We were woken at 10:30pm and gathered in the dining tent for coffee, tea and bread and jam. Not many of us ate but I did, even though I was feeling a little nauseous. I figured I would need every scrap of food I could swallow. It was tense and quiet in the tent - I am sure we were all thinking about what lay ahead. Jane was feeling better, thankfully, but Camille was not, still experiencing stomach cramps.
I decided to take my poles so I could lean on them when I needed to rest. I knew if I sat down, that would be it. They proved their worth during the very last stretch.
We snapped on our headlights and then we set off in our usual single file. I was surprised so many people accompanied us. Jonas led the way but coming up beside us were the 3 asst guides and then at least 4 other people.
It was immediately tough going. I had on the largest down jacket imaginable and got very hot fast and my knapsack, containing 3 liters of water and my windproof jacket, felt much heavier than usual. Those two things didn't help.
Jonas and the "crew" sang as they accompanied us through the first hour of switchbacks - it was a helpful distraction as I plodded along. I don't think it wasn't especially steep per se because of the back and forth but I was starting to have trouble with breathing and everything felt very heavy. The terrain was a mixture of scree and rock. I had scheduled my trek around a full moon and think it did make it lighter - at one point my headlight went out and I could still see okay.
After about 2 hours I felt light-headed and dizzy and wanted to quit. Everything in me was screaming "stop!" "sit down". I found it very discouraging to look up and see how far above the other trekkers were - not that they were ahead but that I still had so far to go. I felt like we were climbing straight up the side of a skyscraper. Looking at my watch was also a mistake as I knew it would take us all night to reach the summit. It felt impossible. I didn't give a damm about getting my certificate or making it to the top anymore. I stopped to remove my down jacket and Antony immediately came over to chide me for not asking for help. He took my knapsack. I didn't want to give it up as he was already carrying one but was too weak to argue. That helped quite a bit.
Still, I have to say this was one of the most horrible nights of my life. It felt like I was climbing sand stairs for 6 hours. I was a bit delirious the whole way, in my own little world. There were many people attempting the summit that night (at least 2 routes join up near this point for the final ascent). I would look down the mountain and see streams of headlights coming up behind us. Further up, groups were breaking into smaller clusters. We started passing people who were stopped with their "handlers" - many were puking; everyone was pale as ghosts. I saw one woman sobbing with her arms around a porter who didn't seem sure what to do with this crazy tourist. Another woman was being rushed straight down the scree by 2 "handlers". Jonas and the others pushed us to keep moving - few breaks. Lisa and I protested - we needed to pee. There was no cover for peeing so we made do.
Our group broke up and I lost track of Lisa and Marilyn. Originally I had envisioned reaching the sign with them but my survival instincts kicked in. When the headlamps above me finally seemed to reach the crest and diappear, I went for broke. I just wanted the torture to end. Man, I cursed that mountain. It knocked the stuffing right out of me.
7 hours, I think, it took me to reach Gillman's Point. I came over the crest in the second group. I was exhausted, dehydrated and hungry but managed to snap this photo before retrieving my knapsack from Antony. Finally, I thought, I could rest and wait for Lisa and Marilyn. Not so. I managed to get my down jacket back on - it was freezing - but no time for a snack before Antony urged me, Jane and Jim, to move a little further along to get out of the wind. Crafty fellow. Before I knew it, we were plodding on to the summit and to the famous sign.
As Henry Stedman says somewhere that I can't find right now... "If you thought [that] took the biscuit, the [next part] will take the entire tin." I found that to be quite accurate. I was panting the whole hour. I had to stop and lean on my poles every minute or so to try to slow down my breathing. Philipo and Gibson stayed with me. They didn't say anything to me, which was probably a good thing. I would likely have snapped their heads right off. If I hadn't had Cindy's rocks in my pocket, I would have given up. I sure didn't care about that damm sign at that point.
Reaching the sign at Uhuru Peak was excruciating. Antony kept telling the three of us that it was just around the corner. There were a helluva lot of corners! We passed many trekkers who were coming down and they sometimes offered encouragement.
Finally I reached the sign. There was a crowd of people around it and a fellow with a safety vest in the middle trying to organize a proper line-up. I took the opportunity to bury Cindy's rocks in a nice spot overlooking the glaciers.
Strangely enough, even though we were at 5895m, I felt fine again after I reached the site. My breathing slowed down. I could feel my heart rate go down too. I was just so relieved it was over. I jostled for photo position and we got this good shot of Gibson, me, Antony and Philipo.
I was at the summit about 15 minutes and then it was time to descend. Now I felt up to taking lots of photos and to admiring the incredible scenery. The glaciers were remarkable - many different hues of white and blue - but also the views down into the volcano crater were also fabulous.I passed a lot of very pale trekkers on the way down to Gillman's Point. Some were being held up by their "handlers" and had a dazed look about them. I imagine I had looked exactly like that myself. I was happy to see Lisa, Marilyn and then Michael - we all made it to the top!
Back at Gillman's Point, we stopped for a few minutes and then it was time to descend to Kibo Huts. After a few bits of larger rock, it became loose scree. I was completely exhausted so decided to ski straight down as much as possible. This part was fun and saved me some time. But after a while my legs turned to concrete and I couldn't run anymore. I also still had 6 layers on and ski pants and was sweating like crazy. Kibo Huts was visible the whole way but there were times I wondered if I would ever get there. Gibson shadowed me the whole way. I think it was about 3 hours later that I reached Kibo Huts. Kibo Huts is the last campsite for people on the Marangu Route before they make their summit attempt. We saw several groups starting up as we came down. (Our route bypassed this beginning bit and after seeing it in daylight I was very happy about that - all loose scree)
The crew had set up the dining tent for an early lunch. I was never so happy to just sit down and take off my hiking boots and socks. We all wanted to wait for Michael to come down before eating but it looked like he would be a while so we dug in. Then we greeted him as he came in.
The fun though apparently wasn't over as we were informed we still had another 3 hour hike to go to the next campsite. Lots of groaning, lol. I managed to find the porter who had my yellow bag and changed clothes as it was very hot.
I walked by myself for that portion, alone except for Ali keeping a watchful eye on me from a distance, lol. The route was a clear path, a highway almost, with a steady stream of porters going the other way. It seemed to stretch forever and was incredibly barren. I stopped to take pictures of flowers and then an "ambulance" went running by. I say "running by" as it was indeed the stretcher with the bicycle wheel held up by 4 porters I had read about. I watched it tip over further down as it hit a rock. Later I heard they had airlifted the tourist out - there is a helicopter pad near the next campsite.
The landscape slowly changed as I descended and I was very happy to see greenery after days of rock and dust. These trees are only found in Kilimanjaro National Park.Eventually I reached the last (for us) campsite. It was a busy place, full of anxious fresh-faced and clean trekkers going the other way. I was surprised how cold it got at night there considering the lower altitude, but maybe it was because I was so tired. I slept very well!
