Here’s a daily summary of what went down during our hike to the peak.
Day 1: Machame Gate to Machame Camp
Distance: 18km Hiking: 6hrs Start Alt: 1490m End Alt: 2980m
We woke up bright and early today, and were the first people at breakfast. We met the third person in our group, Bav from the UK. The hotel was really busy, with so many groups heading out to climb Kili. We drove about an hour to the gate, waited around there for a bit, and then started the hike.
The first section was though rainforest. The hiking wasn’t to physically demanding, we were going at a way slower pace than hikes I’ve done at home in the mountains. What was really impressive was watching the porters go up the trail. They moved so fast with these huge packs balanced on their backs. We slowly followed, with our day packs and hiking poles.
When we arrived at camp our tent was set up, and we had a snack ready and waiting for us. As an added bonus, we found out that we had our own private toilet for the trip, so we wouldn’t have to use the outhouses at the campsites. I had no idea what to expect for toilet facilities along the entire hike, so this was a very pleasant surprise. Being so close to the equator is gets dark really early here. After dinner we headed to bed for an early night. Neither of us had packed much for entertainment, just our ipods. I didn’t realize we would have as much free time as we did.
Day 2: Machame Camp to Shira Camp
Distance: 9km Hiking: 4hrs Start Alt: 2980m End Alt: 3840m
We set out early, and the again the pace for the day was “pole, pole” or slowly, slowly. We still managed to pass a lot of the groups along the trail. I guess with only 3 people in our group we were just faster in general than the groups of 20. Our information sheet said that the estimated hike time was 6-7 hours, and we made it in 4hrs. This became a common theme of the trip. We arrived at camp in rain and hail. It was also pretty common for the weather to turn misty and cloudy in the afternoons. This was the first of a few rainy afternoons.
The change in the environment was pretty pronounced. The vegetation changed, and the trees got a lot shorter. It was also crazy dusty on the trail. It made sense that a majority of the porters and guides were wearing gators for this portion of the trail. I made the mistake of only wearing shorts, so my socks and boots were just coated in dust.
Once the sky cleared up, it was possible to see the peak of Kili in the distance.
Day 3: Shira Camp to Baranco Camp
Distance: 15km Hiking: <6hrs Start Alt: 3840m End Alt: 3950m
We had another beautiful clear morning to start the day. Today I was prepared and wore my gators. We hiked to a spot called the Lava Tower, and the descended from there through the Great Baranco Valley to camp at a lower altitude. The trail became increasingly more barren and desert like, with sparser plants.
We got to the Tower around lunch, and the sky had clouded over and it started to rain/hail and get pretty cold. By the time we reached camp a few hours later it had cleared up. Again we beat the estimated hiking time of 7-8 hours. With these shorter hikes we had quite a bit of free time I wasn’t expecting or prepared for. I wish I had brought a book or my journal up on the hike with me. My ipod battery was pretty close to dying.
Day 4: Baranco Camp to Karanga Camp
Distance: 8km Hiking: 3.5hrs Start Alt: 3950m End Alt: 3900m
Today was our extra acclimatization day, and a fairly short, but strenuous hike. We had to pass over the Great Baranco Wall which was probably the most physically demanding section so far. We climbed without poles and used our hands for some sections. The view from the top is amazing, above the clouds with the valley below and the peak above. We descended through the Karanga Valley, very barren and desert like.
Our hike for the day was pretty short. All of the people doing the trip in 6 days had to keep on going, since they were going for the summit at midnight that evening. We just did some napping and hanging out for most of the afternoon.
Day 5: Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp
Distance: 4km Hiking: <3hrs Start Alt: 3900m End Alt: 4550m
We had another beautiful clear and sunny morning, and the hike to Barafu Camp was fairly easy. Arriving at the camp before lunch, the mist started rolling in and getting really cold. We could see people descending from the peak. We had to wait for a bit for our tents to be set up, but otherwise had a really lazy afternoon napping. We had an early dinner, and then went straight to bed, since were set to start hiking to the summit at midnight.
Day 6: Barafu Camp to Summit to Mweka Camp
Distance: 7km to Summit, 23km descent
Hiking: <3hrs Start Alt: 4550m Summit: 5895m End Alt: 3100m
We got up at 11pm, and it was absolutely freezing!! I knew it would be cold on Kili, but I really wasn’t expecting it to be this cold and windy. I put on every layer of clothing I brought – t-shirt, long sleeve undershirt, thicker long sleeve, merino wool hoodie, fleece hoodie, and a shoftshell. I wore long underwear and rain pants, 2 pairs of socks, and mitts. On my head I had a balaclava, toque, and all 3 hoods pulled up. Before starting, we were given a snack of tea and biscuits.
Looking up the mountain, I could see a trail of lights from everyone’s headlamps winding slowly up the mountain. We started our ascent at midnight, and numerous groups had already started their way. We slowly walked up, passing other groups even at our snail’s pace. I just looked at the ground and watched my footing, and tried to convince myself I was warm. It was so cold, and we weren’t moving around enough to generate much body heat. We made a few stops on the way up, had some shot blocks and water, and kept going. The tubes for our water bladders eventually froze, and the top of my water bottle was covered in ice. I was trying not to drink to much water, because I didn’t want to have to duck behind a rock to go pee while it was so cold.
I was glad I couldn’t see how far we had to go. The first couple hours actually went by surprisingly quick. I found the last hour to Stella Point went by SO SLOWLY. We finally reached Stella Point (5685m) at 430am. According to our itinerary we were supposed to watch the sunrise from this point. The sun wasn’t going to rise until 6am. We sat down and took a short break before continuing on. The last section towards the summit was soft and sandy, and it felt like for every 2 steps forward we took 1 step back.
We summitted Uhuru Peak at 540am, 10/15/10. We were one of the first groups to reach it that morning, standing on the highest point in Africa. The views from the top are absolutely stunning. Words and pictures just can’t do it justice. Easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. When we got to the top, it was possible to just see a line of light on the horizon. We watched as the sun slowly rose.
I found it hard to take pictures because I was so cold and didn’t want to take my mitts off. There were these huge glaciers off to one side, and a crater in the distance. We were waiting until the sun rose to get our pictures with the sign at the peak, but our guide was kind of rushing us to take the picture, saying more groups would be coming up soon. I think he just wanted to head down.
The other guy we were climbing with, Bav, celebrated his 30th birthday on summit day. He planned his trip so that he would summit on his birthday. We sang him a wonderful rendition of Happy Birthday, and our guide and assistant guide even joined in.
The way down was way faster than going on, since we were able to pick up some speed going down the soft sand with our poles. I was glad to have some experience with descents! It was interesting actually seeing what we had just hiked up in the dark...and I’m kind of glad it was dark so we didn’t have to see how far we had to climb up!
We arrived back at our camp at 8am, napped, and then got up for breakfast. After that we just continued the hike down the mountain. Our last night on Kili was pretty chill, and the next day we finished hiking down. This time we got to see some monkeys in the lower rainforest areas.
Back at our hotel a few hours later, we met with our guides, had some beers, and got our official Kilimanjaro Certificates. Success!
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