it. With the strong cold wind, my nose was continuously running (like everyone elses) and I could do nothing to keep it clean. The water of my camel pack (originally so warm) was totally frozen and I had no way to hydrate until we stopped as a group.
Somewhere up this path, we even lost one of our guides. I missed the incident, but apparently he was retching, so Simon lead him away.
Throughout all of this, Tristan behind me was complaining of headaches. I told him to bring it up to the "Medic" to see what we could do. I was worried for Tristan and had made up my mind that if for some reason he could not go from Stella Point (our next major milestone) to Uhuru Peak (our ultimate destination) I would stay behind and start the descent with him.
When we reached Stella Point- marked by a huge boulder at 5752m, the sun was out, my glasses were thawed out and even thru a light dusting of snow, the weather looked most promising for the final attempt to the peak. The time was 8:05.
The entire team makes it to Stella Point (5752m).With all of these positive signs, Tristan still did not feel well and suffered from a headache. He decides to bring it up to the attention of Liberate (the Medic). We decide that he should take a couple of Tylenols, wait a few minutes and if he feels better go for the last stage.
Tristan (cringing with a headache) and I at Stella Point
A lot of people will stop at Stella Point. The Park authorities provide climbers who have reached this peak a "green" certificate of achievement.
Uhuru Peak however is actually only some 45 minutes away from Stella and easily accessible ("pole pole" that is). Reaching this earns you the "gold" certificate.
Tristan thumbs up after a couple of Tylenols
Just passed Stella Point with one of the Kili crater rims behind me.
While I'm picture taking, Liberate gets a nasty surprise. Tristan's Oxygen saturation level is in the low 40% and to make matters worse, his heart rate is also in the low 40's. Tristan is suffering from Hypoxia!
Rapidly Liberate brings out an oxygen tank and starts to work on Tristan.
Suffering from Hypoxia, Tristan is provided a good dose of Oxygen.
With his oxygen saturation levels back up to normal, Tristan is confident he can make it the last 30 minutes up to Uhuru peak. Liberate indicates we can make it and so we move on.
No more than 10 minutes later though, Tristan is again not well and weaving back and forth along the trail.
Once again, we go thru the process of measuring saturation levels and heart rate...and once again, he's back in the low 40's.
Liberate provides him with another quick dose of oxygen.
Tristan going for a second dose of oxygen.
At this point, we have to make a critical decision. We are no more than 15 minutes from the peak. We can see the rest of our team...and they can see us. They had arrived at the peak by 9AM.
Of course at this point everyone thinks I'm the one having trouble.
In hindsight, I'm not sure I should have allowed Liberate and Tristan to take the decision they did. They made up their minds to climb to the peak and then as rapidly as possible run down. This was a very risky thing to do.
On the way to Uhuru Peak we are welcomed by breath taking views of massive (but regretably rapidly receding) glaciers.
Happily, Tristan, Liberate and I make it safely to the peak and in time for the group picture; we are some 30 minutes late and go on record with the park authorities for reaching the peak at 9:30.
With the pciture session over, Tristan and Liberate started their run down the mountain in an effort to get Tristan a least a few hundred meters lower. We would not see them again until our next stop in Barafu.
Along with the group photo at the beginning of this blog, Steve and I took the time to take this shot with the Aastra "flag".
From Uhuru another serrated mystical peak reaches above the clouds.
From here, the rest of the trek becomes very painful for me. The descent is rapid and the terrain is extremely tough to maneuver in. The scree is dusty, sandy and slippery; for some of us the concept of "skiing" down the slope is the best way to tackle the descent.
As the one now furthest behind, all I can do is inhale dust (I would be coughing for the next 2 weeks).
The descent in a dusty scree.
