The Mount Kilimanjaro Climb: Uhuru Peak, Day 5

We woke up, bright and early on Day 5... Actually, we woke up incredibly late on Day 4. To be exact, it was 11:37 PM when Karim came to our tent with coffee and biscuits, informing us that it was time to wake up and begin our attempt at reaching the summit. Since it was so cold, Jeremy and I pretty much slept in every article of clothing we had packed for the week-long trek. It only took a few minutes to get ready, except that we each were kind of nervous and peed several times before responding, "Ndio" (yes) to Goodluck's question, "Tayari?" (Ready?)


We started climbing around midnight, and although the stars were bright, we wore headlamps to light the way. Judging by the number of moving lights in the darkness, we were the fourth or fifth team in line climbing the last 1400 vertical meters to the summit. It was cold and the air was thin. Within these arctic conditions, the air is freezing cold at night, with temperatures falling by one degree Celsius every 200 vertical meters. The air contained half as much oxygen as it did at sea level, so we were definitely huffing and puffing, so much so that we actually shed a few of our layers within the first hour of climbing. And much to our surprise, upon taking our first real break to drink water and eat some food, we noticed that we had been climbing for three hours!


At this point, things began to get interesting. The rocky trail we had been following turned into sand, and the slop of the route became "very steep" - the technical term used to describe this portion of the route on our Kili map. Goodluck warned us that many people turn back during this section of the trail, but luckily it was still pitch dark outside, and we couldn't really tell just how steep the trail before us was. Otherwise, we may have also psyched ourselves out and quit, too! 


We passed a man who was unable to breathe, and Goodluck worked with his guide for several minutes to devise a plan to get the man back down to Baranfu Camp. Our fellow porter, Living, who was on the mountain for the first time, had decided to climb with us to the summit, as well. At this point, Living also began to struggle. Goodluck conferred with Jared, who agreed to stay back with Living, and then Goodluck continued charging up the trail, as "pole pole" as possible, telling us to follow him closely. 


As our breathing permitted, we sang a few songs to pass the time. Mostly, however, we just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other again and again and again. It was terribly laborious, walking uphill in sand in such harsh conditions. The wind was howling, and we were sweating, but at the same time, our sweat was freezing into ice crystals, so we were really cold. It was still dark, so we couldn't really tell where we were or how much more we had to climb. However, we could still see two teams of lights ahead of us, and they looked so much further up the mountain! 


By now, we were really tired, so we stopped frequently for a few seconds at a time to catch our breath. At one break, we turned around and noticed hundreds of lights in the distance. 

"Is that Moshi?" I asked. There were so many lights I thought we were looking at a city!

"No," said Goodluck. "Those are the headlamps of all the hikers on both the Machame and Marangu routes up to the summit." 

NOTE: The Marangu Route is the easiest route up the mountain, and it is often called the Coca Cola route because so many tourists use this route in their attempt to reach Uhuru Peak. It is only five days in duration, but it has a low success rate because it doesn't always allow enough acclimatization time!


Further up the mountain, we again stopped to take a break and noticed a giant, orange arc in the sky. 

"What's that?" I asked and pointed.

"That's the moon," said Goodluck. "It is orange because the sun is about to start rising."

NOTE: I think I was a bit delirious at this point in the climb! I can't believe I didn't recognize the moon!


Since the sun was starting to rise, Jeremy and I knew we were close to finishing the steepest part of the mountain. Stella Point wasn't far away, so we continued to put one foot and one trekking pole in front of the other, pulling ourselves to the top of the mountain. When we reached Stella Point, the sun had not yet come up. Jeremy and I thought we'd hang out and wait for the sunrise, but Goodluck pushed us onward, reminding us how cold it was at the top of the mountain.


We had 200 more vertical meters to climb over approximately two more miles of trail  before reaching Uhuru Peak. Not steep at all, considering what we had just accomplished. But two more miles felt incredibly far to go. The air was so thin, and I could feel my heart pounding. I was wearing gloves under my mittens, which are normally very warm; however this morning, my fingers were numb. Goodluck took my trekking poles from me and instructed me to put my hands in my pockets. I did as he said, and my hands warmed up quickly. We walked along the trail, taking in the view of the Decken Glacier and M Glacier (formally called the Southern Ice Field) to our left. They were amazing, towering above the ground and at least twenty feet tall. We are so glad we could see the glaciers before they melt. Goodluck said that each time he reaches the summit, the glaciers are smaller and smaller...


Finally, we saw a team walking towards us yelling, "Congratulations! You are almost there!" This news energized us, and again, I could feel my heart pound in my chest. Jeremy and I noticed a brown sign ahead, and we knew that it was the sign marking Uhuru Peak, the highest point of Mount Kilimanjaro as well as the entire continent of Africa. Excited, I think we both started to walk a little quickly, but then we realized we were walking quickly. I remember telling Jeremy to slow down, for I was afraid that I would have a heart attack in the last 100 meters of our trek. We slowed, "pole pole" as usual, and pretty much stumbled up to the sign, together. Goodluck had gone a few feet ahead, and he turned around clapping and cheering for us. We had made it to Uhuru Peak, the THIRD group to reach the summit that morning in only 6 hours and 15 minutes!


We touched the sign, snapped a few photos, and no joke, got the hell out of there. It was freezing, and yes, you could say that I was in a bit of a "whining" mood. GP, as Jeremy likes to call me, which stands for Grumpt Pants. But again, I couldn't feel my thumbs, and I was feeling this strange combination of freezing cold and sweltering hot, and the wind, oh the wind! So we turned around, taking in a few final glorious views from Uhuru Peak, and began to follow the sun, which had now risen, back down the mountain.


We traversed the same route back down to Barafu Camp, and arrived back at our tent in about 3 hours. Yes, 6 hours up, 3 hours down. Our legs burned. Our arms ached. Our eyelids could barely stay open. But our faces beamed, and we couldn't stop smiling. The porters greeted us with cheers and fist bumps and celebrations. I stripped down to my first base layer - I was so freaking hot - ran to the tourist toilet, peed, and then crawled into the tent. Jeremy, who was of course more calm and in control of himself, hung up our clothes to dry and then joined me in the tent, where we took the best one hour nap of our lives. 


We will always remember Memorial Day 2011 as the day we conquered Mount Kilimanjaro and stood on the roof of Africa!