Mount Kilimanjaro Summit Night
Summit night.
It's 1030 pm, and a soft voice calls through the tent to wake us up. Summit night has arrived, and our tent is coated in frost as we bundle up in multiple layers of clothing.
We all meet in the mess tent sleepy, excited and nervous for the climb ahead of us. We eat a very light snack and drink a nice hot tea or coffee before our daunting climb. This is to stave off the potential nausea that often accompanies the ascent.
It's now 1145 pm, dark and cold. With head lamps on, we begin our ascent. I have a bit of a headache, which is also common so I take something for it.
As we ascend, I am surprised by how steep the climb is. Some of it requires using our hands to scale up the rock face.
I feel cold but not overly, which pleases me as I know it's going to continue to get colder. My headache slowly increases so during one of our short 5 minute breaks I take another pain medication.
This is no ordinary mountain hike; it's a steep and arduous climb. Regrettably, I often make the mistake of looking upward, hoping to gauge our progress, but only ever see an endless trail of headlamps zigzagging up the hill. The vertical stream of lights are so straight up they resemble stars in the night sky, and it's repeatedly disheartening to realize how far we have yet to go.
I say it's a mistake to look up because seeing such a steep ascent was often disheartening. I look up and think, "Seriously! Are we still going straight up? give me a flat spot, please." I don't recall that ever happening.
We carry 3 litres of water with us, plus extra layers of clothing in our backpacks. I have two one litre bottles plus a bladder. Even though I blew the water back out of my tube to keep it from freezing, it didn't take long to freeze up. This meant grabbing a sip from a bottle that is stored upside down, so that when you take a drink the ice is at the bottom. Taking a sip of a very cold drink when you are already cold is less than satisfying.
Our breaks are short 5 minute stops as we cool down even more when we stop moving. We can't stop just anywhere as it's a narrow trail used by many climbers. There are some spots we can pull over against some rocks to rest so other groups can continue their climb.
Sometimes we arrive to a potential rest spot that's occupied and we hear our guide call out "I'm looking for a rest stop, we'll find one soon."
At every break I have a porter helping me add layers, grab a bottle out of my pack, and ask on how I'm doing. It's funny how, despite being surrounded by people in the darkness, focused on every step, I feel a sense of solitude until a much-needed break arrives and someone instantly appears to offer help. The guides also uplift our spirits with songs and chants.
We have twelve climbers and each of us has someone assigned to help and guide us in any way to ensure a safe and successful climb. It really is amazing the care and attention we have received this entire trip.
As we continue, my headache does not subside, and I start to feel a little light headed and less confident with my steps. I had a couple of incidents where I felt my pack pull me back, a little wake up call to be more careful.
Believe me when I say this is not a good place to feel clumsy. Some people have already given up their packs to the porters to carry. I was determined to take mine the whole way, but during a break my porter asked if he should take my pack. Realizing this journey was about getting to the top, carrying my pack or not, I handed it over.
I have no idea how much farther we have to go, I just know I am cold and I no longer look up, I look sideways as I am looking for the sunrise, as that means we are close.
At some point I hear Norm behind me ask if I want to know what time it is. I reply, "probably not." But he responds
"It's 5:30 am!" Boy did that give me a sense of relief! Soon the sun will rise and we will be at Stella Point.
Stella point is the official summit that grants you the certificate of achievement. The objective is to get there by sunrise, and then carry on if you are able to Uhuru Peak the very highest point on the mountain at
19,341 ft or 5859 meters.
Finally, when I look left I see the horizon start to brighten a nice hue of yellow and orange. I have never been so happy to see the sunrise, we are almost at Stella Point.
As we reach Stella Point, its been snowing lightly and the clouds come in hiding the colors of the rising sun, but I don't care, we are almost to the top. We high five each other and carry on.
We have about another 1000 feet, 139 metres in elevation to go. I am cold and still have a headache but as the sun rises, so does the temperature, and my spirits.
Finally! I see the Uhuru Peak sign. It took 7.5 hours of steady ascent to reach the top. Wow, we actually made it! By the time we get to the sign for our picture the sun is already starting to melt the snow off our clothes and hair and I have renewed energy able to crack a smile again.
After photos, I grabbed more pain medication in hopes I could finally rid myself of this headache. We are now descending the mountain as lingering at this altitude can be dangerous. We pass beautiful glaciers and stop for a couple pictures.
The trek back to base camp is a 3 hour decent, often skiing through loose gravel that is very hard on the knees.
We make it back to base camp, have lunch and a little nap and then pack up for another descent for 2 to 3 hours further down the mountain to Millennium High Camp at 3950 metres. By the time we reach camp we are all exhausted but happy about our accomplishments.
We range in age from 19 to 72 and all agree this is the hardest thing we have ever done. We all cherish the experience and the companionship with our fellow hikers and G Fighter porters who got us to the top. It's an amazing feat I'm glad I experienced, but if you asked me to do it again I would reply with a hard no.
Mount Kilimanjaro Climb. Mission Accomplished
