Day 11: Horombo Hut to Kibo Hut

Above the clouds

Each morning on the mountain we are woken up by our guides. Our guides who bring us tea. In our huts. This is a life I can get used to.
The tea is good, strong tea. It is grown and harvested locally, on the Tanzania side of the mountain. It is really a delicious tea. It is perfect for waking up to in the morning. We are also served tea at our lunch stops and at breakfast and dinner too. This is all part of keeping us hydrated on the mountain, though it helps feed my acknowledged and not problematic caffeine addiction. Sure, coffee is offered at breakfast and dinner but it is the terrible powdered coffee.

There are two routes we can take to Kibo Hut from Horombo - the upper route, which is steeper and has something called Zebra Rocks, or the lower route which isn't steep at all and lacks Zebra Rocks.
Apparently, these Zebra Rocks are life changing so we take the steeper route. It's not like it would be nice to ease in to the steepness we will face the next day at all with a less challenging route. Nope. Zebra Rocks for all!

When on a longer trek on Marangu route, you spend a day exploring around Horombo Hut. You take the upper route to Zebra Rocks, you explore some crater, you take your time and acclimatize.

Kilimanjaro Inuksuit

You also get to build an Inuksuk.
At this point I was so exhausted from the steepness, from the sheer work of it all that I was actually in tears seeing the Inuksuit. I had asked myself before we came to them how many people I would be disappointing if I stopped where I was. Sure, I was pretty damn proud of myself for making it this far, but the list of people who I would let down was a lot longer than just me.
I explained to my guide what an Inuksuk was; a waypoint, a marker that someone had been there before and yes, you were going the right way, this is the right place. Seeing them told me that I was on the right path, that I could continue on. Pole pole my way up this damn mountain.
The guide said that he like that, he would tell people that. They didn't have a Swahili word for them and he would call them Inuksuk. He said that it was just something they did with the visitors to let them feel like they left a mark on Kilimanjaro (since you can't exactly vandalize the mountain).

Zebra Rocks

After coming upon Zebra Rocks (and not being allowed to get much closer to them than this), it is debatable if the upper route was worth the additional steepness.

In the lower middle of this photo, on the mountain, is Kibo Hut. Don't worry if you can't see it.

The second emotional breakdown of the day comes when we get our first full, unobstructed view of Kili.
Until now, we had only seen the peak and it didn't seem so bad. Now, we see all of it and we have a whole fucking other mountain to climb. It was the single most disheartening moment of my life, surpassing the time when I found out that Buckshot is an asshole.

I don't have the words to tell you what I felt in this moment. We had been climbing up, up, up this mountain for three days at this point and it seemed like the end was in sight, that this was actually something I could accomplish. Mother Nature decided to take that moment to tell me I was too proud of my accomplishment thus far and throw up a seemingly insurmountable roadblock. I tried to tell myself that thousands of people had climbed this mountain before me, thousands had sat in the spot where we were and not given up, but it wasn't helping. I wanted a helicopter. I wanted to go home and forget it. I didn't care about the damn certificate I would get if I summited; I had summited a ton of mountains in the Rockies and not once got a certificate for them. I could go home and be proud for making it that far - no one else I know had done that and really, what was I trying to prove?

I made it to Kibo Hut.
The last kilometer to Kibo Hut was physically draining. I was done. It took me an hour to walk a kilometer, something which usually only takes me 15 minutes on a slow day. I was physically and emotionally drained. I was sore. I was having a bit of trouble breathing.

It took seven minutes to walk to the bathroom and seven back. I was out of breath both ways, relying very heavily on my walking stick even though it was flat ground. The thing has become a third leg for me.
We eat a very large early dinner and go to sleep for a couple of hours. It is not cold up here, not by any standards I am used to. Maybe 0C? Slightly below? Not bad but in the thinner air, my lungs hurt a bit.

I debate not leaving Kibo Hut. I've made it this far. Well done, me! Not a single soul in my circle has done this or been this high up on the Earth. Did I really need to get to Uhuru Peak? What was I trying to prove? I almost had myself convinced and then I realized that I had spent a lot of money to get to that damn peak and not to feel sorry for myself in Kibo Hut. Funny how money is a good motivator.

Next: The Climb.

Day 10: Mandara Hut to Horombo Hut

Today is all about the sun. It is very bright all day long.

We came out of the rainforest into moorland. There isn't a lot of rain up here so we see a lot of long, drought resistant grasses. It is a huge change from the rainforest.

Mawenzi

We get our first proper peek of Mawenzi today. It is very pointy, much more like what I am accustomed to seeing as a mountain. We are not climbing Mawenzi  at all. We chase it all day until we get our first view of Kili.

Kili

With the altitude and clarity of the air, it doesn't look like it is far away. It almost looks achievable! We are warned, however, that it is indeed very far away.

Kili plays peek-a-boo with us due to the clouds and landscape. The route we are on is called the Coca-Cola route because it us so easy (and Coke is easy to get). Let me tell you - this is a misnomer. It is very steep and today we are taking frequent breaks. The sun is a huge factor; it is not hot, but it is persistent. We are often reapplying our sunscreen and I still managed to burn the back of my hand.

Kili and Mawenzi

The last three kilometers to Horombo hut are steep and rocky. I have to focus my attention on my feet and the path directly in front of them. I cannot look ahead or behind right now as looking ahead makes the path seem impossible and behind has nothing but hill and rocks.
 

Porter and Taxi

There are seven climbing routes on Mount Kilimanjaro: Lemosho, Machame, Marangu, Mweka, Rongai, Shira and Umbwe. Each route has a porter trail that runs nearby and the public is not allowed to access them. The porters carry up everything an expedition needs, including water, food and equipment. They often stay on the mountain, in separate cabins and tents from the climbers. They are very limited as to what they can carry, weight wise, so each expedition requires many porters. For our five person team, we had  14 porters (including our cook and waiter).
Among the many tasks a porter has is rescue. They have limited first aid skills and if all else fails, they carry people off the mountain. We see this porter (not part of our team) carrying what our guide calls a Kilimanjaro Taxi. It is a simple steel frame stretcher basket on wheels. Yes, he is carrying it on his head.
We did not see the stretcher descend.

Kilimanjaro

When we arrive at Horombo Hut, we can see the sun reflecting off a town below. This is our first sighting of civilization since climbing the mountain. It doesn't look as far away as it is. The altitude and thinness of the air is playing with the field of vision.

This is Moshi, Tanzania. The town is an hour away from the park gate if you're driving.

The climb is starting to get a bit more challenging. I make it to 3720m above sea level.

Tomorrow will be fun.

Day Nine: Marangu Gate to Mandara Hut

Marangu Hotel.
As you can tell, I class up anywhere I go; I washed my clothes in the sink and put them outside to dry. Classy.

Today is the day we start the mountain. We see Mawezi peek through the clouds at our resort before breakfast.

Doesn't seem all that intimidating at all.

The hotel makes sure we are kitted properly and briefs us.
Acute Mountain Sickness is a thing that sucks. You can take a medication called Diamox for it, which I have been prescribed by a travel doctor. I have done my research and this seems to be a medication I can take. Turns out, according to the man who briefed us, Diamox is a sulpha-class drug. I am quite allergic to sulpha drugs! I have followed the instructions of my doctor and have already taken a dose. I have been instructed by my guide not to take anymore. I choose to follow this instruction. I would rather not die in a preventable way.

Kilimanjaro has rules.

Fun Fact: Scott Lake Hill, the highest point on the Trans-Canada Highway,  is only 1410m above sea level.

 We get checked in at the headquarters. We are only allowed on the mountain for a limited time (for safety and accommodation reasons) so we have to check in at every hut.

Johnathan, Mikko, Robyn and Peter.

Once we are on the mountain we are in a lush rainforest. It is probably about 25C.

We have been given instructions by our Tanzanian mountain guides to go pole pole, meaning slowly in Swahili. This helps us acclimatize. It takes us about 5.5 hours to cover 3.4 km and ascend to 2720m. None of us feel sick, so we guess this works.

The huts are also in a lush rainforest and are quite comfortable. They were Swiss built and we have electricity (notice the solar panels).
Our dinner is in the dining hut (!) and is four courses (!). This is not camping as I know it.

 It is getting cooler at night so I think I will be very happy with my North Face Dolomite 20 sleeping bag.

Next: more climbing!